5. How to ask a question in Finnish? (Kuka, mikä)

In Finnish, like in other languages, there are two types of questions.
1. There are questions that have an interrogative pronoun in them: what, who, where, how much etc.
2. There are yes/no questions: did you/do you/will they/can I..

The first type of questions are easy. You just take the sentence and add the question word in the beginning. For example:

Hän on. She is.
Kuka hän on? Who is she?

Unlike in English, the word order is the same both when you ask a question and when you don't, the only difference is the word in the beginning: who/what/where.. etc.

who: kuka
what: mikä

Tämä on. This is.
Mikä tämä on? What is this?   

As you can see, in English the words this and is change places. 
In Finnish the order is always the same.

Minä olen. I am.
Kuka minä olen? Who am I?  

Olet. You are.
Kuka olet? Who are you?

Hän puhuu. He speaks.
Kuka puhuu? Who speaks?

Hän on Anne. She is Anne.
Kuka on Anne? Who is Anne?

where: missä

Sinä olet. You are.
Missä sinä olet? Where are you? 

Olen. I am.
Missä olen? Where am I?

Tämä poika on. This boy is.
Missä tämä poika on? Where is this boy?

Äiti on. The mother is.
Missä äiti on? Where is the mother?



Next lesson:

How to ask a question in Finnish? (-ko, -kö)