Finnish phrasebook

Finnish (suomen kieli, suomi) is spoken in Finland and by Finns elsewhere, predominantly in Scandinavia. Whether travellers to Finland need to learn Finnish is doubtful, since most Finns — including virtually all under 50 — speak at least some English. However, since so few people make the effort, you're guaranteed to get delighted reactions if you try.

Understand

Blue = spoken by the majority, green=spoken by a (sizable) minority.

Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language and hence completely unrelated to most other languages. In particular, Finnish has grammatically nothing at all in common with the Nordic languages, English or Russian. Although there are many old loan words especially from Swedish but also from other European languages, they are not necessarily recognizable due to the very different phonology. The use of modern neologisms instead of borrowing is common, but there may be a less used loan word in addition to the neologism: a polygon may be called polygoni, although the common word is monikulmio (a direct translation from the Greek).

The origin of Finnish and its relatives traces back over 5000 years to nomadic peoples of the Ural mountains in Russia that migrated westward. The details of the migration and the relations between languages are still topics of scientific debate. The closest major modern relative, Estonian, is spoken across the Gulf of Finland. The Sámi languages of Lapland and the Murmansk Peninsula are also related, as are a host of small languages in Russia. While Hungarian is not by any means close, Hungary and Finland have a special relationship as Finnish for a long time was the only other Finno-Ugric language that was a main language of a sovereign country. Except for Kven in Northern Norway, Meänkieli in northern Sweden, Karelian, spoken by a minority across the eastern border, some other minority languages in Russia, and arguably Estonian, Finnish is not close to mutual intelligibility with any of its relatives.

Finnish is an agglunative language, and suffixes express what English expresses mostly with prepositions. For instance, junalippu Helsinkiin means "train ticket to Helsinki", while junalippu Helsinki is hard (but possible) to understand.

Also new words are often formed from the same root by endings: kirjain, kirjasin, kirjuri, kirjoitin, kirje, kirjelmä, kirjasto and kirjaamo are all substantives related to kirja, "book" (letter, font, bookkeeper, printer, ...), and then there are related verbs and adjectives.

Reading signboards can be difficult as use of loan words is uncommon, and those used are not necessarily recognized. Using a dictionary, especially for longer texts, is complicated by the word inflection; also the stem of many words varies somewhat (such as lippu, lipun for ticket).

Colloquial speech differs significantly from what is described here: (minä) olen → mä oon ("I am"). The formal pronunciation is still more or less what you will hear in the news, what is taught in school and what is easiest for others to understand.

Pronunciation

The Finnish language is fairly easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.

Native English speakers tend to have the most problems with vowel length and the distinction between the front vowels (ä, ö, y) and back vowels (a, o, u). English does make similar distinctions – consider the "a" sounds of father (back) and cat (front), or the difference in the "i" sound for bit (short) and beat (long) – but you will need to pay extra attention to it in Finnish.

In Finnish, all vowels are single sounds (or "pure" vowels). Doubled letters are simply pronounced longer, but it's important to differentiate between short and long sounds. Example:

tuli (TO-ly) → fire

tuuli (TOO-ly) → wind

tulli (TUL-ly) → customs

kuuluu (KOO-loo) → is heard

kuluu (KO-loo) → is worn down

kulu (KO-lo) → expense

The basic Finnish alphabet consists of the following letters:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v y z ä ö

Additionally the letters š and ž appear in a small number of loanwords and are pronounced like English sh and as s in treasure, respectively. The letter w also occurs infrequently in proper names and is treated identically to v. Lastly, the letter å occurs in some Swedish proper names and is pronounced like a Finnish "oo" (similar to English "aw" as in "law"). The beginning learner needs not worry about these minutiae.

Vowels

The harmony of vowels Finnish has an unusual feature called vowel harmony, which means that the front vowels (ä, ö, y) and the back vowels (a, o, u) can never be found in the same word (compound words don't count, and the mid-vowels i, e are OK anywhere). This extends even into loanwords and conjugations: most Finns pronounce Olympia as olumpia, and suffixes with "a" bend into "ä" when necessary (jaa → jaata, jää → jäätä).

Long vowels are indicated simply by doubling the vowel in question.

a 

like a in father, but short and clipped

aa 

like a in father

e 

like e in get

ee 

not found in English, but just stretch out the e sound

i 

like i in bit

ii 

like ee in beet

o 

like o in nor

oo 

stretch out the o sound

u 

like u in rule — that's the same u as in German, Italian or Spanish

uu 

stretch out the u sound

y 

like German ü, similar to ew in few but with lips rounded (transcribed uu )

yy 

not found in English, but just stretch out the y sound

ä 

like a in cat

ää 

like a in bad

ö 

like German ö, similar to e in her (transcribed eu )

öö 

not found in English, but just stretch out the "ö" sound

Diphthongs (vowel sequences) like the uo of Suomi (Finland) are common. They retain the individual sounds of their vowels, but are slightly blended together to be pronounced in one "beat".

Consonants

Varistaipale canal, Heinävesi

If a Finnish consonant is doubled, it should be pronounced lengthened. For plosives like p, t, k, this means getting your mouth ready to say it, but pausing for a moment. Hence mato (worm) is "MA-to", but matto (carpet) is "MAT-to".

b 

as in English or approximated as p (rarely if ever used in native Finnish words)

c 

only in loanwords, pronunciation approximated as s or k

d 

as in English or as t (in native words only in conjugated words, with big variations between dialects)

f 

as in English or approximated as v (rarely if ever used in native Finnish words)

g 

like g in get or approximated as k (rarely if ever used in native Finnish words, except in ng, see below)

h 

like h in hotel, pronounced more strongly before a consonant

j 

like y in yes

k 

similar to English k, but unaspirated and slightly voiced

ks 

like English x

l m n 

as in English

ng 

like ng in sing

nk 

as ng + k

p 

similar to English p, but unaspirated and slightly voiced

r 

trilled, as in Spanish perro

s 

like ss in hiss

t 

as in English

v w 

like v in vine

z 

like ts in cats (not used in native Finnish words)

Stress and tone

Word stress is always on the first syllable and is usually weak; compounds words have more than one stressed syllable. Don't confuse stress with vowel length; they occur independently in Finnish. There is no tone whatsoever in Finnish speech, just a long string of fairly monotone sounds, with all syllables given equal value except the first one. Foreigners tend to think this makes the language sound rather depressing; Finns, on the other hand, wonder why everybody else's languages—including Russian—sound so sing-songy.

