I find Duolingo’s introduction of the words meaning “here” and “there” (tuossa and tässä) pretty good! They are quite consistent with it in the beginning, so it really helps. It’s only in later lessons where things get super tricky.

The basics: Duolingo introduces the words “here” and “there” as follows: tässä “right here”, täällä “over here”, tuossa “right there” and tuolla “over there”. As you progress further into these lessons, eventually Duolingo also starts to accept plain “here” for täällä rather than “over here”.

You can read more about how to say “here” and “there” in Finnish in my separate article.

The article you’re reading right now contains two sections:

1. Section 1 contains sentences with “here” and “there” at the end of the phrase.
2. Section 2 contains sentences with “here” and “there” at the beginning of the phrase.

This is important, because the different word order conveys a different type of meaning in Finnish!

Section 1: “here” and “there” at the end of the phrase

1.1. Tässä – Right here

The word tässä can be translated to English as “here” or “right here”. When first introducing this word, Duolingo is very insistent on translating tässä as “right here”. This allows us to grasp the difference between tässä (referring to a small area) and täällä (referring to a larger area).

1.2. Täällä – Over here

The word täällä can be translated to English as “here” or “over here”. In comparison with tässä, täällä refers to a larger area.

1.3. Tuossa – Right there

The word tuossa can be translated to English as “there” or “right there”. The “right there” translation allows you to differentiate between tuossa and tuolla, which both refer to a place you can point at but not touch. They differ in what size the area is: tuossa is a small, specific spot while tuolla is a larger, general area.

1.4. Tuolla – Over there

The word tuolla can be translated to English as “there” or “over there” and refer to an area you can point at but not touch. In comparison with tuossa, tuolla refers to a larger, less clearly defined area.

Section 2: “here” and “there” at the beginning of the phrase

Once the previous section has been thoroughly drilled in, Duolingo switches things up and adds existential sentences. The meaning of the words as such doesn’t change, but the translation to English undergoes a massive – and confusing – change.

Why? It’s because word order in Finnish conveys different meanings, and in English this requires a completely different construction. English and Finnish don’t match up, so this creates confusion.

In Finnish, word order can be used to convey which part of the sentence is the new information. The old information will be put at the beginning of the phrase, while the new information will be placed at the end of the sentence. In English, you generally use the articles “a” and “the” for the same purpose. In addition, for location sentences, English also uses a separate sentence construction which contains the words “there is a”.

2.1. “There is a…”

The following table contains pairs which include the words tässä, täällä, tuossa and tuolla. For each pair, I’m giving you two word order options.

Phrases marked with #1 start with the subject and end with “here” or “there”. When putting the subject first in the sentence, we are conveying that this is the old information. For example, in the sentence “Kivi on tässä” (The rock is right here), this sentence serves the purpose of telling us where the rock is. We already knew that there was a rock but now, we learn the location of said rock.

In contrast, the sentence “Tässä on kivi” (There is a rock right here) serves the purpose of informing us of something I located. The sentence contains the new information that there is a rock here.

2.2. “It has a…”

Here is where the real trouble starts! Duolingo’s approach here is definitely not beneficial for new learners. The thing that trips up most learners is that the word tässä starts being translated as “it has”.

The problem is that “it has” doesn’t actually tell us what the subject is of the sentence. Even when we see the English translation, we are left wondering “What thing has a few raspberries?” and “Which thing has a blue flower?” This could have been avoided if Duolingo had first introduced sentences such as “Kasvissa on sininen kukka” (The plant has a blue flower) or “Pensaassa on vain muutama vadelma” (The bush has only a few raspberries). You do get a couple of sentences such as this, but they are only introduced later on.

So, “tässä on” can be translated as “it has a…“. However, it can also be translated as “There is a…”. For example, “Tässä on kaksi kukkaa” could be translated both as “There are two flowers here” and “It has two flowers”. For the latter sentence, the “it” could refer to a plant or a tree – any object that can have flowers.

Why is Duolingo so set on translating these sentences with “it has”? I suspect Duolingo really wants to teach you possessive sentences at this point. In English, there is no problem with “it has”: it follows the same pattern as “I have, you have, he has”. Unfortunately, Finnish doesn’t have a verb that by itself means “I/you/we have”. Instead, we use the “minulla on” sentence construction.

The caveat here is that when things have something, you do not use the same ending. Instead of the -lla form (the adessive case) you use the -ssa form (the inessive case).

Duolingo is not perfect. There’s one glaring mistake here that can’t be explained away: the sentence “Tässä on pieni pöllö“. Duolingo translates this as “It has a small owl”. However, finding a context where a thing has a small owl is difficult. I suppose it could be natural to say that an animal has a small owl. This sentence would be translated as “Sillä on pieni pöllö“.

Please also take a look at my own article on how to say “here” and “there” in Finnish. I expect that will be an easier to understand approach to the topic.

Related posts:

Tuossa Tuosta Tuohon – “Over There” in Finnish Tuolla Tuolta Tuonne – “Over There” in Finnish Siinä Siitä and Siihen – “There” in Finnish Duolingo: Introduction of the partitive case