# 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

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 who 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 (Meänkieli, Kven and Karelian are much smaller). The Sámi languages in Northern Scandinavia, in Lapland and on the Kola Peninsula are also related, as are a host of minority 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 spoken in Northern Norway, Meänkieli in northern Sweden (both of these may be considered as dialects of Finnish), Karelian, a few other tiny minority languages in Russia, and – arguably – Estonian, Finnish is not close to mutual intelligibility with any of its relatives.
Finnish is an agglutinative language, and case endings 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 suffixes: kirja (book) is the base for kirjain (letter), kirjasin (font), kirjuri (bookkeeper), kirjoitin (printer), kirje (letter), kirjasto (library) etc, 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 recognised as especially everyday words and proper nouns have been adapted to Finnish pronunciation. (Fortunately many signs are bilingual in Swedish, which can have more recognizable words.) Some rules to remember are that leading consonant clusters tend to be reduced to one letter, words are forced to end in a vowel, letters not present in Finnish may get replaced, and simple vowels may be transformed to diphthongs (Stockholm > Tukholma, London > Lontoo, Peter > Pietari). 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 or ruoka, ruuan for food).
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.
Finnish does have the T-V distinction between informal and formal address, but the informal forms are commonly used even with strangers. If you get to know somebody as a tourist, you can assume you are on informal first-name terms. Formal forms are occasionally used in everyday speech (depending mostly on speaker), but see use mainly in formal settings (journalists interviewing politicians etc.).
In Sweden, Finnish has status of official minority language. The same position applies also to Meänkieli, which is considered as a separate language in Sweden. In Norway, Kven has an official minority language status.

## 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 (TOO-ley) → fire
    tuuli (TOOO-ley) → wind
    tulli (TOOL-ley) → customs
    kuuluu (KOOO-looo) → is heard
    kuluu (KOO-looo) → is being worn down
    kulu (KOO-loo) → 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 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. q, x, and z are virtually absent in Finnish and are often replaced with k, ks, and s. Lastly, the letter å occurs in some Swedish proper names and is pronounced like a Finnish "oo" (similar to British English "awe"). The beginning learner need not worry about these minutiae.

### Vowels

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 deli

#### ii

    like ee in beet

#### o

    like o in British English odd

#### oo

    like British English awe

#### u

    like u in rule, but short and clipped

#### uu

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

#### 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 American English bad

#### ö

    like German ö, similar to e in her, but short and clipped

#### öö

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

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 "MAH-taw", but matto (carpet) is "MAH-(pause)-taw".

#### 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 approximated as t (in native words only before a suffix, with big variations between dialects: left out, pronounced as r, ...)

#### 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

    like k in sky (unaspirated)

#### l

    like l in law

#### m

    as in English

#### n

    as in English (except in ng, see below)

#### ng

    like ng in sing but longer, since it is actually a doubled consonant

#### nk

    as in English, i.e. ng + k

#### p

    like p in spy (unaspirated)

#### q

    like k

#### r

    trilled, as in Spanish perro

#### s

    like ss in hiss

#### t

    like t in sty (unaspirated)

#### v w

    like English v

#### x

    like x in axe (not used in native Finnish words)

#### z

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

### Stress and tone

Word stress is always on the first syllable. In compound words, stress the first syllable of each part. 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. Foreigners tend to think this makes the language sound rather depressing; Finns, on the other hand, wonder why other 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, doing something without 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, turning something into a roof and so on, which are encoded into the word endings (kahvia, kahvi, kahvitta, pubiin, pubissa, pubista, katolla, katolle, katolta, kattona, katoksi).
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 using his lack of fisherman-likeness").
The good news is that examples like those two see use only for scaring foreigners; even in formal written Finnish, only a few suffixes are used at a time (the former would be said meidänkin taloissammekohan, adding the pronoun to relieve the noun from some complexity). Still, something like menisinköhän ("go-would-I-question-doubting"; thinking aloud: "I'd perhaps go, what'd you think") is not too uncommon in everyday speech. It is possible to "speak like Tarzan" (without inflecting 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.
While the Finnish generally stick to a word order similar to European languages, due to all these inflections the word order is almost entirely free and it may be possible to literally translate long sentences from unrelated languages like Korean into odd-sounding but grammatically correct Finnish. (Often nuances and emphasis are conveyed with a changed word order, and an odd word order can feel poetic or just strange.)
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).
The word endings may make recognising the parts of compound names a bit tricky. For example, words ending in -nen often change into -sten in some forms: the lake (järvi) of Littoinen is Littoistenjärvi, the quarry of Parainen is Paraisten kalkkilouhos. Try to concentrate on the beginning of the place name (ignore the last syllable) and on the word for the terrain form at the end, which might be one you recognise. As stems may vary according to the word form, you might want to also ignore minor differences in the stem – you will have some false positives, but those are hard to avoid anyway.

## Phrase list

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 errors.