Grammar

Finnish grammar is radically different from English (or any Indo-European language, for that matter), making Finnish a rather difficult language to master, and Finns love to regale foreigners with horror stories of compound words a mile long and verbs with seventeen suffixes tacked on. Basically, everything in a sentence (nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns) inflects to indicate who is doing what, why, when and in what way, so constructing even a simple sentence requires lots of tweaking about:

I go to the shop. I quickly buy bread.

Menen kauppaan. Ostan nopeasti leipää.

go-I shop-to. buy-I quick-adverb bread-object.

Nouns can be declined in 14 different cases for handling things like "getting some coffee and getting the coffee, going into a pub, being in a pub, getting out of the pub, being on the roof, getting onto the roof, getting off the roof, using something as a roof and so on, which are encoded into the word endings (kahvia, kahvi, pubiin, pubissa, pubista, katolle, katolta, kattona).

Then there is a whole assortment of additional suffixes, leading to improbable but entirely grammatical monsters like talo ("house") → taloissammekinkohan ("also in our houses, perhaps?") or kala ("fish") → kalastajamaisuudettomuudellansakaan ("even by using his non-fisherman-likeness").

The good news is that most of these monstrosities are limited to formal written Finnish, although something like menisinköhän (go-would-I-question-doubting; thinking aloud: I'd perhaps go, what'd you think) is not too uncommon. It is possible to "speak like Tarzan" (without conjugating anything) in subject-verb-object order like English and still be more or less understood. Minä mennä kauppa, minä nopea ostaa leipä (I go shop, I quick buy bread) will get you a zero in Finnish class, but it gets the message across.

And there are some minor consolations for the aspiring student: Finnish has no articles and no grammatical gender. Rules for conjugation are often complex, but at least they are very regular (rules below are simplifications, which happen to work in many cases).

Phrase list

Common signs AUKI, AVOINNA  Open KIINNI, SULJETTU  Closed SISÄÄN(KÄYNTI)  Entrance ULOS(KÄYNTI)  Exit TYÖNNÄ  Push VEDÄ  Pull WC  Toilet HERRAT, MIEHET or M  Men NAISET or N  Women KIELLETTY  Forbidden SEIS  Stop

Phrases in the following phrase list use the informal singular (sinuttelu), which is by far the most common form in modern Finnish and appropriate for almost all situations a traveller might encounter.

Note: Due to the ease, specificity and regularity of Finnish pronunciation, the difficulty of transcribing long vowels, and the general inaccuracy of English-based phoneticizations, it is highly recommended you take a few minutes to learn the alphabet instead of relying on the phoneticizations. That being said, however, Finns are often quite excited to hear a foreigner attempt to speak the language and tend to be very forgiving of pronunciation blunders.

Basics

Kuopio as seen from the Puijo observation tower

Good day 

Hyvää päivää (HUU-vaa PIGH-vaa)

Hello (informal) 

Moi (MOI), Hei (HAY), Terve (TEHR-veh)

How are you? 

Mitä kuuluu? (MEE-ta KOO-loo?) (NOTE: this is not used merely as a conversational phrase as in English. Expect a longer story in response if you say this!)

Fine, thank you. 

Kiitos, hyvää. (KEE-toss, HUU-vaa)

What is your name? 

Mikä sinun nimesi on? (MEE-ka SEE-noon NEE-meh-see ohn?)

My name is ______ . 

Nimeni on ______ . (NEE-meh-nee ohn _____ .)

Nice to meet you. 

Hauska tavata. (HOWS-kah TAH-vah-tah)

Pretty pretty please? The word please doesn't translate very easily into Finnish, although starting requests with Saisinko... (Could I please have...) or Voisitko... (Could you please...) can often substitute. If you have been asked something (eg. "What would you like?", or "Where do you want to go?"), you can just state X, kiitos in response. Better yet, just smile!

Thank you. 

Kiitos. (KEE-tohss)

You're welcome. 

Ole hyvä (OH-lay HUU-va); Ei kestä. (AY KEHSS-ta)

Yes 

Kyllä (KUUL-la), Joo (yoh)

No. 

Ei. (ay)

Excuse me. (getting attention) 

Anteeksi (AHN-tehk-see)

Excuse me. (begging pardon) 

Anteeksi (AHN-tehk-see)

I'm sorry. 

Anteeksi (AHN-tehk-see)

Goodbye 

Näkemiin. (NAK-eh-meen.)

Goodbye (informal) 

Hei hei (HAY-hay), Moi moi (MOI-moi)

I can't speak Finnish 

En puhu suomea. (EN POO-hoo SOO-oh-meh-ah)

Do you speak English? 

Puhutko englantia? (POO-hoot-koh EHNG-lahn-tee-ah?)

Is there someone here who speaks English? 

Puhuuko kukaan täällä englantia? (POO-hoo-koh KOO-kahn TAAL-la EHNG-lahn-tee-ah?)

Help! 

Apua! (AH-poo-ah!)

Look out! 

Varo! (VAH-roh!)

Good morning. 

Hyvää huomenta. (HUU-vaa HOO-oh-mehn-tah)

Good evening. 

Hyvää iltaa. (HUU-vaa EEL-tah)

Good night. 

Hyvää yötä. (HUU-vaa UU-eu-ta)

Good night (to sleep) 

Hyvää yötä. (HUU-vaa UU-eu-ta)

I don't understand. 

En ymmärrä (EN UUM-mar-ra)

Where is the toilet? 

