# definite/indefinite + numbers



## Gavril

Would the following phrases all be translated with _kolme miestä_ in Finnish, or would some of them have a different construction?
_
three men
__the three men
the three smartest men_
_three of the smartest men _(_that I know_) 

I think the last would normally be translated _kolme älykkäimmistä _(_tuntemistani_)_ miehistä_, but could it also be translated with _kolme älykkäintä miestä_?

K


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## Grumpy Old Man

"Yes" is a short answer to all of your questions. However, Finnish nouns can have numerous inflected forms, so in many contexts there would be other possibilities as well.

Even though there are no articles in Finnish there are other ways to convey the idea expressed by the articles in English, should that turn out necessary. For example:

_I met *the* three men yesterday. Tapasin [*nuo/ne/kyseiset*] kolme miestä eilen._

GOM


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## Gavril

Grumpy Old Man said:


> "Yes" is a short answer to all of your questions. However, Finnish nouns can have numerous inflected forms, so in many contexts there would be other possibilities as well.
> 
> Even though there are no articles in Finnish there are other ways to convey the idea expressed by the articles in English, should that turn out necessary. For example:
> 
> _I met *the* three men yesterday. Tapasin [*nuo/ne/kyseiset*] kolme miestä eilen._
> 
> GOM



So, just to be sure, is the following perfectly good Finnish?

_kolme älykkäintä tuntemaani miestä eivät edes käyneet yliopistoa
_"Three of the smartest men I know didn't even go to university"


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## Grumpy Old Man

Gavril said:


> So, just to be sure, is the following perfectly good Finnish?
> 
> _kolme älykkäintä tuntemaani miestä eivät edes käyneet yliopistoa
> _"Three of the smartest men I know didn't even go to university"


Perfect! (_Kolme_ with a capital letter and a period at the end of the sentence, of course.)

GOM


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## Hakro

Note that sometimes definite and indefinite forms can be expressed by the verb:

_Kolme miestä meni ulos_ - there were several men but only three of them went out.
_Kolme miestä menivät ulos_ - there were just three men and they all went out.


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> Note that sometimes definite and indefinite forms can be expressed by the verb:
> 
> _Kolme miestä meni ulos_ - there were several men but only three of them went out.
> _Kolme miestä menivät ulos_ - there were just three men and they all went out.



Hyvä ymmärtää tämä ero. Kiitos!


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