### Basics
#### Good day

    (Hyvää) päivää (HUU-va PIGH-va)

#### Hello (informal)

    Moi (moy), Hei (hay), Terve (TEH-r-veh)

#### How are you?

    Mitä kuuluu? (MEE-ta KOO-loo?) (NOTE: this is not used merely as a conversational phrase as in English. You may say it when meeting an acquaintance; expect a longer story in response. Saying it to a stranger is strange, unless there is suitable context.)

#### Fine, thank you.

    Kiitos, hyvää. (KEE-toss, HUU-va)

#### What is your name?

    Mikä sinun nimesi on? (MEE-ka SEE-noon NEE-mess-ee on?)

#### My name is ______ .

    Nimeni on ______ . (NEE-men-ee on _____ .)

#### Nice to meet you.

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

#### Please.

    No direct equivalent, see the infobox.

#### Thank you.

    Kiitos. (KEE-toss)

#### You're welcome.

    Ole hyvä (OL-eh HUU-va); Ei kestä. (ay KESS-ta)

#### Yes

    Kyllä (KUUL-la), Joo (yaw)

#### No.

    Ei. (ay)

#### Excuse me. (getting attention)

    Anteeksi (AHN-tek-see)

#### Excuse me. (begging pardon)

    Anteeksi (AHN-tek-see)

#### I'm sorry.

    Anteeksi (AHN-tek-see)

#### Goodbye

    Näkemiin. (NAK-em-een.)

#### Goodbye (informal)

    Hei hei (hay hay), Moi moi (moy moy)

#### I can't speak Finnish

    En puhu suomea. (en POO-hoo SOO-aw-meh-ah)

#### Do you speak English?

    Puhutko englantia? (POO-hoot-kaw ENG-lahn-tee-ah?)

#### Is there someone here who speaks English?

    Puhuuko kukaan täällä englantia? (POO-hoo-kaw KOO-kahn TAL-la ENG-lahn-tee-ah?)

#### Help!

    Apua! (AH-poo-ah!)

#### Look out!

    Varo! (VAH-raw!)

#### Good morning.

    (Hyvää) huomenta. (HUU-va HOO-aw-men-tah)

#### Good evening.

    (Hyvää) iltaa. (HUU-va EEL-tah)

#### Good night.

    Hyvää yötä. (HUU-va UU-eu-ta)

#### Good night (to sleep)

    Hyvää yötä. (HUU-va UU-eu-ta)

#### I don't understand.

    En ymmärrä (en UUM-ma-r-ra)

#### Where is the toilet?

    Missä on vessa? (MEESS-sa on VESS-sah?) – see Finland#Toilets for how to recognise them

### Common verbs

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 -ko to get the question "Do I ...?", for instance saanko ...? "Can I get ...?". 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 (AL-a); plural or formal älkää (AL-ka), conjugation more complex; "I don't" is simply en, see infobox on "no"

#### can

    voi (voy)

#### can?

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

#### buy

    osta (OSS-tah)

#### come

    tule (TOO-leh)

#### drive

    aja (AH-yah)

#### eat

    syö (SUU-eu) – tricky one

#### go

    mene (MEN-eh)

#### get (receive)

    saa (sah) – as always, the doubled vowel is longer

#### give

    anna (AHN-nah)

#### keep

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

#### like

    pidä + noun-sta/stä (see infobox "The harmony of vowels" above) – "I like you" is pidän sinusta

#### put/place/set

    laita (LIGH-tah)

#### say

    sano (SAH-naw)

#### sell

    myy (muu)

#### take

    ota (OT-ah)

#### walk

    kävele (KAV-el-eh)

### Problems
#### Leave me alone!

    Anna minun olla (rauhassa)! (AHN-nah MEE-noon OL-lah (ROW-hahss-sah))

#### Don't touch!

    Älä koske! (AL-a KOSS-keh!)

#### Let go! (if grabbed)

    Päästä IRTI! (PASS-ta EE-r-tee)

#### I will call the police.

    Kutsun poliisin. (KOOT-soon POL-ee-seen)

#### Police!

    Poliisi! (POL-ee-see!)

#### Stop! Thief!

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

#### I need your help.

    Tarvitsen apuasi. (TAH-r-veet-sen AH-poo-ah-see)

#### It's an emergency.

    Nyt on hätä. (nuut on HAt-a)

#### I'm lost.

    Olen eksynyt. (OL-en EK-suu-nuut)

#### I lost my bag.

    Laukkuni katosi. (LOWK-koo-nee KAH-toss-ee)

#### I lost my wallet.

    Lompakkoni katosi. (LOM-pahk-kon-ee KAH-toss-ee)

#### I'm sick / I've fallen ill

    Olen kipeä / sairastunut. (OL-en KEE-peh-a)

#### I've been injured.

    Olen loukkaantunut. (OL-en LOHK-kahn-too-noot)

#### I need a doctor.

    Tarvitsen lääkärin. (TAH-r-veet-sen LAK-a-reen)

#### Can I use your phone?

    Saanko käyttää puhelintasi? (SAHN-kaw KOWT-ta POO-hel-een-tah-see)

### Numbers
#### 1

    yksi (UUK-see)

#### 2

    kaksi (KAHK-see)

#### 3

    kolme (KOL-meh)

#### 4

    neljä (NEL-ya)

#### 5

    viisi (VEE-see)

#### 6

    kuusi (KOO-see)

#### 7

    seitsemän (SAYT-seh-man)

#### 8

    kahdeksan (KAH-h-dek-sahn)

#### 9

    yhdeksän (UU-h-dek-san)

#### 10

    kymmenen (KUUM-men-en)

#### 11

    yksitoista (UUK-see-toy-stah)

#### 12

    kaksitoista (KAHK-see-toy-stah...)