Missä on vessa? (MEES-sa ohn VEHS-sah?) – toilets in Finland are usually marked with a pictogram for men and women (or the letters M and N respectively), the text WC, or a cock, single toilets can also often be recognized by a green (vacant) or red (in use) colour by the lock

Common verbs

To be (minä) olen  "I am" (sinä) olet  "you (sg.) are" hän on  "he/she is" (me) olemme  "we are" (te) olette  "you all are" he ovat  "they are"

Similarly to Italian and Spanish, the verb by itself reveals the person, therefore the personal pronoun is often omitted, except in third person.

Shown is the imperative. Add -n to get menen, tulen "I go, I come", etc. Add -nko to get the question "Do I ...?", for instance saanko... "Can I take ...?". For the second person (sg.) the ending is -t: saat is "you may", voitko? is "can you?"

no 

ei (Ay); see infobox

don't 

älä (AH-la); plural or formal älkää (AHL-kaa), conjugation more complex

can 

voi (voy)

can? 

voiko? (VOY-koh?) – the -n comes before the -ko, so "can I?" is voinko?

buy 

osta (OH-sta)

come 

tule (TO-leh)

drive 

aja (AH-yah)

eat 

syö (see-euh) – tricky one

go 

mene (MEH-neh)

get (receive) 

saa (sUH) – stretch the vowel

give 

anna (AH-nna)

keep 

pidä + noun (PE-dah) – "I keep" adds an ending: pidän + noun-n as in pidä vaihtoraha/pidän vaihtorahan/pidämme vaihtorahan (keep/I keep/we keep the change)

like 

pidä + noun-sta – "I like you" is pidän sinusta

put/place/set 

laita (LIE-tah)

say 

sano (SAH-no)

sell 

myy (muu)

take 

ota (OH-tah)

walk 

kävele (KA-ve-leh)

Problems

I no, you no, we all no In Finnish, the word "no" — ei — is a verb, so it can be conjugated. Thus, as juo or juoda means "drink"... en juo  "I don't drink" et juo  "you don't drink" ei juo  "he/she doesn't drink" emme juo  "we don't drink" ette juo  "you all don't drink" eivät juo  "they don't drink". ei juoda  "let's not drink"

Leave me alone! 

Anna minun olla rauhassa! (AHN-nah MEE-noon OHL-lah RAU-has-sah)

Don't touch! 

Älä koske! (AL-ah KOHSS-keh!)

Let go! (if grabbed) 

Päästä IRTI! (PAHS-tah EER-tee)

I will call the police. 

Kutsun poliisin. (KOOT-soon POH-lee-sin)

Police! 

Poliisi! (POH-lee-see!)

Stop! Thief! 

Pysähdy! Varas! (PUU-sa-duu! VAH-rahs!)

I need your help. 

Tarvitsen apuasi. (TAHR-veet-sehn AH-poo-ah-see)

It's an emergency. 

Nyt on hätä. (NUUT ohn HA-ta)

I'm lost. 

Olen eksynyt. (OH-lehn EHK-suu-nuut)

I lost my bag. 

Laukkuni katosi. (LAUK-koo-nee KAH-toh-see)

I lost my wallet. 

Lompakkoni katosi. (LOHM-pahk-koh-nee KAH-toh-see)

I'm sick / I've fallen ill

Olen kipeä / sairastunut. (OH-lehn KEE-peh-a)

I've been injured. 

Olen loukkaantunut. (OH-lehn LOH-ook-kahn-too-noot)

I need a doctor. 

Tarvitsen lääkärin. (TAHR-veet-sehn LAA-ka-reen)

Can I use your phone? 

Saanko käyttää puhelintasi? (SAAN-koh KA-UU-dAh POO-heh-LIN-tah-sih)

Numbers

Chopping up numbers Does saying things like seitsemänkymmentäkahdeksan for "78" seem terribly long-winded? Finns think so too, and in colloquial speech they abbreviate brutally, leaving just the first syllable of each component: seit-kyt-kahdeksan. Here are the short "prefix" forms, but note that they can only be used in compounds. 1  yks- 2  kaks- 3  kol- 4  nel- 5  viis- 6  kuus- 7  seit- 8  kaheks- 9  yheks- 10  -kyt

1 

yksi (UUK-see)

2 

kaksi (KAHK-see)

3 

kolme (KOHL-meh)

4 

neljä (NEHL-ya)

5 

viisi (VEE-see)

6 

kuusi (KOO-see)

7 

seitsemän (SAYT-seh-man)

8 

kahdeksan (KAHH-dehk-sahn)

9 

yhdeksän (UUHH-dehk-san)

10 

kymmenen (KUUM-mehn-nehn)

11 

yksitoista (UUK-see-tois-tah)

12 

kaksitoista (KAHK-see-tois-tah...)

1X 

X-toista (the "teens" have their inflection after the "X", before "toista", "of the second": kaksitoista -> kahdentoista)

20 

kaksikymmentä (KAHK-see-KUUM-mehn-ta)

21 

kaksikymmentäyksi (KAHK-see-KUUM-mehn-ta-UUK-see)

2X 

kaksikymmentä-X

30 

kolmekymmentä (KOHL-meh-KUUM-mehn-ta)

XY 

X-kymmentä-Y

100 

sata (SAH-tah)

200 

kaksisataa (KAHK-see-SAH-tah)

300 

kolmesataa (KOHL-meh-SAH-tah)

1000 

tuhat (TOO-haht)

2000 

kaksi tuhatta (KAHK-see TOO-haht-tah)

1,000,000 

miljoona (MEEL-yoh-nah)

1,000,000,000 

miljardi (MEEL-yahr-dee)

1,000,000,000,000 

biljoona (BEEL-yoh-nah)

number _____ (train, bus, etc.) 

numero _____ (NOO-meh-roh _____)

half 

puoli (POO-oh-lee)

less 

vähemmän (VA-hehm-man)

more 

enemmän (EH-nehm-man)

Decimal fractions

Note that the decimal comma is used. Decimal points can occur on badly localized computerized displays and similar, but usually the point is used to separate groups of three digits:

a million 

1.000.000

one euro twenty cent 

1,20

one euro 

1€, 1,– (you will never encounter the version used in English speaking countries with the currency symbol before the amount)

Time

now 

nyt (NUUT)

later 

myöhemmin (MUU-eu-hehm-meen)

before 

ennen (EHN-nehn)

morning 

aamu (AH-moo)

afternoon 

iltapäivä (EEL-tah-pigh-va)

evening 

ilta (EEL-tah)

night 

yö (UU-eu)

Clock time

Kaksikymmentä yli kaksitoista (in the night).

