Learn Finnish: basics and tips for beginners
Finnish is not exactly considered an easy language – but learning it is possible with a few tricks. If your personal motivation is right, for example if you have the goal of learning some Finnish vocabulary for your stay abroad or your holiday, then success will soon come naturally. To help you, we have created three lessons with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation rules that are perfect for all Finnish beginners. Let’s go!
Finnish (suomi) is a language that belongs to the Baltic Sea Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. It is closely related to Hungarian and Estonian.
| Own designation | suomi |
|---|---|
| Language origin | Uralic |
| Native speakers | approx. 5 million |
| Official language in | Finland |
| Dialects | 5 West Finnish and 2 East Finnish dialects |
Learn Finnish – Lesson 1: Basic vocabulary and grammar
Basic vocabulary
| Hello! | Hei! |
| Good morning/day/evening/night! | Hyvää huomenta/päivää/itaa/yötä! |
| How are you? | Mitä kuuluu? / Miten jaksaaat? |
| I am doing well. | Olen kunnossa. |
| yes | kyllä |
| no | ei |
| Here you go! | Ole hyvä! |
| Thank you! | Kiitos! |
| Excuse me? | Anteeksi kuinka? |
| Excuse me, … | Anteeksi, … |
| Bye! | Hei! / Heippa! |
The pronouns
| i | minä |
| you | sinä |
| he, she, it | hän, se |
| we | me |
| you | te |
| they | he |
Introduce yourself
| What is your name? | Mikä sinun nimesi on? |
| My name is … | Nimeni on … |
| Where are you from? | Mistä olet kotoisin? |
| I come from Great Britain. | Olen kotoisin Isosta-Britanniasta |
| I live in … | Asun … |
| I was born in … | Synnyin .. |
| I am … Years old. | Olen …-vuotias. |
| I work as … | Työskentelen … |
| And you? | Entä sinä? |
Basic grammar rules: What you should know
- Capitalisation: In Finnish, all nouns are written in lower case, as are names of months, days of the week and nationalities. Only the beginnings of sentences, proper and country names and polite pronouns such as Te for “you” are capitalised.
- Sentence order: As you may have already noticed in the vocabulary list for lesson 1, there are sentences without a subject in Finnish. This is because conjugated verbs can do without the 1st and 2nd person personal pronouns in the singular and plural. The sentence structure in Finnish is different: a distinction is made between declarative sentences in which the subject comes before the predicate and vice versa. If the predicate comes before the subject, these are “there are” sentences, in which the place is stated at the beginning of the sentence, or “have” sentences, in which the possession forms the subject. This is because in Finnish there is theoretically no verb “to have” and “to be” is used instead. Incidentally, the adjective always comes before the noun.
- Gender: There is no grammatical gender in Finnish, which is why hän is always used for persons in the 3rd person singular and se is used for objects or animals. If a person is described by their profession, for example, an ending is used to form the feminine form.
- Article: The same applies to articles: There are neither definite nor indefinite articles in Finnish. The definiteness or indefiniteness of a noun is expressed by adjectives or pronouns.
- Declension of nouns: In Finnish, nouns are declined according to cases, just like in German, for example. Case endings are added to the noun for this purpose. However, there are significantly more cases than in other languages: A total of 15 cases are distinguished in Finnish, which are used with adjectives, pronouns, nouns and number words.
- Inflection of adjectives: The adjective belonging to the noun is adapted to the noun with the appropriate case ending. Ex: an interesting museum – mielenkiintoista museota
- Conjugation and tenses: In Finnish, verbs are divided into six groups of verb types or conjugations. They have different endings, which are added to the infinitive stem. Finnish has the present, imperfect, perfect and past perfect tenses, but no future tense. The future is simply described in the present tense.