#### 1X

    X-toista (NOTE: The "teens" inflect the "X" part before "-toista", so e.g. "of 12" is "kahdentoista")

#### 20

    kaksikymmentä (KAHK-see-KUUM-men-ta)

#### 21

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

#### 2X

    kaksikymmentä-X

#### 30

    kolmekymmentä (KOL-meh-KUUM-men-ta)

#### XY

    X-kymmentä-Y

#### 100

    sata (SAH-tah)

#### 200

    kaksisataa (KAHK-see-SAH-tah)

#### 300

    kolmesataa (KOL-mess-AH-tah)

#### 1000

    tuhat (TOO-haht)

#### 2000

    kaksituhatta (KAHK-see-TOO-haht-tah)

#### 1,000,000

    miljoona (MEEL-yaw-nah)

#### 1,000,000,000

    miljardi (MEEL-yah-r-dee)

#### 1,000,000,000,000

    biljoona (BEEL-yaw-nah) – note the use of the long scale: triljoona is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (although sloppy translations from English sources may not get this right)

#### number _____ (train, bus, etc.)

    numero _____ (NOO-meh-raw _____)

#### half

    puoli (POO-ol-ee)

#### less

    vähemmän (VA-hem-man)

#### more

    enemmän (EN-em-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:

#### one million

    1.000.000

#### one euro twenty cents

    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-hem-meen)

#### before

    ennen (EN-nen)

#### morning

    aamu (AH-moo)

#### afternoon

    iltapäivä (EEL-tah-pigh-va)

#### evening

    ilta (EEL-tah)

#### night

    yö (UU-eu)

#### Clock time

In the spoken language the 12-hour clock is more common, with AM/PM specified informally where necessary (no fixed pair of 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) (KEL-law UUK-see UU-eul-la)

##### seven o'clock AM

    kello seitsemän (aamulla) (KEL-law SAYT-sem-an AH-mool-lah)

##### noon

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

##### one o'clock PM

    kello yksi or kolmetoista (KEL-law UUK-see or KOL-met-oy-stah)

##### two o'clock PM

    kello kaksi or neljätoista (KEL-law KAHK-see or NEL-ya-toy-stah)

##### midnight

    keskiyö (KESS-kee-uu-eu)
The hours are often inflected:

##### at one o'clock PM

    kello yksi (päivällä) or yhdeltä (KEL-low UUK-see PIGH-val-la) or (UU-H-del-ta)

##### at two o'clock

    kello kaksi or kahdelta (KEL-law KAHK-see PIGH-val-la) or (KAH-h-del-tah)

##### at noon

    kello kaksitoista, keskipäivällä or kahdeltatoista (KEL-law KAHK-see-toy-stah, KESS-kee-pigh-val-la or KAH-h-del-tah-toy-stah)
Minutes and fractions:

##### twenty past (one)

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

##### five to (two)

    viisi vaille (kaksi) (VEE-see VIGHL-leh KAHK-see)

##### a quarter to (three)

    varttia vaille (kolme) (VAH-rt-tee-ah VIGHL-leh KOL-meh)

##### a quarter past (four)

    vartin yli (neljä) (VAH-r-teen UU-lee NEL-ya)

##### half past (one)

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

#### Duration
##### _____ minute(s)

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

##### _____ hour(s)

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

##### _____ day(s)

    _____ päivä(ä) (PIGH-va)

##### _____ week(s)

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

##### _____ month(s)

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

##### _____ year(s)

    _____ vuosi / vuotta (VOO-oss-ee / VOO-ot-tah)

#### Days
##### today

    tänään (TAN-an)

##### day before yesterday

    toissapäivänä (TOYSS-sah-pigh-van-a)

##### yesterday

    eilen (AY-len)

##### tomorrow

    huomenna (HOO-om-en-nah)

##### day after tomorrow

    ylihuomenna (UU-lee-hoo-om-en-nah)

##### this week

    tällä viikolla (TAL-la VEE-kol-lah)

##### last week

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

##### next week

    ensi viikolla (EN-see VEE-kol-lah)

##### Sunday

    sunnuntai (SOON-noon-tigh)

##### Monday

    maanantai (MAH-nahn-tigh)

##### Tuesday

    tiistai (TEE-stigh)

##### Wednesday

    keskiviikko (KESS-kee-veek-kaw)

##### Thursday

    torstai (TAW-r-stigh)

##### Friday

    perjantai (PEH-r-yahn-tigh)

##### Saturday

    lauantai (LOW-ahn-tigh)

#### Months
##### January

    tammikuu (TAHM-mee-koo)

##### February

    helmikuu (HEL-mee-koo)

##### March

    maaliskuu (MAH-lee-skoo)

##### April

    huhtikuu (HOO-h-tee-koo)

##### May

    toukokuu (TOH-kok-oo)

##### June

    kesäkuu (KESS-ak-oo)

##### July

    heinäkuu (HAY-nak-oo)

##### August

    elokuu (EL-ok-oo)

##### September

    syyskuu (SUU-skoo)

##### October

    lokakuu (LOK-ah-koo)

##### November

    marraskuu (MAH-r-rah-skoo)

##### December

    joulukuu (YOH-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.