In the spoken language the 12-hour clock is more common, with AM/PM specified informally where necessary (no fixed words). The 24-hour clock can be used also then, and it is used almost exclusively in tables, for opening hours and the like.

one o'clock AM 

kello yksi (yöllä) KEHL-loh UUK-see UU-eu-lah

seven o'clock AM 

kello seitsemän (aamulla) KEHL-loh SAYT-seh-man AHM-mool-lah

noon 

kello kaksitoista or keskipäivä (KEHS-kee-pigh-va)

one o'clock PM 

kello yksi or kolmetoista (KEHL-loh UUK-see or KOHL-meh-tois-tah)

two o'clock PM 

kello kaksi or neljätoista (KEHL-loh KAHK-see or NEHL-ya-tois-tah)

midnight 

keskiyö (KEHS-kee-uu-eu)

The hours are often inflected:

at one o'clock PM 

kello yksi (päivällä) or yhdeltä (KEHL-loh UUK-see PAI-va-lla) or (UUH-del-ta)

at two o'clock 

kello kaksi or kahdelta (KEHL-loh KAHK-see PAI-va-lla) or (KAH-del-ta)

at noon 

kello kaksitoista, keskipäivällä or kahdeltatoista (KEHL-loh KAHK-see-toy-stah, KEH-ski-pai-va-lla or KAH-del-tah-toy-stah)

Minutes and fractions:

twenty past (one) 

kaksikymmentä yli (yksi/yhden) (KAHK-see-kuum-men-ta UU-lee UUK-si/UUH-den)

five to (two) 

viisi vaille (kaksi) (VEE-see VY-lleh KAHK-see)

a quarter to (three) 

varttia vaille (kolme) (VAHR-tti-ah VY-lleh KOHL-meh)

a quarter past (four) 

vartin yli (neljä) (VAHR-teen UU-lee NEHL-ya)

half past (one) 

puoli (kaksi) – sic! think half to, not half past (POO-oh-lee KAHK-see)

Duration

_____ minute(s) 

_____ minuutti(a) (MEE-noot-tee-[ah])

_____ hour(s) 

_____ tunti(a) (TOON-tee-[ah])

_____ day(s) 

_____ päivä(ä) (PIGH-va[a])

_____ week(s) 

_____ viikko(a) (VEEK-koh-[ah])

_____ month(s) 

_____ kuukausi / kuukautta (KOO-kow-see / KOO-kowt-tah)

_____ year(s) 

_____ vuosi / vuotta (VOO-oh-see / VOO-oh-tah)

Days

today 

tänään (TA-naan)

day before yesterday 

toissapäivänä (TOY-ssah-pai-va-na)

yesterday 

eilen (AY-lehn)

tomorrow 

huomenna (HOO-oh-mehn-nah)

day after tomorrow

ylihuomenna (UU-lee-hoo-oh-mehn-nah)

this week 

tällä viikolla (TAL-la VEE-kohl-lah)

last week 

viime viikolla (VEE-meh VEE-kohl-lah)

next week 

ensi viikolla (EHN-see VEE-kohl-lah)

Sunday 

sunnuntai (SOON-noon-tigh)

Monday 

maanantai (MAH-nahn-tigh)

Tuesday 

tiistai (TEES-tigh)

Wednesday 

keskiviikko (KEHS-kee-veek-koh)

Thursday 

torstai (TOHRS-tigh)

Friday 

perjantai (PEHR-yahn-tigh)

Saturday 

lauantai (LAU-ahn-tigh)

Months

Wintry landscape in Multia, Central Finland

January 

tammikuu (TAHM-mee-koo)

February 

helmikuu (HEHL-mee-koo)

March 

maaliskuu (MAH-leess-koo)

April 

huhtikuu (HOOHH-tee-koo)

May 

toukokuu (TOH-koh-koo)

June 

kesäkuu (KEH-sa-koo)

July 

heinäkuu (HAY-na-koo)

August 

elokuu (EH-loh-koo)

September 

syyskuu (SUUS-koo)

October 

lokakuu (LOH-kah-koo)

November 

marraskuu (MAHR-rahss-koo)

December 

joulukuu (YOH-oo-loo-koo)

Writing time and date

Dates are written in the day-month-year order, eg. 2.5.1990 for May 2nd, 1990. If the month is written out, both the forms 2. toukokuuta (2nd of May) and toukokuun 2. päivä (May's 2nd) are used.

"Best before" dates and similar are often written with other systems; 150214 will probably mean 15.2.2014, but may mean something else, e.g. 14.2.2015. The American month/day/year is never used, though.

Colors

black 

musta (MOOS-tah)

white 

valkoinen (VAHL-koy-nehn)

gray 

harmaa (HAHR-mah)

red 

punainen (POO-nigh-nehn)

blue 

sininen (SEE-nee-nehn)

blue-green 

turkoosi (TOOR-koh-see)

yellow 

keltainen (KEHL-tigh-nehn)

green 

vihreä (VEEHH-reh-a)

orange 

oranssi (OH-rahns-see)

purple 

violetti (VEE-oh-leht-tee)

brown 

ruskea (ROOS-keh-ah)

pink 

pinkki (PEENK-kee)

Transportation

Due to the difficulty of conjugating various place names, the phrases below are not always grammatically correct. They will, however, definitely be understood.

