Finnish language basics are fascinating for two reasons. First, Finnish seems so random to most people. Second, the language explains many hidden cultural things.
I think it’s always a good idea to learn a little bit about the language of any country if the information is easily accessible!
Psst… Follow me on Instagram and join my Finnish lesson every Tuesday on Instagram Stories.
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Table of Contents
Soft Introduction to Finnish Basics
You might have seen the hilarious memes of a word similar in every other language but Finnish.
It’s like other languages are smoothly playing football together. Then the Finnish language arrives with ice-hockey skates.
I think you got my point.
Finnish belongs to the Finno-Ugric family of languages. Most of the other languages spoken in Europe belong to the Indo-European languages.
We Finns are used to being different. Nobody in Finland is expecting a visitor to speak Finnish.
That being said, we are deeply honored if you try to speak a couple of words or know a bit of our language. That makes us feel very special.
Also, the Finnish language is a great conversation topic if you are trying to make friends with a Finn.
Five Things You Must Know about the Finnish Language
Finnish has a couple of core principles which are super easy to remember.
Finnish has no article
A, an or the – Finnish has no such things. It’s the reason why we always forget articles in other languages.
Finnish has no ‘please’
We are straight-forward as it is but then there’s the fact that in Finnish we have no word for ‘please’.
There are plenty of ways to be courteous in Finnish but none of them have ‘please’ in them. It simply doesn’t exist in Finnish.
This specialty is why Finns are many times considered rude.
Finnish has no gender
There’s a strong emphasis on gender equality in the Finnish culture. It’s also hidden in our language. Finnish words have no grammatical gender. There are no feminine, masculine or neuter words. We don’t even have she or he. Our one word meaning the third person is hän and it can be a female or male.
Finnish has no prepositions
Okay, here is the biggest reason why written Finnish looks so weird.
In Finnish, instead of tiny prepositions (in, on, to, for, etc.), we use endings that are connected to the body of the word. That’s one reason why Finnish words look long.
a dog = koira
for a dog = koiralle
a chair = tuoli
on a chair = tuolilla
To understand a Finnish expression, in most cases, you need to check the end of the word.
We have only a couple individual words to express relations which we use without connecting them to the body of the word.
Finnish has a lot of compound words
Here is the other reason why Finnish words are long. We love compound words.
Most English compound words are compound words also in Finnish. For example:
a Wednesday evening = keskiviikkoilta
a summer holiday = kesäloma
a kitchen cabinet = keittiökaappi
Some English single words are compound words in Finnish. For example:
a fridge = jääkaappi
a computer = tietokone
a chore = kotityö
Combine a compound word with an ending or two and you’ll get word monsters. On the other hand, Finland is super logical and based on rules without exceptions.
Basic Phrases in Finnish
Here are the most popular phrases in Finnish. Finns love it if you can speak a little bit of Finnish. For us, it is a big honor that you want to learn our language.
Here are the 10 most popular Finnish phrases. Save this cheatsheet on Pinterest or take a screenshot.
How to Learn Finnish and Have Fun?
Learning languages should be fun! That helps our brain to remember and absorb new words.
If you want ‘to put on your Finnish antennas’ (that’s a Finnish idiom which sounds ga-ga in English), try:
- Listening Finnish music in Spotify (just type suomi into the Search box)
- Checking Finnish recipes, translating them into English and then cooking Finnish food
- Checking if your local library has any Finnish books
- Following Finnish-English Instagram accounts. Like mine! I have a Finnish lesson every Tuesday on my Instagram Stories.
Free Tools that Help You Learn Finnish
I handpicked three free resources if you want to learn Finnish online.
My Free Finnish Online Class
My free Finnish class, Spark Your Finnish, is brought to you by my paid in-depth beginner’s course, Conversational Finnish.
Spark Your Finnish is the ultimate free go-to resource for busy Finland lovers who want to learn simple methods of saying Finnish words. After taking this class, you’ll know how to say any Finnish word and see why Finnish isn’t impossible.
There are over 2700+ students already on my courses. By enrolling you’ll be subscribing to my helpful emails too.
I can’t wait to help you with your Finnish language journey. Enroll here in my free Finnish class – Spark Your Finnish.
Online Pronunciation Dictionary
Want to hear more Finns besides me pronouncing Finnish? For that, I recommend a site called FORVO. It’s a free online pronunciation dictionary.
Just type the word into the search box, and native Finnish speakers will say the word for you so you know how it should sound. There are over 50 000 Finnish words & phrases on the website.
Online Dictionary
Sanakirja.org is a quality online English-Finnish-English dictionary. Because it’s made by a Finn, it has a lot of options for different words in Finnish. I use this dictionary all the time.
Is there anything you would like to know about the Finnish language? Would you like to learn Finnish? Comment below and let me know!
Looking for more information about the Finnish language and culture? Check out some of my other posts:
Warm wishes from Finland,
Varpu
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Hello there!
I’m Varpu. One blonde,
travel-loving,
Finnish engineer driving this site.
I’ve loved Finland all of my life….although I haven’t visited yet!
I actually learned to pronounce Finnish from singing along to certain Nightwish songs….a little bit, anyway.
As far as i’m concerned, Finland is the most beautiful country in the world and has the most beautiful language I’ve ever heard. (I’m using it on a spiritual fantasy story I’m writing as what the characters call the “Old/High/Poet’s Tongue”, in which love-words and important documents and rituals are all conducted..)
Hei Rhiannon, wow your book sounds amazing. It’s so wonderful that you have incorporated Finnish into it. Travel planning is half of the fun of traveling (at least for me :D). Have a lovely weekend!