### Colours
#### black

    musta (MOO-stah)

#### white

    valkoinen (VAHL-koy-nen)

#### grey

    harmaa (HAH-r-mah)

#### red

    punainen (POO-nigh-nen)

#### blue

    sininen (SEE-nee-nen)

#### blue-green

    turkoosi (TOO-r-kaw-see)

#### yellow

    keltainen (KEL-tigh-nen)

#### green

    vihreä (VEE-h-reh-a)

#### orange

    oranssi (aw-rahnss-see)

#### purple

    violetti (VEE-ol-et-tee)

#### brown

    ruskea (ROOS-keh-ah)

#### pink

    pinkki (PEENK-kee)

### Transportation

When going to somewhere, the destination has to be shown by an ending, and there are complex rules for when to use -in and when to use -lle that can trip up even Finns themselves. For simplicity, the phrases below default to -in, where the i has to be replaced with the previous vowel: Helsinki → Helsinkiin, Vaasa → Vaasaan, Turku → Turkuun.
Exceptions where -lle is used instead are rife and often unpredictable, for instance Tampere – Tampereelle. One useful rule, however, is that most place names ending in a waterway (e.g. -järvi "lake", -joki "river", -koski "rapids") are suffixed with -lle: thus Ylöjärvi – Ylöjärvelle, Seinäjoki – Seinäjoelle, Äänekoski – Äänekoskelle. Don't worry too much if you use the "wrong" form, you will still be understood.

#### Bus and train
##### How much is a ticket to _____?

    Paljonko maksaa lippu _____in? (PAHL-yonk-aw MAHK-sah LEEP-poo _____?)

##### One ticket to _____, please.

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

##### Where does this train/bus go?

    Minne tämä juna/bussi menee? (MEEN-neh TAM-a YOO-nah/BOOSS-see MEH-neh?)

##### Where is the train/bus to _____?

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

##### Does this train/bus stop in _____?

    Pysähtyykö tämä juna/bussi _____ssa? (PUU-sa-h-tuu-keu TAM-a YOO-nah/BOOSS-see _____ssah?)

##### When does the train/bus for _____ leave?

    Milloin _____n juna/bussi lähtee? (MEEL-loyn ____n YOO-nah/BOOSS-see LA-h-teh?)

##### When will this train/bus arrive in _____?

    Milloin tämä juna/bussi saapuu _____in? (MEEL-loyn TAM-a YOO-nah/BOOSS-see SAH-poo ____?)

#### Directions
##### How do I get to _____?

    Miten pääsen _____in? (MEE-ten PASS-en ____?)

##### ...the train station?

    ...juna-asemalle? (...YOO-nah-ah-sem-ahl-leh?)

##### ...the bus station?

    ...bussiasemalle? (...BOOSS-see-ah-sem-ahl-leh?)

##### ...the airport?

    ...lentokentälle? (...LEN-tok-en-tal-leh?)

##### ...downtown?

    ...keskustaan? (...KESS-koo-stahn?)

##### ...the youth hostel?

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

##### ...the _____ hotel?

    ... _____-hotelliin? (...HOT-el-leen?)

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

    ...Yhdysvaltojen/ Kanadan/ Australian/ Britannian konsulaattiin? (...UU-h-duuss-vahl-toy-en/KAH-nah-dahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/BREE-tahn-nee-ahn KON-soo-laht-teen?)

##### Where are there a lot of...

    Missä on paljon... (MEES-sa on PAHL-yon...)

##### ...hotels?

    ...hotelleja? (...HOT-el-leh-yah?)

##### ...restaurants?

    ...ravintoloita? (...RAH-veen-tol-oy-tah?)

##### ...bars?

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

##### ...sites to see?

    ...nähtävyyksiä? (...NA-h-tav-uuk-see-a?)

##### Can you show me on the map?

    Voitko näyttää kartalla? (VOYT-kaw NOWT-ta KAH-r-tahl-lah?)

