Editing Finnish grammar (section)

==Sentence structure==

===Word order===
Since Finnish is an agglutinative language, word order within sentences can be much freer than, for example, English. In English the strong [[subject–verb–object]] order typically indicates the function of a noun as either subject or object although some English structures allow this to be reversed. In Finnish sentences, however, the role of the noun is determined not by word order or sentence structure as in English but by case markings which indicate subject and object.

The most usual neutral order, however, is [[subject–verb–object]]. But usually what the speaker or writer is talking about is at the head of the sentence.

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Finnish !! English!!Note
|-
| {{lang|fi|koira puri miestä}} || 'the dog bit the man' || we are talking of the dog and what it did
|-
| {{lang|fi|miestä puri koira}} || 'the man was bitten by a/the dog' ||we are talking about the man and what it was that bit him, e.g. not a snake
|-
| {{lang|fi|koira miestä puri}} || 'it was a dog that bit the man' || we are confirming that it was a/the dog that bit the man, not some other animal
|}

Here {{lang|fi|koira}} ('dog') is in the nominative form but {{lang|fi|mies}} ('man') is marked as object by the case marked form {{lang|fi|miestä}}. This sentence is a bald statement of fact. Changing the word order changes the emphasis slightly but not the fundamental meaning of the sentence.

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Finnish !! English !! Note
|-
| {{lang|fi|minulla on rahaa}} || 'I have money' || a bald statement of fact
|-
| {{lang|fi|rahaa minulla on}} || 'money is something I do have' || although I may not have something else
|-
| {{lang|fi|rahaa on minulla}} || 'The money is with me' || I am telling you where the money is
|-
| {{lang|fi|minulla rahaa on}} || 'I've definitely got (the) money' || I am confirming that I do have (the) money
|-
| {{lang|fi|on minulla rahaa}} || 'Yes, I do have (the) money' || if having money has been questioned
|}

{{lang|fi|Minulla}} here is the word {{lang|fi|minä}} (I) in a case form ending {{lang|fi|-lla}} which when used with the verb {{lang|fi|olla}} (to be, expressed here in the form {{lang|fi|on}}) expresses ownership. This is because Finnish does not have a verb form equivalent of the English word 'have'. {{lang|fi|Minulla}} is not considered the subject.

And finally, a classic example:

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Finnish !! Translation
|-
| {{lang|fi|minä olen valtio}} || 'I am the state' (matter-of-fact)
|-
| {{lang|fi|valtio olen minä}} || <nowiki>'</nowiki>{{lang|fr|L'État, c'est moi}}<nowiki>'</nowiki> (French – attributed to [[Louis XIV]])
|}

Besides the word-order implications of turning a sentence into a question, there are some other circumstances where word-order is important:

===Existential sentences===
These are sentences which introduce a new subject – they often begin with 'there is' or 'there are' in English.

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Finnish !! English
|-
|{{lang|fi|huoneessa on sänky}} || 'there is a bed in the room'
|}

The location of the thing whose existence is being stated comes first, followed by its stative verb, followed by the thing itself. Note how this is unlike the normal English equivalent, though English can also use the same order:

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Finnish !! English
|-
| {{lang|fi|siellä seisoi mies}} || '(in/out) there stood a man'
|}

===Forming questions===
There are two main ways of forming a question – either using a specific question word, or by adding a {{lang|fi|-ko/-kö}} suffix to one of the words in a sentence. A question word is placed first in the sentence, and a word with the interrogative suffix is also moved to this position:

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Interrogatives (questions)
|-
! Finnish !! English
|-
| {{lang|fi|mikä tämä on?}} || 'what is this?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|tämä on kirja}} || 'this is a book'
|-
| {{lang|fi|onko tämä kirja?}} || <nowiki>'</nowiki>'''is''' this a book?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|tämäkö on kirja?}} || 'is '''this''' a book?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|kirjako tämä on?}} || 'is this '''a book'''?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|eikö tämä ole kirja?}} || 'is this '''not''' a book?'<br />(note the {{lang|fi|-kö}} goes on the negative verb)
|}

=== Forming answers ===
The response to a question will of course depend on the situation, but grammatically the response to a question typically follows the grammatical structure in the question. Thus a question structured in the inessive case (e.g. {{lang|fi|missä kaupungissa asut?}} 'in which town do you live?') will have an answer that is also in the inessive (e.g. {{lang|fi|Espoossa}} 'in Espoo') unless special rules dictate otherwise. Questions which in English would be answered with 'yes' or 'no' replies are usually responded to by repeating the verb in either the affirmative or negative.

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Interrogatives (questions)
|-
! Finnish !! English
|-
| {{lang|fi|mihin päin ne lähtee?}} || 'which way are they headed?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|Helsinkiin}} || 'towards Helsinki'
|-
| {{lang|fi|onko sinulla avain?}} || 'have you got the key?' 
|-
| {{lang|fi|on}}/{{lang|fi|ei ole}} || 'yes'/'no' ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'is'/'is not' in possession)
|-
| {{lang|fi|menettekö leffaan?}} || 'are you guys going to the movies?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|menemme}}/{{lang|fi|emme mene}} || 'yes'/'no' ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'we are going'/'we are not going')
|-
| {{lang|fi|aiotko lähteä ilman pipoa?}} || 'Are you intending to go off without a hat?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|aion}} || 'Yes' ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'I intend')
|}

The words {{lang|fi|kyllä}} and {{lang|fi|ei}} are often shown in dictionaries as being equivalent to 'yes' and 'no', but the situation is a little more complicated than that.  The typical response to a question which in English is answered 'yes' or 'no' is, as we see above, more usually answered by repeating the verb in either an affirmative or negative form in the appropriate person. The word 'kyllä' is rather a strong affirmation in response to a question and is similar to the word 'niin' which is an affirmation of a response to a statement of fact or belief. (However, in conversations, {{lang|fi|niin}} may even simply mean that the sentence was heard, not expressing any sort of concurrence. The same problem occurs with the colloquial {{lang|fi|joo}} "yeah".)

:{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Kyllä and Niin
|-
! Finnish !! English
|-
| {{lang|fi|aiotko lähteä ilman pipoa?}} (question)|| 'Are you intending to go off without a hat?'
|-
| {{lang|fi|kyllä}} || 'Yes, I sure am' (Strong affirmation. I really do intend to go bareheaded)
|-
| {{lang|fi|on hölmöä lähteä ulos talviaikana ilman pipoa}} (statement) || 'it is foolish to go out in wintertime without a hat'
|-
| {{lang|fi|niin}} || 'Yes indeed' (I agree with your statement)
|}

The word {{lang|fi|ei}} is the negative verb form and has to be inflected for person and the verb itself is usually present, though not always.

:{{lang|fi|osaatko sinä saksaa?}} 'can you (speak) German?'
::{{lang|fi|en}} ('no'; {{abbr|lit.|literally}} 'I don't')
or better
::{{lang|fi|en osaa}} ('I can't')