Replace 'i' in '-in' with the preceding vowel, as in Vaasa – Vaasaan. Exceptions where '-lle' is used instead are rife and irregular, for instance Tampere – Tampereelle. Places that take their name from a lake, river, rapids, or other waterway (-järvi, -joki, -koski) are suffixed with -lle, thus Ylöjärvi – Ylöjärvelle, Seinäjoki – Seinäjoelle, Äänekoski – Äänekoskelle. Using the wrong form can sound funny (e.g. when meaning literally going into the body of water), but will usually easily be understood. Other exceptions may sometimes make your sentence more confusing (Tarzan speak can help if you get stuck).

Place names

Church and station villages The parish church was usually built in the biggest village of the parish, but when railroads were built the village that grew around the railroad station often become as important. Road signs indicate the two by appending KKO (kirkko, "church") and AS (asema, "station"), as in "LIETO AS". Nowadays many of these stations are nonfunctional, as trains just pass by.

In general, the name of the language is the same as the country, but uncapitalized.
eg. Espanja → Spain, espanja → Spanish

America 

Amerikka (AH-meh-reek-kah)

Canada 

Kanada (KAH-nah-dah)

Denmark 

Tanska (TAHN-skah)

Estonia 

Viro (VEE-roh)

Finland 

Suomi (SOO-oh-mee)

France 

Ranska (RAHN-skah)

Germany 

Saksa (SAHK-sah)

Japan 

Japani (YAH-pah-nee)

Norway 

Norja (NOHR-yah)

Poland 

Puola (POUOH-la)

Russia 

Venäjä (VEHN-a-ya)

Spain 

Espanja (EHS-pahn-yah)

Sweden 

Ruotsi (ROO-oht-see)

USA 

USA (OO-ehss-ah)

Copenhagen 

Kööpenhamina (KEU-pehn-hah-mee-nah)

London 

Lontoo (LOHN-toh)

Moscow 

Moskova (MOS-koh-va)

Paris 

Pariisi (PAH-ree-see)

Saint Petersburg 

Pietari (PEE-eh-tah-ree)

Stockholm 

Tukholma (TOOK-hohl-mah)

Bus and train

Oulu railway station

How much is a ticket to _____? 

Paljonko maksaa lippu _____in? (PAHL-yohn-koh MAHK-sah LEEP-poo _____in?)

One ticket to _____, please. 

Yksi lippu _____in, kiitos. (UUK-see LEEP-poo ____, KEE-tohs)

Where does this train/bus go? 

Minne tämä juna/bussi menee? (MEEN-neh TA-ma YOO-nah/BOOS-see MEH-neh?)

Where is the train/bus to _____? 

Missä on _____n juna/bussi? (MEES-sa ohn _____n YOO-nah/BOOS-see?)

Does this train/bus stop in _____? 

Pysähtyykö tämä juna/bussi _____ssa? (PUU-sa-htuu-keu TA-ma YOO-nah/BOOS-see _____ssah?)

When does the train/bus for _____ leave? 

Milloin _____n juna/bussi lähtee? (MEEL-loin ____n YOO-nah/BOOS-see LA-hteh?)

When will this train/bus arrive in _____? 

Milloin tämä juna/bussi saapuu _____in? (MEEL-loin TA-ma YOO-nah/BOOS-see SAH-poo ____?)

Directions

How do I get to _____ ? 

Miten pääsen _____lle/in* ? (MEE-tehn PAA-sehn ____ ?)

...the train station? 

...juna-asemalle? (...YOO-nah-ah-seh-mahl-leh?)

...the bus station? 

...bussiasemalle? (...BOOS-see-ah-seh-mahl-leh?)

...the airport? 

...lentokentälle? (...LEHN-toh-kehn-tal-leh?)

...downtown? 

...keskustaan? (...KEHS-koos-tahn?)

...the youth hostel? 

...retkeilymajaan? (...REHT-kay-luu-mah-yahn?)

...the _____ hotel? 

... _____-hotelliin? (...HOH-tehl-leen?)

...the American/ Canadian/ Australian/ British consulate? 

...Yhdysvaltojen/ Kanadan/ Australian/ Britannian konsulaattiin? (...UUHH-duus-vahl-toh-yehn/KAH-nah-dahn/OWS-trah-lee-ahn/BREE-tahn-niahn KOHN-soo-laht-teen?)

Where are there a lot of... 

Missä on paljon... (MEES-sa ohn PAHL-yohn...)

...hotels? 

...hotelleja? (...HOH-tehl-leh-yah?)

...restaurants? 

...ravintoloita? (...RAH-veen-toh-loi-tah?)

...bars? 

...baareja? (...BAH-reh-yah?)

...sites to see? 

...nähtävyyksiä? (...NA-hta-vuuk-see-a?)

Can you show me on the map? 

Voitko näyttää kartalla? (VOIT-koh NAUUT-ta KAHR-tahl-lah?)

street 

katu (KAH-too)

Turn left. 

Käänny vasemmalle. (KAN-nuu VAH-seh-mahl-leh)

Turn right. 

Käänny oikealle. (KAN-nuu OI-keh-ah-leh)

left 

vasen (VAH-sehn)

right 

oikea (OI-keh-ah)

straight ahead 

eteenpäin (EH-tehn-pighn)

towards the _____ 

kohti _____ (KOHH-tee ____)

past the _____ 

_____n ohi (____n OH-hee)

before the _____ 

ennen _____ (EH-nehn ____)

Watch for the _____. 

Varo _____. (VAH-roh ____)

intersection 

risteys (REES-teh-uus)

north 

pohjoinen (POHH-yoi-nehn)

south 

etelä (EH-teh-la)

east 

itä (EE-ta)

west 

länsi (LAN-see)

uphill 

ylämäki (UU-la-ma-kee)

downhill 

alamäki (AH-lah-ma-kee)

• Generally, -lle is used for open places while -in is used for houses and other indoor locations, but this is irregular, e.g. -lle having a more abstract meaning.

Taxi

Taxi! 

Taksi! (TAHK-see!)

Take me to _____, please. 

_____, kiitos. (____, KEE-tohss)

How much does it cost to get to _____? 