##### street

    katu (KAH-too)

##### Turn left.

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

##### Turn right.

    Käänny oikealle. (KAN-nuu OY-keh-ahl-leh)

##### left

    vasen (VAH-sen)

##### right

    oikea (OY-keh-ah)

##### straight ahead

    eteenpäin (ET-en-pighn)

##### towards the _____

    kohti _____ (KAW-h-tee ____)

##### past the _____

    _____n ohi (____n AW-hee)

##### before the _____

    ennen _____ (EN-nen ____)

##### in front of the _____

    _____n edessä (ED-ess-sa)

##### behind the _____

    _____n takana (TAH-kah-nah)

##### Watch for the _____.

    Varo _____. (VAH-raw ____)

##### inside

    _____n sisällä (SEE-sal-la)

##### outside

    _____n ulkopuolella (OOL-kop-oo-ol-el-lah)

##### intersection

    risteys (REE-steh-uus)

##### north

    pohjoinen (PAW-h-yoy-nen)

##### south

    etelä (ET-el-a)

##### east

    itä (EE-ta)

##### west

    länsi (LAN-see)

##### uphill

    ylämäki (UU-lam-ak-ee)

##### downhill

    alamäki (AH-lah-mak-ee)

#### Taxi
##### Taxi!

    Taksi! (TAHK-see!)

##### Take me to _____, please.

    _____, kiitos. (____, KEE-toss)

##### How much does it cost to get to _____?

    Paljonko maksaa mennä _____in? (PAHL-yonk-aw MAHK-sah MEN-na ____?)

##### (Take me) there, please.

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

#### Place names

In general, the name of the language is the same as the country, but uncapitalized. eg. Espanja → Spain, espanja → Spanish.
With the country names s-latives are used, i.e. Asun Kanadassa "I live in Canada" or Tulen Puolasta "I come from Poland".

##### America

    Amerikka (AH-meh-reek-kah)

##### Canada

    Kanada (KAH-nah-dah)

##### Denmark

    Tanska (TAHN-skah)

##### Estonia

    Viro (VEE-raw) or Eesti (EH-stee)

##### Finland

    Suomi (SOO-om-ee)

##### France

    Ranska (RAHN-skah)

##### Germany

    Saksa (SAHK-sah)

##### Greece

    Kreikka (KRAYK-kah)

##### Japan

    Japani (YAH-pah-nee)

##### Norway

    Norja (NAW-r-yah)

##### Poland

    Puola (POO-ol-ah)

##### Russia

    Venäjä (VEN-a-ya)

##### Spain

    Espanja (ESS-pahn-yah)

##### Sweden

    Ruotsi (ROO-ot-see)

##### USA

    USA (OO-ess-ah)

##### Copenhagen

    Kööpenhamina (KEU-pen-hah-mee-nah)

##### London

    Lontoo (LON-taw)

##### Moscow

    Moskova (MOSS-kov-ah)

##### Paris

    Pariisi (PAH-ree-see)

##### Saint Petersburg

    Pietari (PEE-et-ah-ree)

##### Stockholm

    Tukholma (TOOK-hol-mah)

### Lodging
#### Do you have any rooms available?

    Onko teillä vapaita huoneita? (ONK-aw TAYL-la vah-pigh-tah hoo-on-ay-tah?)

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

    Mitä maksaa huone yhdelle/kahdelle (hengelle)? (MEE-ta mahk-sah hoo-on-eh uu-h-del-leh/kah-h-del-leh heng-ngel-leh)

#### Does the room have...

    Onko huoneessa... (ONK-aw HOO-on-ess-sah...)

#### ...bedsheets?

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

#### ...a bathroom?

    ...kylpyhuone? (KUUL-puu-hoo-on-eh)

#### ...a telephone?

    ...puhelin? (POO-hel-een)

#### ...a TV?

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

#### May I see the room first?

    Voinko nähdä huoneen ensin? (VOYNK-aw NA-h-da HOO-on-en EN-seen?)

#### Do you have anything quieter?

    Onko teillä mitään hiljaisempaa? (ONK-aw TAYL-la ME-tan HEEL-yigh-sem-pah?)

#### ...bigger?

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

#### ...cleaner?

    ...puhtaampaa? (POO-h-tahm-pah)

#### ...cheaper?

    ...halvempaa? (HAHL-vem-pah)

#### OK, I'll take it.

    (Hyvä,) Otan sen. (HUU-va, OT-ahn SEN)

#### I will stay for _____ night(s).

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

#### Can you suggest another hotel?

    Voitteko ehdottaa toista hotellia? (VOYT-tek-aw EH-h-dot-tah TOY-stah HOT-el-lee-ah?)

#### Do you have a safe?

    Onko teillä turvasäilöä? (OHK-aw TAYL-la TOO-r-vah-sigh-leu-a?)

#### ...lockers?

    ...turvalokeroita? (TOO-r-vah-lok-eh-roy-tah?)

#### Is breakfast/supper included?

    Kuuluuko aamiainen/illallinen hintaan? (KOO-loo-kaw AH-mee-igh-nen/EEl-lahl-lee-nen HEEN-tahn?)

#### What time is breakfast/supper?

    Mihin aikaan on aamiainen/illallinen? (MEE-heen IGH-kahn on AH-mee-igh-nen/EEl-lahl-lee-nen)

#### Please clean my room.

    Olkaa hyvä ja siivotkaa huoneeni. (OL-kah HUU-va yah SEE-vot-kah HOO-on-en-ee)

#### Can you wake me at _____?

    Voitteko herättää minut kello _____? (VOYT-tek-aw HEH-rat-ta MEE-noot KEL-law ______?)

