# what is this? / what are these?



## Gavril

Hyvää uutta vuotta,

In English, if you run into a group of something (two or more), and aren’t sure exactly what they are, then you can express this uncertainty by saying either _What are these? _or _What is this?_

For example, if you run into a group of trees, you might say, _What kind of trees are these? _Or _What kind of tree is this?_

How would you normally express this meaning in Finnish? Would all of the following be acceptable?

1) _Millaiset puut nämä ovat?_
2) _Millaisia puita nämä ovat?_
3) _Millainen puu tämä on? _(even if there are many trees)


Kiitos


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## Grumpy Old Man

From a strictly botanical point of view, I would say: _Mitä puita nämä ovat?_ That is of course perfectly grammatical and consequently you are unlikely to hear anyone utter that sentence in informal contexts.  If you point at a single tree, you can say: _Mikä puu tuo/tämä on?_ The answer could be: Se on kataja. (Informal: _Mitä puita nää on?_)

Millaisia puita nämä ovat? is grammatically fine but the answer to it would usually have an adjective or some other similar description: _Ne ovat vanhoja / pitkiä / paksukaarnaisia_ jne. This means that people are not very likely to ask this question.


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## akana

What about when referring to items that are always in the nominative plural? For example, if I were referring to some sort of strange pliers that I didn't recognize, would I say:

Mikä tämä on?
Mitkä nämä ovat?
Mitä nämä ovat?

Ne ovat hohtimet.

And what if I didn't know it was in the nominative plural? Would the respondent correct my grammar:

Mikä tämä on?
Ne ovat pinsetit.

Or say:
Se on pinsetit.


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## Hakro

akana said:


> What about when referring to items that are always in the nominative plural? For example, if I were referring to some sort of strange pliers that I didn't recognize, would I say:
> 
> Mikä tämä on? OK, if you don't know it's always plural.
> Mitkä nämä ovat? OK, you obviously know it's always plural.
> Mitä nämä ovat?  unless there are several pliers.
> 
> And what if I didn't know it was in the nominative plural? Would the respondent correct my grammar:
> 
> Mikä tämä on?
> Ne ovat pinsetit.
> Or say:
> Se on pinsetit.


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