Paljonko maksaa mennä _____(long vowel+n)?, e.g. "Helsinkiin" (PAHL-yohn-ko MAHK-sah MEHN-na ____?)

(Take me) there, please. 

Sinne, kiitos. (SEEN-neh, KEE-tohss)

Lodging

The Las Vegas'esque Hotel Onnentähti in Tuuri, Southern Ostrobothnia

Do you have any rooms available? 

Onko teillä vapaita huoneita? (OHN-koh tail-ah vah-pie-tah hoo-oh-nay-tah?)

How much is a room for one person/two people? 

Miten paljon maksaa huone yhdelle/kahdelle hengelle? (...)

Does the room come with... 

Tuleeko huoneen mukana... (TOO-leh-koh hoo-oh-nehn moo-kah-nah...)

...bedsheets? 

...lakanat? (LAH-kah-nat)

...a bathroom? 

...kylpyhuone? (KUUL-puu-hoo-oh-neh)

...a telephone? 

...puhelin? (POO-heh-lin)

...a TV? 

...televisio? (TEH-leh-vee-see-oh)

May I see the room first? 

Voinko nähdä huoneen ensin? (VOYN-koh NAH-da HOO-oh-nehn EHN-seen?)

Do you have anything quieter? 

Onko teillä mitään hiljaisempaa? (OHN-koh TAIL-la ME-tahn HEL-yah-ee-sehm-pah?)

...bigger? 

...isompaa? (EE-som-pah?)

...cleaner? 

...puhtaampaa? (POOH-tahm-paah)

...cheaper? 

...halvempaa? (HAHL-vehm-paah)

OK, I'll take it. 

Otan sen. (OH-tan SEHN)

I will stay for _____ night(s). 

Yövyn _____ yötä. (UU-eu-veun _____ UU-eu-ta)

Can you suggest another hotel? 

Voitteko ehdottaa toista hotellia? (VOY-tteh-koh EH-doh-ttah TOY-stah HOH-tehl-lya?)

Do you have a safe? 

Onko teillä turvasäilöä? (OHN-koh TAIL-la TOOR-vah-sa-eel-eua?)

...lockers? 

...turvalokeroita? (TOOR-vah-loh-keh-roy-tah?)

Is breakfast/supper included? 

Kuuluuko aamiainen/illallinen hintaan? (KOO-loo-koh AH-me-i-nehn/EEll-ahll-ee-nehn HE-n-tahn?)

What time is breakfast/supper? 

Mihin aikaan on aamiainen/illallinen? (ME-he-en I-kahn OHN AH-me-i-nehn/EEll-ahll-ee-nehn)

Please clean my room. 

Olkaa hyvä ja siivotkaa huoneeni. (OHL-kah HUU-va YA SEE-voht-kah HOO-oh-neh-nee)

Can you wake me at _____? 

Voitteko herättää minut kello _____? (VOY-tte-koh HEH-rat-taa ME-noot KEH-lloh ______?)

I want to check out. 

Haluaisin kirjautua ulos. (HAH-loo-i-sin KEER-ya-oo-too-ah OO-lohs)

Money

Counting out your dough Common slang words for amounts of money: ege (EH-geh)  euro, one euro femma (FEHM-mah) five kymppi, kybä (KUUM-ppe, KUU-ba)  ten huntti, satku (HOON-tte, SAHT-koo) hundred tonni (TOHN-ne)  thousand

Do you accept American/ Australian/ Canadian dollars? 

Hyväksyttekö Amerikan/ Australian/ Kanadan dollareita? (HUU-vak-suut-teh-keu AH-meh-ree-kan/AH-oo-strah-lee-ahn/KAH-nah-dahn DOH-llah-rey-tah?)

Do you accept British pounds? 

Hyväksyttekö Britannian puntia? (HUU-vah-suut-teh-keu BREE-tah-nee-ahn POOHN-tee-ah?)

NOTE: Finland's currency is the Euro, one of the world's major currencies, which can be exchanged everywhere in the world. Hence Australian or Canadan dollars are about as accepted as Malawian kwacha – in other words shopkeepers would probably think you're joking. US dollars, Swedish kronor and Russian roubles might be accepted at select souvenir shops and hotels but don't count on that. In practice, if you do not have Euros at hand, pay by card.

Do you accept credit cards? 

Voinko maksaa luottokortilla? (VOYN-koh MAHK-sah LOO-oh-ttoh-kohr-tee-lla?)

Can you change money for me? 

Voiko teillä vaihtaa rahaa? (VOY-koh TAIL-la VY-h-tah RAH-haa?)

Where can I get money changed? 

Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa? (MEES-sa VOYN VY-h-tah RAH-haa?)

Can you change a traveler's check for me? 

Voiko teillä vaihtaa matkashekkejä? (VOY-koh TAIL-lah VY-h-tah MAHT-kah-sheh-kay-a?)

Where can I get a traveler's check changed? 

Missä voin vaihtaa matkashekkejä? (MEES-sa VOYN VY-h-tah MAHT-kah-sheh-key-a?)

What is the exchange rate? 

Mikä on vaihtokurssi? (MEE-ka OHN VY-h-toh-koor-ssee)

Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)? 

Missä on (pankki/raha)-automaatti? (MEE-ssa OHN PAHN-kki/RAH-ha-AOO-toh-maah-ttee)

Most Finnish ATMs are orange-coloured, with the logos "Otto" or "Solo".

Eating

Street food including fried vendace at a market in Turku, in the front traditional wooden mugs for sale (as souvenirs)

A table for one person/two people, please. 

Pöytä yhdelle/kahdelle kiitos. (PEU-uu-ta UUH-deh-lleh/KAH-deh-lle KEE-tos)

Can I look at the menu, please? 

Saisinko ruokalistan? (SIGH-sin-koh ROO-oh-kah-lees-tahn?)

Can I look in the kitchen? 

Voinko nähdä keittiön? (VOYN-koh NA-h-da KAY-ttee-euhn)

Is there a local specialty? 

Onko teillä paikallisia erikoisuuksia? (OHN-ko TAIL-lah PI-kah-llee-see-ah EH-ree-koy-sook-see-ah?)