#### I want to check out.

    Haluaisin kirjautua ulos. (HAH-loo-igh-seen KEER-yow-too-ah OO-loss)

### Money
#### Do you accept American/ Australian/ Canadian dollars?

    Voinko maksaa Amerikan/ Australian/ Kanadan dollareilla? (VOYNK-aw MAHK-sah AH-meh-ree-kahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/KAH-nah-dahn DOL-lah-rayl-lah?)

#### Do you accept British pounds?

    Voinko maksaa Britannian punnilla? (VOYNK-aw MAHK-sah BREE-tahn-nee-ahn POON-neel-lah?)
    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 some 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? (VOYNk-aw MAHK-sah LOO-ot-tok-aw-r-teel-la?)

#### Can you change money for me?

    Voiko teillä vaihtaa rahaa? (VOY-kaw TAYL-la VIGH-h-tah RAH-hah?)

#### Where can I get money changed?

    Missä voin vaihtaa rahaa? (MEESS-sa voyn VIGH-h-tah RAH-hah?)

#### Can you change a traveler's check for me?

    Voiko teillä vaihtaa matkašekkejä/matkashekkejä? (VOY-kaw TAYL-la VIGH-h-tah MAHT-kah-shek-kay-a?)

#### Where can I get a traveler's check changed?

    Missä voin vaihtaa matkašekkejä/matkashekkejä? (MEESS-sa voyn VIGH-h-tah MAHT-kah-shek-kay-a?)

#### What is the exchange rate?

    Mikä on vaihtokurssi? (MEE-ka on VIGH-h-tok-oo-rss-see)

#### Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?

    Missä on (pankki/raha)-automaatti? (MEESS-sa on PAHNK-kee/RAH-hah-OW-tom-aht-tee)
    Most Finnish ATMs are orange-coloured with the label "Otto" or "Nosto".

### Eating
#### A table for one person/two people, please.

    Pöytä yhdelle/kahdelle kiitos. (PEU-uu-ta UU-h-del-leh/KAH-h-del-le KEE-toss)

#### Can I look at the menu, please?

    Saisinko ruokalistan? (SIGH-seenk-aw ROO-ok-ah-lee-stahn?)

#### Can I look in the kitchen?

    Voinko nähdä keittiön? (VOYNK-aw NA-h-da KAYT-tee-eun)

#### Is there a local specialty?

    Onko teillä paikallisia erikoisuuksia? (ONK-aw TAYL-lah PIGH-kahl-lee-see-ah EH-ree-koy-sook-see-ah?)

#### I'm a vegetarian.

    Olen kasvissyöjä. (OL-en KAHS-veess-suu-eu-ya)

#### I don't eat pork.

    En syö sianlihaa. (en SUU-eu SEE-ahn-lee-hah)

#### I don't eat beef.

    En syö naudanlihaa. (en SUU-eu NOW-dahn-lee-hah)

#### I only eat kosher food.

    Syön vain košer/kosher-ruokaa. (SUU-eun vighn KAW-shehr-ROO-ok-ah)

#### I only eat halal food.

    Syön vain halal-ruokaa. (SUU-eun vighn HAH-lahl-ROO-ok-ah)

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

    Voitteko tehdä siitä kevyttä? (VOYT-tek-aw TEH-h-da SEE-ta KEH-vuut-ta?)

#### fixed-price meal

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

#### à la carte

    à la carte (AH-lah-kah-rt)

#### breakfast

    aamiainen (AH-mee-igh-nen)

#### lunch

    lounas (LAW-oo-nahss)

#### dinner

    päivällinen (PIGH-val-lee-nen)

#### supper

    illallinen (EEL-lahl-lee-nen)

#### I want _____.

    Saisinko _____. (SIGH-seenk-aw _____)

#### I want a dish containing _____.

    Saisinko jotain _____n kanssa. (SIGH-seenk-aw YOT-ighn ______n KAHNSS-sah)

#### chicken

    kana (KAH-nah)

#### beef

    naudanliha (NOW-dahn-lee-hah)

#### reindeer

    poro (PAW-raw)

#### fish

    kala (KAH-lah)

#### herring

    silli (SEEL-lee)

#### baltic herring

    silakka (SEE-lahk-kah)

#### ham

    kinkku (KEENK-koo)

#### sausage

    makkara (MAHK-kah-rah)

#### cheese

    juusto (YOO-staw)

#### eggs

    munia (MOO-nee-ah)

#### salad

    salaatti (SAH-laht-tee)Finnish Christmas salads. Rosolli is a mix of carrot, beetroot and pickled cucumber.