Vocabulary trainer: Basic vocabulary
Learn Finnish – Lesson 2: how to find your way around on holiday
On holiday
| On holiday | lomalla |
| Airport | lentoasema |
| Hand luggage | käsimatkatavara |
| Suitcase | matkalaukku |
| Rucksack | selkäreppu |
| Cash dispenser | pankkiautomaatti |
| book | varata |
| Passport | passi |
| Hotel | hotelli |
| Reception | vastaanotto |
| Floor / Storey | kerros |
| Room service | huonepalvelu |
| Holiday home | lomaasunto |
| Old town | vanhakaupunki |
| Bicycle | polkupyörä |
| Train | juna |
| Ticket | lippu |
| Travel guide | matkaopas |
| City map | kaupungin kartta |
| Museum | museo |
| hiking | retkeillä / vaeltaa |
| camping | telttailla, leiriytyä |
| swimming / bathing | uida |
Emergency
| Emergency | hätätapaus |
| Emergency call | hätähuuto |
| Help! | Apua! |
| Hospital | sairaala |
| Pharmacy | apteekki |
| Doctor | lääkäri |
Finnish pronunciation: what you need to know
In general, Finnish pronunciation is easier than you might think at first glance. Many things are pronounced the way you read them. But as with any other language, there are a few rules to follow.
Special characters å, ä and ö
The Finnish alphabet is identical to the Swedish alphabet and therefore contains the same special characters. You may have already noticed in the vocabulary lists that ä and ö appear quite frequently, whereas å does not appear at all.
This is because the å is only used in foreign words or Swedish names, which are more common in Finland. Ä and ö are both pronounced more openly than in German, or as for example in the English word “hat”. Incidentally, the y is pronounced like a German ü. The letters c, q, w, x and z also only occur in foreign words.
Vocabulary trainer: on holiday
Order and shop
| order | tilata |
| Restaurant | ravintola |
| Café | kahvio |
| I would like to have … | Haluaisin saada … |
| Bon appétit! | Hyvää ruokahalua! |
| Cheers! / Cheers! | Kippis! |
| Breakfast | aamiainen |
| Lunch | lounas |
| Dinner | illallinen |
| It tastes very delicious. | Se on erittäin maukasta. |
| Can I have the bill, please? | Saisinko laskun, kiitos? |
| May I pay, please. | Saanko maksaa, kiitos? |
| go shopping | mennä ostoksille |
| Shop / shop | kauppa |
| Supermarket | valintamyymälä / supermarketti |
| Fruit and vegetables | hedelmät ja vihannekset |
| Milk | maito |
| Meat | liha |
| Fish | kala |
| Bread | leipä |
| Water | vesi |
| Coffee | kahvi |
| Beer | olut |
| Wine | viini |
| Finnish alcohol shop | Alko |
| Clothing shop | vaatekauppa |
| Cash register | kassa |
| Bag | pussi |
| Where can I find … ? | Mistä löydän … ? |
| How much does it cost? | Kuinka paljon se maksaa? |
Getting your bearings
| (to) orientate oneself | suunnistaa |
| Entrance | sisäänkäynti |
| Exit | uloskäynti |
| Toilet | wc / käymälä |
| Tourist information | matkailutiedot |
| Railway station | rautatieasema |
| Bus stop | bussipysäkki |
| Post office | posti |
| Street | katu |
| Petrol station | huoltoasema |
| Exit | ulosajo |
| Car park | pysäköintipaikka |
| Car park machine | pysäköintimittari |
| Crossroads | risteys |
| Motorway | moottoritie |
| Roundabout | liikenneympyrä |
| Bridge | komentosilta |
| Excuse me, I have a question. | Anteeksi, minulla on kysymys. |
| Where is … ? | Missä on … ? |
| I am looking for … | Etsin … |
| How do I get there? | Miten pääsen sinne? |
| How far is it to … ? | Kuinka kaukana on … ? |
| I have lost my way. | Olen eksyksissä. |
| Turn back. | Käänny. |
| You have to turn right/left. | Sinun on käännyttävä oikealle/vasemmalle. |
| Go straight ahead. | Jatkakaa suoraan eteenpäin. |
| behind | takana |
| next to something | jonkin viereen |
| I would like a ticket from Helsinki to Turku. | Haluaisin lipun Helsingistä Turkuun. |
Learn Finnish pronunciation: the most important rules for beginners
- The pronunciation of long and short sounds is particularly important in Finnish, which is already clear from the spelling: Double letters (for both vowels and consonants) indicate a long sound. This is usually exactly twice as long as a single sound. Example: pankki for “bank”.
- It should also be noted that the stress in Finnish is always on the first syllable. Even with long words, the last syllable remains unstressed.
