Monday, May 30, 2016

Body fluids in Finnish

It's time for a list! This time we're talking about body fluids, eritteet. Test yourself and see how many words you already know.

  1. hiki
  2. kyynelneste
  3. lapsivesi
  4. lima 
  5. mahaneste
  6. mätä
  7. oksennus
  8. räkä
  9. siemenneste
  10. sperma
  11. sylki
  12. uloste (kakka)
  13. vaikku
  14. veri
  15. visva
  16. virtsa (pissa)




Here are the translations:

  1. hiki - sweat
  2. kyynelneste - tears
  3. lapsivesi - amniotic fluid
  4. lima - slime
  5. mahaneste - gastric acid
  6. mätä - pus
  7. oksennus - vomit
  8. räkä - snot, nasal mucus
  9. siemenneste - semen
  10. sperma - sperm
  11. sylki - saliva
  12. uloste (kakka) - excrement, stool, poop
  13. vaikku - earwax
  14. veri - blood
  15. visva - pus
  16. virtsa (pissa) - urine, pee

Other fun lists:


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.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Place adverbs 'here' and 'there'

These eighteen (!) words are known to be quite tricky, so be patient. 
All the examples are from my previous posts about the pronouns tämä, tuo and se.  

tässä, tästä, tähän
A small area that is close to the speaker:

  • Odota tässä vähän aikaa. - Wait here for a while. 
  • Ota tästä nenäliina. - Take a tissue from here. 
  • Istu tähän odottamaan. - Sit (to) here to wait.

täällä, täältä, tänne

A larger area such as a room, a town or a country:

  • Hei, me ollaan täällä! - Hey, we are over here!
  • Täältä on Helsinkiin 200 kilometriä. - It's 200 kilometers to Helsinki from here. 
  • Tulkaa tänne! - Come (to) over here!

tuossa, tuosta, tuohon (tossa, tosta, tohon)
A small area that you can see and  point at:

  • Tuossa on kirjoitusvirhe. - There's a spelling mistake. 
  • Ota tuosta lisää paperia. - Take more paper from there. 
  • Allekirjoita tuohon.  Sign (to) there.

tuolla, tuolta, tuonne (tuolla, tuolta, tonne)

A larger area that you can see and point at:

  • Mitä tuolla tapahtuu? - What's happening over there?
  • ostin tuolta eilen uuden takin. - I bought a new jacket from there yesterday.
  • Laita se tuonne. - Put it over there.

siinä, siitä, siihen
A small area that you cannot see or that is close to the recipient:

  • Siinä sinä olet! - There you are!
  • Ota siitä kahvia. - Take some coffee from there. 
  • Kirjoita siihen sun nimi. - Write your name (to) there. 

siellä, sieltä, sinne

A larger area that you cannot see or that is close to the recipient:

  • Mitä te teette siellä? - What are you doing over there?
  • Tulkaa pois sieltä! - Get out of there!
  • Menettekö te sinne autolla vai junalla? - Are you going (to) there by car or by bus?

If you like my blog, you might also like my Facebook page and my Instagram account.




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. 

Friday, May 27, 2016

Being pregnant in Finnish

When a woman is expecting a child in Finnish, she's raskaana, which literally means in a heavy condition. (Raskas means heavy.)  Here are some common pregnancy-related phrases:

  • Oletko kuullut kuka odottaa vauvaa? - Have you heard who is expecting a baby?
  • Mun sisko on raskaana. - My sister is pregnant.
  • Meille tulee vauva! - We're going to have a baby!
  • Villestä tulee isoveli. - Ville is going to be a big brother. 
  • Sinä saat pikkusiskon. - You're going to have a little sister.
  • Laskettu aika on lokakuussa.  - The expected due date is in October. 
  • Onkohan Tiina raskaana? - I wonder if Tiina is pregnant. (Notice that it is not polite to ask a woman if she's pregnant!)

These posts might also be useful, if you are pregnant:

p.s. Jos puhut jo hyvin suomea ja asut Jyväskylässä, tervetuloa keskustelukurssille!