#### (fresh) vegetables

    (tuoreita) vihanneksia (TOO-aw-ray-tah VEE-hahn-nek-see-ah)

#### (fresh) fruit

    (tuoreita) hedelmiä (TOO-aw-ray-tah HED-el-mee-ah)

#### bread

    leipä (LAY-pa)

#### toast

    paahtoleipä (PAH-h-tol-ay-pa)

#### noodles

    nuudeleita (NOO-del-ay-tah)

#### rice

    riisi (REE-see)

#### beans

    papuja (PAH-poo-yah)

#### May I have a glass of _____?

    Saisinko lasin _____? (SIGH-seenk-aw LAH-seen______)

#### May I have a cup of _____?

    Saisinko kupin _____? (SIGH-seenk-aw KOO-peen_____)

#### May I have a bottle of _____?

    Saisinko pullon _____? (SIGH-seenk-aw POOL-lon______)

#### coffee

    kahvia (KAH-h-vee-ah)

#### tea (drink)

    teetä (TEH-ta)

#### juice

    mehua (MEH-hoo-ah)

#### (bubbly) water

    soodavettä (SAW-dah-vet-ta)

#### water

    vettä (VET-ta)

#### beer

    olutta (OL-oot-tah)

#### red/white wine

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

#### May I have some _____?

    Saisinko _____? (SIGH-seenk-aw____?)

#### salt

    suolaa (SOO-ol-ah)

#### black pepper

    pippuria (PEEP-poo-ree-ah)

#### butter

    voita (VOY-tah)

#### Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server)

    Anteeksi, tarjoilija? (AHN-tek-see TAH-r-yoy-lee-yah?)

#### I'm finished.

    Olen valmis. (OL-en VAHL-meess)

#### It was delicious.

    Se oli herkullista/hyvää. (seh OL-ee HEH-r-kool-lee-stah/HUU-va)

#### Please clear the plates.

    Voitteko tyhjentää pöydän? (VOYT-tek-aw TUU-h-yen-ta PEU-uu-dan)

#### The check, please.

    Lasku, kiitos. (LAH-skoo, KEE-toss)

### Bars
#### Do you serve alcohol?

    Myyttekö alkoholia? (MUUT-tek-eu AHL-kaw-hol-ee-ah?)

#### Is there table service?

    Onko teillä pöytiintarjoilua? (ONK-aw TAYL-la PEU-uu-teen-tah-r-yoy-loo-ah?)

#### A beer/two beers, please.

    Yksi olut/kaksi olutta kiitos. (UUK-see OL-oot/KAHK-see OL-oot-tah, KEE-toss)

#### A glass of red/white wine, please.

    Lasi punaviiniä/valkoviiniä kiitos. (LAH-see POO-nah/VAHL-kaw-vee-nee-a KEE-toss)

#### A pint, please.

    (Yksi) tuoppi kiitos. ((UUK-see) TOO-op-pee, KEE-toss)

#### A bottle, please.

    Yksi pullo kiitos. (UUK-see POOL-law, KEE-toss)

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

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

#### whiskey

    viskiä (VEE-skee-a)

#### vodka

    vodkaa (VOT-kah)

#### rum

    rommia (ROM-mee-ah)

#### water

    vettä (VET-ta)

#### club soda

    soodavettä (SAW-dah-vet-ta)

#### tonic water

    tonic-vettä (TON-eek-vet-ta)

#### orange juice

    appelsiinimehua (AHP-pel-see-nee-meh-hoo-ah)

#### Coke (soda)

    kolaa (KOL-ah)

#### Do you have any bar snacks?

    Onko teillä pikkupurtavia? (ONK-aw TAYL-la PEEK-koo-poo-r-tah-vee-ah?)

#### One more, please.

    Yksi vielä, kiitos. (UUK-see VEE-el-a KEE-toss)

#### Another round, please.

    Toinen kierros, kiitos. (TOY-nen KEE-eh-r-ross)

#### When is closing time?

    Mihin aikaan suljette? (MEE-heen IGH-kahn SOOL-yet-teh?)

#### Cheers!

    Kippis! (KEEP-peess)

### Shopping
#### Do you have this in my size?

    Onko teillä tätä minun koossani? (ONK-kaw TAYL-la TAT-a MEE-noon KAWSS-sah-nee?)

#### How much is this?

    Paljonko tämä maksaa? (PAHL-yonk-aw TAM-a MAHK-sah?)

#### That's too expensive.

    Se on liian kallis. (seh on LEE-ahn KAHL-leess)

#### Would you take _____?

    Miten olisi _____? (MEE-ten OL-ee-see ____?)

#### expensive

    kallis (KAHL-leess)

#### cheap

    halpa (HAHL-pah)

#### I can't afford it.

    Minulla ei ole varaa siihen. (MEE-nool-lah ay OL-eh VAH-rah SEE-hen)

#### I don't want it.

    En tahdo sitä. (en TAH-h-daw SEE-ta)

#### You're cheating me.

    Huijaatte minua. (HOO-ee-yaht-teh MEE-noo-ah)

#### I'm not interested.

    En ole kiinnostunut. (en OL-eh KEEN-noss-too-noot)

#### OK, I'll take it.

    Hyvä, otan sen. (HUU-va, OT-ahn sen)

#### Can I have a bag?

    Voinko saada muovipussin? (VOYNK-aw SAH-dah MOO-ov-ee-pooss-seen?)