- Although there are only a few words whose meaning can be deduced, they do exist (e.g. hotelli for “hotel”). This is because foreign words are simply “infinned”, so to speak. An -i is often added to the end of the word.
Vocabulary trainer: On the road
Learn Finnish – Lesson 3: more everyday vocabulary
Weather
| Weather | sää |
| Weather forecast | sääennuste |
| Temperature | lämpötila |
| Degree | aste |
| Sun, sunny | aurinko, aurinkoinen |
| blue sky | sininen taivas |
| Rain, rainy | sade, sateinen |
| Wind, windy | tuuli, tuulinen |
| Snow | lumi |
| Ice, icy | jää, jäinen |
| Frost | pakkanen |
| Hail | rakeet |
| Fog, misty | sumu, sumuinen |
| Cloud, cloudy | pilvi, pilvinen |
| Storm | myrsky |
| Thunderstorm | ukkomyrsky |
| Lightning | salama |
| Thunder | ukkonen |
| wet | märkä |
| moist | kostea |
| dry | kuiva |
| smooth | sileä |
| warm | lämmin |
| cold | kylmä |
| Season | vuodenaika |
| Spring | kevät |
| Summer | kesä |
| Autumn | syksy |
| Winter | talvi |
Numbers from 0-10
| zero | nolla |
| one | yksi |
| two | kaksi |
| three | kolme |
| four | neljä |
| five | viisi |
| six | kuusi |
| seven | seitsemän |
| eight | kahdeksan |
| nine | yhdeksän |
| ten | kymmenen |
Days of the week
| Weekday | viikonpäivä |
| Monday | maanantai |
| Tuesday | tiistai |
| Wednesday | keskiviikko |
| Thursday | torstai |
| Friday | perjantai |
| Saturday | lauantai |
| Sunday | sunnuntai |
Learn Finnish pronunciation: 3 tips
1. In Finnish, it is a good idea to learn the vocabulary in writing first, i.e. to internalise the spelling. This is because the pronunciation can often be derived from the spelling of a word, especially when double sounds or special characters occur.
2. In the next step, you can use audio material to make the pronunciation even clearer. When a native speaker speaks, it naturally sounds a little different. Audio language courses are suitable for this, and if you are already advanced, audio books or Finnish films, TV programmes and radio are good options.
3. If you want to train your pronunciation even more specifically and are already confident in writing, you can use the recording function on your mobile phone or another device to check yourself. Use audio samples and repeat them. Then compare the two recordings.
Vocabulary trainer: weather, numbers, days
FAQ: Learn Finnish?
Finnish is definitely not as easy to learn as the other Scandinavian languages. This is not only due to the complex grammar, because in contrast to the English language, where they aren’t present, there are 15 grammatical cases here. The spelling of the words is also a little more complicated and you can’t immediately guess the meaning of them. What makes it a little easier, however, is the fact that there are no articles or genders – a genderless language, so to speak.
So if you’re fit in language learning and looking for a challenge, you’ll have fun learning Finnish. For everyone else who wants a more straightforward introduction, learning Swedish is a good option.
Finnish and Norwegian are generally difficult to compare with each other. While Finnish has a few similarities with Eastern European languages, Norwegian is derived from Old Norse and is one of the three mainland Scandinavian languages.
Norwegian is therefore a little easier to understand directly, as it is closer to English. The only slightly more complicated thing here is that a distinction is made between the standard varieties Bokmål and Nynorsk. Individual words and some of the grammar rules vary between the two. Furthermore, there is no “High Norwegian”, as dialects are spoken.
Learn Finnish in depth
Do you like the Finnish language and fancy the challenge of learning more? Then we have a few tips for you. Ideally, you should take a language course that helps you go through the grammar step by step.
Learn Finnish online or via app
If you want to be flexible or don’t have a local offer, online courses are also an option.
Unfortunately, Babbel and Duolingo do not offer Finnish language courses. Alternatively, mondly offers an app for learning and speaking Finnish. You can use this free of charge, for more features there is a premium version for different durations.
Books, audio books & audio language courses
For self-learners, there is of course also support in the form of books, audio books or audio language courses. These can be used flexibly and individually, depending on the occasion for which you want to learn, what level you are at or how intensively you want to learn Finnish.
