--- title: "onks" book_form: "onko" translation: "Is there? Is it? Do you have?" type: "word" category: "puhekieli" url: "https://finnishirl.com/words/onks" canonical: "https://finnishirl.com/words/onks" published: "2026-10-01" updated: "2026-10-01" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "Finnish IRL" license: "https://finnishirl.com/terms#ip" --- # onks URL: https://finnishirl.com/words/onks Book form (kirjakieli): onko Translation: Is there? Is it? Do you have? Pronunciation: /onks/ Category: puhekieli Archetypes: spoken Region: Finland Register: neutral spoken Finnish Literal meaning: Onko, the question form of on, with the clitic shortened. Tone and safety: Safe with everyone in speech. Write onko. Published: 2026-10-01 Quick answer: - Onks is onko, is there or is it, with the question clitic worn down to -ks. - Finnish does not reorder words or add a helper verb to ask something. It attaches -ko or -kö to one word and fronts it, and whichever word carries the clitic is the word being questioned. Menitkö sinä eilen asks did you go. Sinäkö menit eilen asks whether it was you. Eilenkö sinä menit asks whether it was yesterday. Same three words. - In speech that clitic becomes -ks and the pronoun glues on behind it, which is why a whole question arrives as a single word: onks, meetsä, tuutsä, tiiätsä. What it means: - Onks teillä tätä? Do you have this? Onks se auki? Is it open? It asks whether something exists or is the case, and it is the first word out of your mouth in any shop. - English builds a question by moving words around and borrowing a verb it does not otherwise need. Do you have this. Finnish does neither. It picks the word the question is really about, sticks one letter on it, and puts it first. Book form vs spoken form: - The written marker is -ko or -kö, chosen by vowel harmony: onko, meneekö, tuletko. Speech grinds it down to -ks and stops distinguishing the two, so meneeks and tuleeks come out with the same ending. - Then the pronoun attaches behind it. Menetkö sinä is two words and eleven letters on the page. Meetsä is one word and six, and it is the same question. - Onko has not vanished from speech. It survives in careful talk, in the news and in anything read aloud. You will not hear it in a shop. How Finns use it: - The clitic works like a spotlight. Menitkö sinä eilen asks the plain question, did you go yesterday. Sinäkö menit eilen asks whether it was you. Eilenkö sinä menit asks whether it was yesterday. The three words never change. Only the letter moves. - You will hear the short version of that trick as a one-word reply. Mäkö, often lengthened to Määkö, when a question has just been pointed at you. Sekö? That one? - There is a softer relative with an -s on the end. Onkos, mitäs, joko sä tulit. The -s takes the edge off and makes a question sound friendlier, which is why the classic Christmas Eve line at the door is Onkos täällä kilttejä lapsia. - The everyday shape is the checking question, and it is how you ask a stranger something: onks tää oikee bussi, onks tää vapaa, onks teillä hetki. Tone and safety: - No register risk. Using onko in speech is not wrong, only heavier. In writing, onko. An email asking onks tää ok reads as a message to a friend. Common mistake: - Listening for -ko and hearing nothing. The marker is there, it is one consonant long, and it is buried in the middle of a word you thought you knew. - Expecting the vowel harmony split to survive. In speech both -ko and -kö come out as -ks, so that rule stops applying in speech. - Answering the wrong question. Sinäkö soitit does not mean did you call. It asks whether it was you who called, so a cheerful joo claims the call. Examples: - Onks teillä tätä isompana? - Do you have this in a bigger size? (written: Onko teillä tätä isompana?) - Onks tää oikee bussi? - Is this the right bus? (written: Onko tämä oikea bussi?) - Mäkö? - Me? (written: Minäkö?) Mini dialogue: A: Onks toi viimenen? B: Onks mikä? A: Toi bussi. Onks se viimenen. B: Ai. Ei oo, yks tulee vielä. FAQ: Q: What does onks mean? A: Is there, is it, or do you have. It is the spoken form of onko. Q: What happened to the -ko ending? A: It wore down to -ks. The marker is still there, one consonant long, and speech stops distinguishing -ko from -kö. Q: How do I ask a question in spoken Finnish? A: Put the questioned word first and attach -ks, then let the pronoun stick to the back of it: onks sulla, tuutsä, meetsä. The whole question arrives as one word. Q: Why does moving the -ko change the meaning? A: Because the clitic marks what is being asked about. Menitkö sinä eilen questions the going, sinäkö menit questions who, and eilenkö sinä menit questions when. Q: What is onkos, with an -s? A: The same question made friendlier. The -s clitic softens a question, and it is why Finnish Santa knocks and asks onkos täällä kilttejä lapsia and not the flatter onko. Q: Do I need this for the YKI test? A: For listening and speaking, yes. Questions in the recordings arrive in this fused form, and a candidate who has only met onko will lose marks on words they already know. Related words: ei-oo, oon, sa, ma, mun, meen, mennaan, mulla-on Sources: - VISK § 1679 - hakukysymys, vaihtoehtokysymys ja partikkelikysymys (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=1679 - VISK § 888 - kysymyslauseen ominaisuuksia (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=888 - VISK § 144 - osaatsä, emmä, kuulittekste (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=144 - VISK § 802 - Mennäänks meille, jooko, kai mä voin tulla (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=802 - VISK § 1662 - the conditional in a question: tulisitteko jo (Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=1662 - Kielitoimiston sanakirja: olla (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/olla