#### Do you ship (overseas)?

    Lähetättekö tavaroita myös (ulkomaille)? (LA-HEH-tat-tek-euh TAH-vah-roy-tah MUU-euss OOL-kom-ighl-leh?)

#### Can I get it duty free?

    Voinko saada sen tax-freena? (VOYNK-aw SAH-dah sen taks-free-nah)

#### I need...

    Tarvitsen... (TAH-r-veet-sen...)

#### ...toothpaste.

    ...hammastahnaa. (...HAHM-mahss-tah-h-nah)

#### ...a toothbrush.

    ...hammasharjan. (...HAHM-mahss-hah-r-yahn)

#### ...tampons.

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

#### ...soap.

    ...saippuaa. (...SIGHP-poo-ah)

#### ...shampoo.

    ...sampoota/shampoota. (...SAHM-paw-tah/SHAHM-paw-tah)

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

    ...särkylääkettä. (...SA-r-kuu-lak-et-ta)

#### ...cold medicine.

    ...flunssalääkettä. (...FLOONSS-sah-lak-et-ta)

#### ...stomach medicine.

    ...vatsalääkettä. (...VAHT-sah-lak-et-ta)

#### ...a razor.

    ...partaterän. (...PAH-r-tah-teh-ran)

#### ...an umbrella.

    ...sateenvarjon. (...SAH-ten-vah-r-yon)

#### ...sunblock lotion.

    ...aurinkovoidetta. (...OW-reenk-aw-voy-det-tah)

#### ...a postcard.

    ...postikortin. (...POSS-tee-kaw-r-teen)

#### ...postage stamps.

    ...postimerkkejä. (...POSS-tee-meh-rk-kay-a)

#### ...batteries.

    ...pattereita/paristoja. (...PAHT-teh-ray-tah/PAH-reess-toy-ah)

#### ...writing paper.

    ...kirjepaperia. (...KEE-r-yep-pah-peh-ree-ah)

#### ...a pen.

    ...kynän. (...KUU-nan)

#### ...English-language books.

    ...englanninkielisiä kirjoja. (...ENG-lahn-neenk-ee-el-ee-see-a KEE-r-yaw-yah)

#### ...English-language magazines.

    ...englanninkielisiä lehtiä. (...ENG-lahn-neenk-ee-el-ee-see-a LEH-h-tee-a)

#### ...an English-language newspaper.

    ...englanninkielisen sanomalehden. (...ENG-lahn-neenk-ee-el-ee-sen SAH-nom-ah-leh-h-den)

#### ...an English-Finnish dictionary.

    ...englanti-suomi-sanakirjan. (...ENG-lahn-tee-SOO-om-ee-SAH-nah-kee-r-yan)

### Driving
#### I want to rent a car.

    Haluaisin vuokrata auton. (HAH-loo-igh-seen VOO-ok-rah-tah OW-ton)

#### Can I get insurance?

    Voinko saada vakuutuksen? (VOYNK-aw SAH-dah VAH-koo-took-sen)

#### stop (on a street sign)

    stop (stop)

#### one way

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

#### yield

    anna tietä (literally "give way")/'kolmio' (triangle, the common European yield sign) (...AHN-nah TEE-eh-ta/KOL-mee-aw)

#### no parking

    ei pysäköintiä (...ay PUU-sak-eu-een-tee-a)

#### speed limit

    nopeusrajoitus (...NOP-eh-oos-rah-yoy-tooss)

#### gas (petrol) station

    bensa-asema/huoltoasema (...BEN-sah-ah-seh-mah/HOO-ol-taw-ah-seh-mah)

#### petrol

    bensiini (...BEN-see-nee)

#### diesel

    diesel (...DEE-sel)

### Authority
#### I haven't done anything wrong.

    En ole tehnyt mitään väärää. (en OL-eh TEH-h-nuut MEE-tan VA-ra)

#### It was a misunderstanding.

    Se oli väärinkäsitys. (seh OL-ee VA-reen-kass-ee-tuus)

#### Where are you taking me?

    Minne viette minut? (MEE-heen VEE-et-teh MEE-noot?)

#### Am I under arrest?

    Olenko pidätetty? (OL-enk-aw PEE-dat-et-tuu?)

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

    Olen Amerikan/ Australian/ Britannian/ Kanadan kansalainen. (OL-en AH-meh-ree-kahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/BREE-tahn-nee-ahn/KAH-nah-dahn KAHN-sah-ligh-nen)

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

    Haluan puhua USA:n/ Australian/ Britannian/ Kanadan suurlähetystön/konsulaatin kanssa. (HAH-loo-ahn POO-hoo-ah OO-ess-ahn/OW-strah-lee-ahn/BREE-tahn-nee-ahn/KAH-nah-dahn SOO-r-la-heh-tuu-steun/KON-soo-lah-teen KAHNSS-sah)

#### I want to talk to a lawyer.

    Haluan puhua lakimiehelle/asianajajalle. (HAH-loo-ahn POO-hoo-ah LAH-kee-mee-eh-hel-leh/AH-see-ahn-ah-yah-yahl-leh)