Vanha mies elää vielä.

Finnish does not have articles. There is no direct equivalent of English a/an or the.

So vanha mies can mean:

• an old man
• the old man
• just old man in a general sense

The exact interpretation comes from context.

Both are in the nominative singular, which is the basic dictionary form.

That is what you normally use for the subject of a sentence:

• vanha mies = the subject
• elää = the verb
• vielä = an adverb

So this is a very basic sentence structure:

• [subject] + [verb] + [adverb]

In Finnish, adjectives usually agree with the noun they describe in case and number.

Here:

• vanha = old
• mies = man

Since mies is nominative singular, vanha is also nominative singular.

For example:

• vanha mies = old man
• vanhan miehen = of the old man
• vanhassa miehessä = in the old man

So the matching forms are completely normal.

Here it is the 3rd person singular present: lives.

This is a common point of confusion because the infinitive is also elää. So the form can look identical.

You tell them apart from the context:

• after a subject like vanha mies, elää is understood as lives
• if it appears where an infinitive is expected, it means to live

Compare:

• Vanha mies elää vielä. = The old man still lives.
• On hyvä elää täällä. = It is good to live here.

Finnish usually does not need a separate subject pronoun when the subject noun is already there.

So:

• Vanha mies elää vielä. = perfectly natural

Adding hän would usually be unnecessary here.

Finnish often avoids repeating pronouns when the subject is already clear. The noun vanha mies already tells you who is doing the action.

Here vielä means still.

It adds the idea that the situation continues up to now:

• elää = lives
• elää vielä = is still alive / still lives

Depending on context, vielä can also have meanings like:

• yet
• more
• another
• further

But in this sentence, still is the natural meaning.

Yes, Finnish word order is more flexible than English word order, but different orders can change the emphasis.

The most neutral order here is:

• Vanha mies elää vielä.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Vanha mies vielä elää.
  This can sound more emphatic, like the old man is still alive, after all
• Vielä vanha mies elää.
  This is much more marked and depends heavily on context

So the given sentence is the best neutral version for a learner to remember first.

Because in Finnish, descriptive adjectives normally come before the noun, just like in English.

So:

• vanha mies = old man
• nuori nainen = young woman
• iso talo = big house

That is the standard order.

A simple approximation is:

• elää ≈ eh-LAA
• vielä ≈ VYEH-lah or VIE-lä

A few useful points:

• Finnish stress is usually on the first syllable
• ää is a long vowel, so it lasts longer than a short ä
• ä is a front vowel, somewhat like the vowel in British cat, but not exactly the same
• ie in vielä forms a diphthong

So the rhythm is roughly:

• VAN-ha MIES e-LÄÄ VIE-lä

Mies usually means man, but in some contexts it can also mean husband.

For example:

• vanha mies = old man
• minun mieheni = my husband

In your sentence, without any extra context, mies is understood as man.

A couple of useful comparisons:

Plural

• Vanhat miehet elävät vielä.
• The old men still live / are still alive.

Changes:

• vanha → vanhat
• mies → miehet
• elää → elävät

Past tense

• Vanha mies eli vielä.
• The old man was still alive / still lived.

So this sentence is a good example of the basic present-tense singular pattern, and you can build from it.