Completed your Finnish Pronunciation Course. Think I’ve been pronouncing my mom’s maiden name (Kemppainen) wrong. At least now I know correct Finnish pronunciation. Kiitos!
Hei Daryl! I’m so happy to hear that the course was helpful!! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time and letting me know, I really appreciate it.
Moi,
What is the difference between jääkaappi and pakastin ?
Hei Alex, sure! Jääkaappi is the fridge and pakastin is the freezer. 🙂 Hope that helped!
I am interesting in finnish language but in my country for study about finn very difficult.My country is Myanmar.Therefore I wanna study.
Hi! Yes, I understand, I hope these free online resources are helpful!!
Visiting Finland in Oct. Grandparents are from Finland My maiden name Siekkinen.
So great Barbara! You’ll have the best time here, it’s October so soon!
Hi Varpu, my grandparents came from Finland which I have found during my genealogy research. My parents and older sister spoke Finnish, but alas the language died with them. (I do remember all the Finnish words to “Jesus loves me” since we learned it in choir at the Finnish church I grew up next door to). I corresponded with a family in Finland some time ago but have lost contact. I now am intrigued by the Finns and culture. My DNA gave me 98% Finnish.
Hi Trudy, so great to read your story <3 I'm so happy you are here!
Hei Varpu,
When should I use “Olen” and when “Ma Oon”? Are they only the difference between “I’m” and “I am”?
Kiitos in advance. 😊
Edena
Hei Edena! You can use Olen, Mä oon, Minä olen, Mä olen or Oon – ALL are correct. From the most formal to spoken: Minä Olen, Olen, Mä Olen, Mä oon, Oon. Learn the version that is the easiest for you!
Moi Varpu, how do I say: i wish you lots of luck and keep my fingers crossed for you? Kiitos paljon☺️
Hei Judi! Yes, that would be: Toivotan sulle paljon onnea! ( I wish you lots of luck). We have the saying “keep my fingers crossed..”, but we rarely use it in this context. Meaning the same, but literally “keeping my thumbs up for you”: Pidän peukkuja sun puolesta. So, in the shortest possible spoken form: “Paljon onnea! Pidän peukkuja!” or longer: “Toivotan sulle paljon onnea ja pidän peukkuja sun puolesta!” 🙂
I’m glad for finding this site.There’s a lot of good Finnish movies and series on Netflix these days. Watching them made me really curious about the language, and now, thanks to you, I can learn some of it. Kiitos.
Hi Leandro! Thank you so much for your comment! Netflix is an awesome source for Finnish movies and series. For some reason, I’ve assumed that the selection you see there is somehow country specific. But now I now better! Thank you for a great tip!
Ola Leandro! Es Brasileiro? Fala finlandes? Tudo bem contigo? Estudo portugues e falo um poco de portugues these days.. Why do you want to learn Finnish? Obrigada e bom dia!
I am finding this sight fascinating. My grandparents came to America from Finland.My father spoke fluently the Finnish language. I wish he had taught us to speak it. My mother was not Finnish and used to get upset when he and his parents spoke in Finn because she didn’t speak or know the language. I believe that is why we were never taught to speak it. Sadly.To me it seems a bit complicated to understand. I know a few Finnish words but not as many as I would like. There are not many Finnish people left here on our city. They have all passed. Thank you for posting interesting information about Finland and the Finnish people. It is nice to read about the country and people where my grandparents came from.
Janice, so great to have you here! It’s a pleasure and privilege to write about Finland. I love talking about it <3 It was lovely to read your story. Such a pity that you don't know Finnish as much as you'd like to but luckily there are so many great free online tools to help you with that if you want!
Hei Varpu, Both my parents were born in Finland. I was born in Canada. I learn Finnish by listening to my parents speak their mother tongue. It was basic Finn. I have visited Finland four times. My little knowledge of the language helped me when visiting with my relatives. I have cousins that live in Imatra and an other in Palkane.
Hei Elizabeti! Wau, ihana kuulla sinun tarinasi! It’s so great you can speak Finnish with your relatives here in Finland <3
Hi Varpu
Thank you for the lots of helpful things in here. 🙂
I am planning to visit Finland hopefully this summer…so I am already trying to gather as many information and language skills as possible.
Thanks for the effort you put in this blog … I live in Hungary, my mother tongue is Hungarian, it is also a challenging language to learn LoL……but finnish is very difficult to memorize 🙂 as if I haven’t learnt anything ….but hopefully it will get better. I hardly can wait for the blue Fazer 😀
Hei Judit! I’m so happy that I could help and super excited that you are maybe coming to Finland! It’s amazing that you wish to learn some Finnish. <3
I am an American born Finn and was taught Finn by all my Finnish born grandparents whenI first learned to talk 86 years ago. I learned mine is a very formal Finn when I visited Finland about 29 years ago. I can correspond on Facebook in Finnish for myvrelatives who are older and don’t know English. I was wondeting why you used Miten voit? Instead of Kuinka se menne?
Dear Dorothy, thank you so much for commenting. I appreciate it. You have a wonderful question! Indeed, there are many ways of saying “How are you?” in Finnish (Mitä kuuluu / Miten voit / Miten menee etc.).
Finnish is quite difficult to pronounce when it comes to double letters.
For example, “tuli” is fire and “tuuli” is wind. The u is short in the first word and long in the last.
I chose “Miten voit” because it doesn’t have a double letter nor Finnish Ä in it. I was thinking it might be easier to say and remember.