3 ms·

I think the distinction you are looking for is the articles. In english you have dog and dogs, but can add articles and say 'these dogs' 'those dogs' 'the dogs

I think the distinction you are looking for is the articles. In english you have dog and dogs, but can add articles and say 'these dogs' 'those dogs' 'the dogs' and so on. In languages like finnish, the articles are included in the word, thus more variations when you take case and word genders into consideration.

eMSF 8y ago
No word genders in Finnish, sorry! :-) Also, pronouns like "these" and "those" can't be included in the word in Finnish -- however, those that indicate ownership can (i.e. my dog/s, or the genetive case* ). There's no direct equivalent of "the dog" in Finnish either, the closest being "these/those dogs" where applicable. * For language nerds: considering the subject (that emphasizes the many declensions in Finnish), it is somewhat ironic that both "my dog" and "my dogs" is the same single word in formal Finnish. Unlike many other cases, plain genetive doesn't allow distinction between singular and plural.
- NoNameHaveI 8y ago
  "No word genders in Finnish, sorry!" No direct word for "please" either, unless you want to count kiitos, which I understand as thank you.
amaccuish 8y ago
> but can add articles and say 'these dogs' FYI those aren't articles, but demonstrative adjectives, which are part of the language class of determiners, to which articles also belong.