Kuka on siellä?

to be

Breakdown of Kuka on siellä?

• siellä: there
• kuka: who

Questions & Answers about Kuka on siellä?

What does each word in Kuka on siellä? literally mean and what are their grammatical roles?

• kuka – who

  • Interrogative pronoun (question word) for people
  • Nominative singular
  • Acts as the subject of the sentence

• on – (he/she/it) is

  • 3rd person singular present tense of the verb olla (to be)
  • The verb (also called the copula here)

• siellä – there

  • A place adverb meaning “there (in that place)”
  • Formed historically from se (that/it) + adessive ending -llä
  • Functions as an adverbial of place (tells where)

So grammatically the sentence is: Who (subject) + is (verb) + there (place adverbial)?

Why do we need the verb on? Can you say just Kuka siellä??

In standard written Finnish, you normally include the verb on in sentences like this, so:

• Correct standard: Kuka on siellä?

However, in everyday spoken Finnish, people very often drop the verb on in this kind of short question, especially on the phone or at the door:

• Kuka siellä? – literally “Who there?”

This shorter version is very natural in speech but is considered elliptical (incomplete) in formal writing. So:

• Speaking informally: Kuka siellä? is fine.
• Writing or speaking carefully: prefer Kuka on siellä?