# mikä v mitä tapahtui?



## Setwale_Charm

Hei!!
My phrasebook translates: _what happened?_ as _mitä tapahtui?_
 But isn't the question word the subject here that should be used in Nominative case?


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## Grumpy Old Man

_Mitä tapahtui?_ is correct. As to cases, you need another expert to shed light on that!


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## jonquiliser

Maybe it could be explained as a difference between specific and general: if you use mikä, you're referring to something particular, specific whereas mitä is indefinite. Think of a phrase like "mikä on suosikkisi?" (i.e., you have a favourite and that's the one I am asking about). In "mitä tapahtui?" you can't speak about something specific because you don't know what's happened. The nature of the question is indefinite - you also wouldn't say "which happened?" in English (generally). 
Don't know if this explanation makes anything clearer though


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## astlanda

Something similar happens in Estonian and probably all the other Finnic languages.
I have explained it here:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1024908#post5911065

It does not match 100% with Finnish, but you can get the general idea.


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