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Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.

Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
I see these mistakes everywhere on the internet.
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Questions & Answers about Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.

Why is it näitä virheitä and not nämä virheet?

Both pairs mean roughly “these mistakes”, but the case is different.

  • nämä virheet = nominative plural

    • Used mainly as a subject or when you are just naming/pointing at a whole set.
    • Example: Nämä virheet ovat yleisiä. – These mistakes are common.

  • näitä virheitä = partitive plural

    • Often used as an object when:
      • you’re talking about an indefinite or unspecified amount, or
      • the action is seen as ongoing / incomplete.
    • Here the idea is I see these kinds of mistakes (some amount of them) everywhere online, not I see the full, clearly defined set of these mistakes.

So näitä virheitä fits better because the speaker is talking about these mistakes as things that appear here and there, not a specific, “completed” set of mistakes.

Why is näitä in the same case as virheitä?

In Finnish, adjectives and pronouns that describe a noun usually agree in case and number with that noun.

  • Noun: virheitä (partitive plural of virhe)
  • Demonstrative pronoun: näitä (partitive plural of tämä)

Because virheitä is partitive plural, näitä must also be partitive plural:

  • nominative: nämä virheet – these mistakes
  • genitive: näiden virheiden – of these mistakes
  • partitive: näitä virheitä – (some) of these mistakes

So näitä virheitä is grammatically “these-of mistakes-of” → these mistakes (in an indefinite amount).

Why is virheitä and not virheet used after näen?

The form of the object in Finnish depends on how the action is viewed:

  • virheet (nominative/“total object”):

    • Used if you see the whole, specific set of mistakes (I see those exact mistakes).

  • virheitä (partitive):

    • Used for indefinite quantity (some mistakes, mistakes in general)
    • Often used with ongoing, incomplete, or non-resultative actions.

Here the meaning is more like I keep seeing these kinds of mistakes everywhere rather than I see all of these particular mistakes (and that's that). That “open, ongoing” feel triggers the partitive.

What is the relationship between näen and the dictionary form nähdä?

Finnish dictionaries list verbs in the so‑called basic form / infinitive, here:

  • nähdä – to see

To say “I see”, you conjugate it in present tense, 1st person singular:

  • minä näen – I see

The personal ending -n marks “I”. The stem näe- appears in the present tense:

  • minä näen – I see
  • sinä näet – you see
  • hän näkee – he/she sees
  • me näemme – we see
  • te näette – you (pl) see
  • he näkevät – they see

So näen is just nähdä conjugated for “I” in the present.

Where is the subject “I” in this sentence? Why is minä missing?

The subject is built into the verb ending in Finnish. The -n ending in näen already tells you “I”:

  • näen = I see
  • näet = you see
  • näkee = he/she sees

Because this is clear from the verb form, Finnish usually omits the subject pronoun:

  • Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    Literally: See‑I these mistakes everywhere on-the-net.

You can say Minä näen… if you want to emphasize the subject:

  • Minä näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    → I (as opposed to someone else) see these mistakes everywhere online.
What exactly does kaikkialla mean, and how is it different from kaikkialta and kaikkialle?

All three come from kaikki (all, everything), but they use different local cases:

  • kaikkialla – everywhere (in all places)

    • “static” location: where something happens
    • Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla. – I see these mistakes everywhere.

  • kaikkialta – from everywhere

    • movement from many places
    • Saan palautetta kaikkialta. – I get feedback from everywhere.

  • kaikkialle – to everywhere

    • movement to many places
    • Viestit leviävät kaikkialle. – Messages spread everywhere (to all places).

In your sentence, we’re talking about where you see the mistakes, so the “in/at” form kaikkialla is correct.

What does the ending -ssa in verkossa mean?

The ending -ssa / -ssä is the inessive case, which usually means “in / inside / at”.

  • verkko – net
  • verkossa – in the net

In modern usage, verkossa is a very common way to say “online / on the internet”.

Compare:

  • talossa – in the house
  • kaupungissa – in the city
  • verkossa – on/within the net → online

You could also say netissä, which is another everyday way of saying “online”, but verkossa is perfectly standard and common.

