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

Now we have learned how to ask a question with interrogative pronouns like what, who and where.
How do we ask a question without them, a question like:
Do you speak English?

These type of questions can be answered with a yes or a no. In English they often start with do or does or did (or other verbs.)

In Finnish these type of questions always have the question ending -ko or -kö.
Usually the ending is added to the verb: to be, to do, to speak etc.

For example:
Puhut englantia. You speak English.
Puhutko englantia? Do you speak English?

So here, we take the verb to speak (puhut) and simply add the ending to it. And so we have a question.

Sometimes The ending is used with other words as well:
Tämä. This.
Tämäkö? This?

The word with the ending -ko is always the first word of the sentence.
So when the sentence does not start with the verb, we take the verb, add the ending -ko to it, and make it the first word.
Tämä on kuva. This is a picture.
 We take the verb on, add the ending -ko to it, 
on -> onko,
and make it the first word.
Onko tämä kuva? Is this a picture?

Se on kello. It is a clock.
Onko se kello? Is it a clock?

Tyttö puhuu suomea. The girl speaks Finnish.
Puhuuko tyttö suomea? Does the girl speak Finnish?

A question commonly asked when a baby is born:
Onko se tyttö vai poika? Is it a girl or a boy?

Äiti puhuu venäjää. The mother speaks Russian.
Puhuuko äiti venäjää? Does the mother speak Russian?

Onko tämä unta? Is this a dream?

Onko se tyttö vai poika? Is it a boy or a girl?
-No se on demari. - Well it is an SDP supporter. (a party in Finland)


Puhutko suomea? Do you speak Finnish?
Puhutko sinä englantia? Do you speak English?

So how can you know if the ending should have the two dots or not?
Is it -ko or -kö?
Here we have the exact same rule that we had with nationalities. Do you still remember how it went?
When talking about nationalities, an ending is added to the name of the country. The ending is either 
-lainen or -läinen.
If the word has A, O or U, the ending is -lainen. 
If the word has none of these vowels, the ending is -läinen.

So how do you know which ending to use? Here we have the simple rule again:
If the word has A, O or U in it, the ending is -ko.
If the word has none of these vowels, the ending is -kö. 

The next lesson:

7. The inflection of the verb