I'm a vegetarian. 

Olen kasvissyöjä. (OH-lehn KAHS-vees-suu-euh-yah)

I don't eat pork. 

En syö sianlihaa. (EHN SUU-euh SEE-ahn-lee-hah)

I don't eat beef. 

En syö naudanlihaa. (EHN SUU-euh NOW-dahn-lee-hah)

I only eat kosher food. 

Syön vain kosher-ruokaa. (SUU-euhn VINE KOH-shehr ROO-oh-kaah)

Can you make it "lite", please? (less oil/butter/lard) 

Voitteko tehdä siitä kevyttä? (VOY-tteh-koh TEHH-da SEE-ta KEH-vuu-tta?)

fixed-price meal 

päivän ateria (PIGH-van AH-teh-ree-ah)

a la carte 

a la carte (AH-lah-kahrt)

breakfast 

aamiainen (AAH-mee-i-nehn)

lunch 

lounas (LOH-oo-nahs)

dinner 

päivällinen (PA-I-va-llee-nehn)

supper 

illallinen (EEL-lal-eenen)

I want _____. 

Saisinko _____. (SIGH-sin-koh_____)

I want a dish containing _____. 

Saisinko jotain _____n kanssa. (SIGH-sin-koh JOH-tighn ______n KAHN-ssah)

chicken 

kana (KAH-na)

beef 

naudanliha (NOW-dahn-lee-hah)

reindeer 

poro (POH-roh)

fish 

kala (KAH-lah)

herring 

silli (SEEL-lee)

baltic herring 

silakka (SEEL-ahk-kah)

ham 

kinkku (KEEN-kkooh)

sausage 

makkara (MUCK-ah-rah)

cheese 

juusto (YOOS-toh)

eggs 

munia (MOOH-ne-ah)

salad 

salaatti (SAH-laah-ttee)

(fresh) vegetables 

(tuoreita) vihanneksia (TOO-oh-ray-tah VEE-hahn-nehk-see-ah)

(fresh) fruit 

(tuoreita) hedelmiä (TOO-oh-ray-tah HEH-dehl-mee-ah)

bread 

leipä (LAY-pa)

toast 

paahtoleipä (PAH-toh-lay-pa)

noodles 

nuudelit (NOO-deh-leet)

rice 

riisi (REE-see)

beans 

pavut (PAH-voot)

May I have a glass of _____? 

Saisinko lasin _____? (SIGH-sin-koh LAH-sin______)

May I have a cup of _____? 

Saisinko kupin _____? (SIGH-sin-koh KOO-pin_____)

May I have a bottle of _____? 

Saisinko pullon _____? (SIGH-sin-koh POOL-lohn______)

coffee 

kahvia (KAH-vee-ah)

tea (drink) 

teetä (TEH-ta)

juice 

mehua (MEH-oo-ah)

(bubbly) water 

soodavettä (SOOH-dah-veht-tah)

water 

vettä (VEH-tah)

beer 

olutta (OHL-oo-ttah)

red/white wine 

puna/valko-viiniä (POO-nah/VAHL-koh-vee-nee-a)

May I have some _____? 

Saisinko _____? (SIGH-sin-koh____?)

salt 

suolaa (SOO-oh-laah)

black pepper 

pippuria (PEEP-ooh-ree-ah)

butter 

voita (VOY-tah)

Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server) 

Anteeksi, tarjoilija? (AHN-tehk-see TAHR-yoy-lee-ah?)

I'm finished. 

Olen valmis. (OH-lehn VAHL-mees)

It was delicious. 

Se oli herkullista/hyvää. (SEH OH-lee HEHR-kool-lees-tah/HUUH-vaa)

Please clear the plates. 

Voitteko tyhjentää pöydän? (VOY-tteh-koh TUUH-yen-taa PEU-uu-dan)

The check, please. 

Lasku, kiitos. (LAHS-kooh, KEE-tohs)

Bars

Night in Joensuu

Do you serve alcohol? 

Myyttekö alkoholia? (MUU-tte-keuh AHL-koh-hohl-eeah?)

Is there table service? 

Onko teillä pöytiintarjoilua? (OHN-koh TAIL-la PEU-uu-teen-tahr-yoy-loo-ah?)

A beer/two beers, please. 

Yksi olut/kaksi olutta kiitos. (UUK-see OH-loot/KAHK-see OH-loot-tah, KEE-tohs)

A glass of red/white wine, please. 

Lasi puna/valkoviiniä kiitos. (LAH-see POO-nah/VAHL-koh vee-nee-a KEE-tohs)

A pint, please. 

(Yksi) tuoppi kiitos. ((UUK-see) TOO-oh-ppee, KEE-tohs)

A bottle, please. 

Yksi pullo kiitos. (UUK-see POOL-loh, KEE-tohs)

_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please. 

_____-_____, kiitos. (___-____, KEE-tohs)

whiskey 

viskiä (VEE-skee-a)

vodka 

vodkaa (VOHT-kah)

rum 

rommia (ROH-mmee-ah)

water 

vettä (VEH-tta)

club soda 

soodavettä (SOOH-dah-veh-tta)

tonic water 

tonic-vettä (TOH-nic-veh-tta)

orange juice 

appelsiinimehua (AHP-pehl-see-nee-meh-oo-ah)

Coke (soda) 

kolaa (KOH-laah)

Do you have any bar snacks? 

Onko teillä pikkupurtavia? (OHN-koh TAIL-la PEEK-kooh-poor-tah-vee-ah?)

One more, please. 

Yksi vielä, kiitos. (UUK-seeh VEE-eh-la KEE-tohs)

Another round, please. 

Toinen kierros, kiitos. (TOY-nehn KEE-eh-rrohs)

When is closing time? 

Mihin aikaan suljette? (MEE-heehn I-kahn SOOL-yet-teh?)

Shopping

The Market Square in Helsinki

Do you have this in my size? 

Onko teillä tätä minun koossani? (OHN-koh TAIL-la TA-ta MEE-noon KOH-ssah-nne?)