Can I change the word order, for example Verkossa näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla?

Yes. Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and changes mostly affect emphasis / focus, not basic meaning.

Some possible variants:

  • Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    Neutral; focus on what you see (näitä virheitä).

  • Verkossa näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla.
    Slight emphasis on verkossa (“online is where this happens”).

  • Näitä virheitä näen kaikkialla verkossa.
    Emphasis on näitä virheitä (“it’s these mistakes in particular that I see”).

All are grammatically correct. The original is a natural neutral order:
[Verb + object] + [adverbials (kaikkialla verkossa)].

How would the sentence change in the past or future, or in the negative?

Starting point (present, affirmative):

  • Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa. – I see these mistakes everywhere online.

Past tense (simple past):

  • Näin näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa. – I saw these mistakes everywhere online.
    • näin is the past-tense “I saw”.

Future meaning:

Finnish usually uses present tense for future context; you add time expressions:

  • Huomenna näen näitä virheitä taas kaikkialla verkossa.
    – Tomorrow I will see these mistakes again everywhere online.

Negative:

Finnish uses a special negative verb plus the main verb in a short form:

  • En näe näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    – I don’t see these mistakes everywhere online.
    (For “anywhere”, you’d say: En näe näitä virheitä missään verkossa. – I don’t see these mistakes anywhere online.)
What is the difference between näen and verbs like katson or huomaan?

They all relate to seeing, but with different nuances:

  • nähdä / näen – to see

    • Basic visual perception; things simply appear in your field of vision or awareness.
    • Näen näitä virheitä… – I (happen to) see/encounter these mistakes…

  • katsoa / katson – to look (at)

    • You direct your eyes intentionally.
    • Katson videota verkossa. – I’m watching a video online.

  • huomata / huomaan – to notice, realize

    • You become aware of something.
    • Huomaan näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa. – I notice these mistakes everywhere online.
      (Stronger sense of noticing, not just passively seeing.)

In your sentence, näen fits well when the idea is “I encounter these mistakes all over the place.”

Why does virhe become virheitä, and not something like virheita? What is that -itä ending?

Virhe forms its partitive plural as virheitä.

General pattern for many words ending in -e:

  • singular nominative: virhe – a mistake
  • plural nominative: virheet – mistakes
  • plural partitive: virheitä – (some) mistakes

The steps:

  1. Add -i- to form the plural stem: virhe → virhei-
  2. Add the partitive plural ending -ta / -tä: virhei-
    • -tä → virheitä

The ä instead of a is due to vowel harmony:
because virhe has front vowels (i, e), the ending must also use a front vowel (ä).

So virheitä is the regular partitive plural of virhe.

Could I say tällaisia virheitä instead of näitä virheitä? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts slightly:

  • näitä virheitä – these mistakes

    • Refers to specific mistakes that are somehow known from the context (e.g. examples just discussed).

  • tällaisia virheitä – mistakes like this / this kind of mistakes

    • Refers more to the type or kind, not particular instances.

Compare:

  • Näen näitä virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    – I see these (specific) mistakes everywhere online.

  • Näen tällaisia virheitä kaikkialla verkossa.
    – I see mistakes like this / this kind of mistakes everywhere online.

Both use partitive plural (virheitä) for the same reasons explained earlier (indefinite/ongoing).

Finnish has no words like English “a” or “the”. How do I know when the sentence means “these mistakes”, “some mistakes”, or “the mistakes”?

Finnish doesn’t have articles, so those meanings are expressed through:

  1. Demonstratives (like “this/that/these/those”):

    • nämä virheet – these mistakes
    • näitä virheitä – these (some) mistakes
    • ne virheet – those / the mistakes (known ones)

  2. Context and case:

    • virheitä (partitive, no demonstrative) often feels like “some mistakes / mistakes in general”.
      • Näen virheitä kaikkialla verkossa. – I see mistakes everywhere online.
    • ne virheet (with ne) can clearly mean “those (particular) mistakes”.

In your sentence, näitä virheitä explicitly encodes the “these” idea, so English translates it naturally as “these mistakes”.