Questions & Answers about Minulla on tabletti kotona.
In Finnish, possession is usually expressed with a special structure: the possessor is put in the adessive case (with the ending -lla / -llä) and the verb is olla (to be). So minä (I) becomes minulla (on/at me). Literally, Minulla on tabletti is On me is a tablet, which corresponds to English I have a tablet.
-lla / -llä is the adessive case ending. Its basic meaning is location on / at / with something:
- pöydällä – on the table
- asemalla – at the station
- lapsella on koira – the child has a dog (literally: on the child is a dog)
In possession sentences, Finnish uses this same adessive ending on the owner (minulla, sinulla, lapsella) instead of a separate verb to have.
On is the 3rd person singular form of olla (to be). In this kind of sentence, the verb agrees with the thing that exists / is had, not with the possessor.
- Minulla on tabletti. – There is a tablet (at me).
Here the verb goes with tabletti (a 3rd-person thing), so it uses on, not olen.