How much is this? 

Paljonko tämä maksaa? (PAHL-yohn-ko TA-ma MAHK-saah?)

That's too expensive. 

Se on liian kallis. (SEH OHN LEE-ahn KAH-lles)

Would you take _____? 

Miten olisi _____? (ME-tehn OHL-eese____?)

expensive 

kallis (KAHL-lees)

cheap 

halpa (HAHL-pah)

I can't afford it. 

Minulla ei ole varaa siihen. (MEEN-ooh-llah AY OH-leh VAH-raah SEE-hehn)

I don't want it. 

En tahdo sitä. (EHN TAH-doh SEE-ta)

You're cheating me. 

Huijaatte minua. (HOO-yaah-tteh MEE-noo-ah)

I'm not interested. 

En ole kiinnostunut. (EHN OH-leh KEEN-nohs-tooh-noot)

OK, I'll take it. 

Hyvä, otan sen. (HUU-va, OH-tahn SEHN)

Can I have a bag? 

Voinko saada muovipussin? (VOYN-koh SAH-dah MOO-oh-vee-pooss-een?)

Do you ship (overseas)? 

Lähetättekö tavaroita myös (ulkomaille)? (LAHEH-ta-tte-keuh MUU-euhs TAH-vah-roy-tah OOL-koh-my-lleh?)

I need... 

Tarvitsen... (TAHR-veet-sehn...)

...toothpaste. 

...hammastahnaa. (...HAH-mmahs-tahh-naah)

...a toothbrush. 

...hammasharjan. (...HAH-mmahs-hahr-yan)

...tampons. 

...tampooneita. (...TAHM-poh-nay-tah)

...soap. 

...saippuaa. (...SIGH-poo-aah)

...shampoo. 

...shampoota. (...SHAHM-poo-tah)

...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen) 

...särkylääkettä. (...SAR-kuu-laak-keht-ta)

...cold medicine. 

...flunssalääkettä. (...FLOON-sah-laak-keht-ta)

...stomach medicine. 

...vatsalääkettä. (...VAHT-sah-laak-keht-ta)

...a razor. 

...partaterän. (...PAHR-tah-tehr-an)

...an umbrella. 

...sateenvarjon. (...SAHT-eehn-vahr-yon)

...sunblock lotion. 

...aurinkovoidetta. (...OW-reen-koh-voy-deh-ttah)

...a postcard. 

...postikortin. (...POHS-tee-kohr-ten)

...postage stamps. 

...postimerkkejä. (...POHS-tee-mehr-kkaya)

...batteries. 

...pattereita/paristoja. (...PAHT-eh-ray-tah/PAH-rees-toy-ah)

...writing paper. 

...kirjepaperia. (...KEER-yeh-pah-peh-ree-yah)

...a pen. 

...kynän. (...KUU-nan)

...English-language books. 

...englanninkielisiä kirjoja. (...EHNG-lahn-nin-kee-eh-lee-see-ya KEER-yo-yah)

...English-language magazines. 

...englanninkielisiä lehtiä. (...EHNG-lahn-nin-kee-eh-lee-see-ya LEH-tee-a)

...an English-language newspaper. 

...englanninkielisen sanomalehden. (...EHNG-lahn-nin-kee-eh-lee-sehn SAH-noh-mah-leh-dehn)

...an English-Finnish dictionary. 

...englanti-suomi sanakirjan. (...EHNG-lahn-tee SOO-oh-mee SAH-nah-keer-yan)

Driving

I want to rent a car. 

Haluaisin vuokrata auton. (HAH-loo-i-seen VOO-oh-krah-tah OW-tohn)

Can I get insurance? 

Voinko saada vakuutuksen? (VOYN-koh SAAH-dah VAH-koo-toohk-sehn=)

stop (on a street sign) 

stop (STOHP)

one way 

yksisuuntainen (UUK-see-soon-tigh-nehn)

yield 

antaa tietä (literally "give way")/'kolmio' (triangle, the common European yield sign) (...AHN-taah TEE-eh-ta/KOHL-mee-oh)

no parking 

ei pysäköintiä (...AY PUU-sa-keu-een-tee-a)

speed limit 

nopeusrajoitus (...NOH-peh-oos-rye-oy-toos)

gas (petrol) station 

bensa-asema/huoltoasema (...BEHN-sah-ah-seh-mah/HOO-ohl-toh-ah-seh-mah)

petrol 

bensiini (...BEHN-see-neeh)

diesel 

diesel (...DEE-sehl)

Authority

Finnish police and border guard in a patrol boat

I haven't done anything wrong. 

En ole tehnyt mitään väärää. (EHN OH-leh TEH-nuut MEEH-ta-an VAA-raa)

It was a misunderstanding. 

Se oli väärinkäsitys. (SEH OH-lee VAA-reen-ka-see-toos)

Where are you taking me? 

Minne viette minut? (MEE-heen VEE-eh-tteh MEE-noot?)

Am I under arrest? 

Olenko pidätetty? (OH-lehn-koh PEE-da-teh-ttuu?)

I am an American/ Australian/ British/ Canadian citizen. 

Olen Amerikan/ Australian/ Britannian/ Kanadan kansalainen. (OH-lehn AH-meh-ree-kahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/BREET-ahn-ee-ahn/KAHN-ah-dahn KAHN-sah-lye-nehn)

I want to talk to the American/ Australian/ British/ Canadian embassy/ consulate. 

Haluan puhua USA:n (oo-ass-ahn)/ Australian/ Britannian/ Kanadan konsulaatin kanssa. (HAH-loo-ahn POO-hoo-ah AH-meh-ree-kahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/BREET-ahn-ee-ahn/KAHN-ah-dahn SOOR-la-heh-tuus-teuhn KAHN-ssah)

I want to talk to a lawyer. 

Haluan puhua lakimiehelle/asianajajalle. (HAH-loo-ahn POO-hoo-ah LAH-kee-mee-eh-heh-lleh/AHS-ee-ahn-ah-yaah-yah-lleh)