Tuesday, August 26, 2014

The difference between uni and unelma

Somebody had found this blog by searching dream in Finnish. Kiitos ideasta!

Uni is the dream that you have in the night when you sleep. 

(The bad translations in the parenthesis are there to point out the structure of the expression.)

  • Näitkö sinä pahaa unta? - Did you have a nightmare? (Did you see some bad dream?)
  • Minä en saanut unta viime yönä. - I didn't get any sleep last night.
  • Kauniita unia! - Beautiful dreams! (Sleep well is Nuku hyvin.)
  • Minä menen päiväunille. - I'm going to take a nap.  (To daydream is haaveilla or unelmoida.)
  • Älä unta näe! - Dream on!  In your dreams! (Don't see a dream.)

Unelma is a dream, a wish.


  • Mitä unelmia sinulla on? - What are your dreams? (Which dreams do you have?)
  • Mikä sun unelma-ammatti on? - What's your dream job?
  • Elän unelmaani! - I'm living my dream!
  • Suomi, unelmieni maa! - Finland, the land of my dreams!



About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 


My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Swinging in Finnish

Vauhti is speed. In my life, the word is usually used in the context of swinging on a swing set. To push is normally työntää, but when swinging, Finnish children usually yell Anna mulle vauhtia! - Give me some speed! To pump is normally pumpata, but in a swinging context, we talk about ottaa vauhtia - take some speed. To swing is keinua or kiikkua. 

If you go to any Finnish playground and eavesdrop for a while, I'm sure you'll hear at least some of these phrases:

  • Mennään keinumaan! - Let's go swinging!
  • Minä haluan vauvakeinuun. - I want to go tot he baby swing. 
  • Mä haluan hämähäkkikeinuun! - I want to go to the spider swing!
  • Anna mulle vauhtia! - Push me!
  • Lisää vauhtia! - More speed!
  • Kovempaa! - Harder!
  • Lujempaa! - Faster!
  • Otapa itse vauhtia. - Why don't you pump yourself. 
  • Mä en osaa ottaa vauhtia! - I don't know how to pump!
  • Pidä kiinni! - Hold on!
  • Lisää! - More!
  • Joko mennään? - Shall we go already?
  • Ei mennä vielä! - Let's not go yet!
  • Keinutaan lisää! - Let's swing some more!

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

aika - melko - melkein

Aika means time, but it also means quite.

  • Tämä harjoitus oli aika vaikea.  - This exercise was quite difficult. 
  • Viime kerrasta on aika kauan aikaa. - It's been a while since the last time.

Another word for quite is melko, but I just realized that I never say it. I suppose it's a bit more formal than aika. 

  • Olen melko tyytyväinen suoritukseesi. - I'm quite satisfied with your performance. 
  • Käyn täällä melko usein. - I visit here rather often.

Notice that melko is very often mixed with melkein, which means almost

  • Se oli melkein oikein! - That was almost correct!
  • Mä melkein unohdin sen. - I almost forgot it.
  • oon melkein valmis. - I'm almost ready. 

Oh, you might also want to read my post about ihan.


Monday, August 11, 2014

How to use the Finnish words 'tosi', 'todella' and 'oikeasti'

An anonymous reader asked me to clarify the meaning of these three words. I'll try. Kiitos ideasta!

Tosi is true and real, and it's often used in partitive:


  • Onko se totta? - Is it true?
  • Totta kai! - Of course! (Yes, the direct translation is very illogically True, I suppose)

Here are some expressions with the word tosi that kind of lose their cool in translation:

  • Tosi kuin vesi! - True as water!
  • Nyt on tosi kyseessä. - It's a serious matter now. 

Tosi is also the spoken language version of todella, which means very. 


Also oikein and hyvin mean very, but they sound more formal and old-fashioned than todella or tosi.

  • Todella hyvä asia! = Tosi kiva juttu! - A very nice thing!

Here's how to use todella (or tosi) in front of adjectives and adverbs:

  • Tämä on todella tärkeä asia. - This is a very important matter.
  • Tämä kakku on todella hyvää. - This cake is really good.
  • Se oli todella mielenkiintoinen luento. - It was a very interesting lecture. 
  • Mun piti miettiä tätä todella kauan. - I had to think about this for a really long time. 
  • Anteeksi. Mä sanoin todella rumasti. - I'm sorry. I said very uglily. 
  • Mä olen todella pahoillani. - I'm very sorry. 


Todella can also be used the same way as oikeasti - for real. 


Sometimes (very annoying) people even say aikuisten oikeasti - for adults' real. In spoken language, oikeasti becomes oikeesti.

  • Voinko mä oikeasti luottaa sinuun? - Can I really trust you?
  • Voit todellakin. - Yes, you certainly can.  (Add kin to make it even stronger.)
  • Oikeesti, mä yritin vain auttaa. - For real, I just tried to help. 
  • Lupaatko aikuisten oikeesti? - Do you promise, for really real?




If you liked this, you might also like my post about ihan.


About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 

My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.