Thursday, May 26, 2016

How to wish for a nice day in Finnish

I'm sure that many of you know that Have a nice weekend is Hyvää viikonloppua in Finnish. These ones might also be useful:

  • Hauskaa loppuviikkoa! - Have a fun rest of the week!
  • Hyvää päivänjatkoa! - Have a nice rest of the day!
  • Mukavaa sunnuntaita! - Have a nice Sunday!
  • Hauskaa koulupäivää! - Have a nice day at school!
  • Kivaa työpäivää! - Have a nice day at work!

Hyvää ensimmäistä koulupäivää! 
Have a great first day of school!

Related posts:


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About the author of this blog:  


My name is Hanna Männikkölahti, and I am a native Finn who gives private lessons via Skype and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please leave a comment, if you have something to ask about Finnish or novels in easy Finnish.

Lue selkokirja. Se voi olla yllättävän helppoa ja kivaa!
www.privatefinnishlessons.com/books

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

How to use the Finnish word 'viikko'

Here's a small post about viikko, a week. 

Common sentences with viikko: 


  1. Mä käyn joka viikko saunassa.
  2. Nähdään viikon kuluttua! 
  3. Kaksi viikkoa on pitkä aika. 
  4. Mitä sä teet ensi viikolla
  5. Matti oppi uimaan kolmessa viikossa
  6. Tästä viikosta tulee pitkä. 
  7. Mä en ole nähnyt sitä kolmeen viikkoon
  8. Mun kaveri tuli meille kahdeksi viikoksi. 




Here are the translations:


  1. Mä käyn joka viikko saunassa. - I take a sauna every week. 
  2. Nähdään viikon kuluttua! - See you in a week! (after a week has passed)
  3. Kaksi viikkoa on pitkä aika. - Two weeks is a long time.
  4. Mitä sä teet ensi viikolla? - What are you going to do next week?
  5. Matti oppi uimaan kolmessa viikossa. - Matti learned how to swim in three weeks.
  6. Tästä viikosta tulee pitkä. - This week will be a long one. 
  7. Mä en ole nähnyt sitä kolmeen viikkoon. - I haven't seen him for three weeks. 
  8. Mun kaveri tuli meille kahdeksi viikoksi. - My friend came to my place for two weeks.


Useful links



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.  

Friday, May 20, 2016

Making a phone call in Finnish

This topic was requested by an anonymous reader a couple of months ago. Kiitos ideasta!

When my phone rings and I don't know who it is, I usually just say my whole name.

This is how I start a phone call when I'm calling to someone that I don't know:

  • Tässä on Hanna Männikkölahti Jyväskylästä hei. - This is Hanna Männikkölahti from Jyväskylä, hello. (I don't really know why I always say that I'm from Jyväskylä if I call somewhere else, but that's what I do.)

It's quite important to say shortly why you are calling before starting a long monologue. Most likely you're talking to an operator who won't deal with your case but instead will connect you with another person.  Here are some sentences that I've actually said lately:


Here's what to say in the end:

  • Kiitos avusta. - Thanks for the help.
  • Tästä oli tosi paljon apua. - This helped me a lot. 
  • Hyvää päivänjatkoa! - Have a nice day! (jatko = continuation)

Kuulemiin is the old-fashioned way to end a phone call, but I just usually say Kiitos hei, Hei hei or Kiitti moi! 

Related post: Making a phone call to Löyly

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Walking in Finnish

Kävellä is to walk.


Käveleminen is walking. 


Kävely is a walk. 


Kävellen is on foot.

  • Mennäänkö autolla vai kävellen? - Shall we go by car or on foot?
  • Tulitko kävellen? - Did you come on foot?

Oh, if you like walking and reading about walking, you should check out this blog Jalkaisin (which means the same as kävellen). 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Beginner's courses in Finnish in Jyväskylä

Are you looking for a beginner's course in Finnish?  Come to Jyväskylä in July and study with me! 

I'll be organizing a beginner's Finnish course for three or four students from July 4 to July 8. We'll have four lessons of 45 minutes every day from Monday to Friday. We can discuss the time details later, but probably starting around 9.30 in the morning. After the lessons, you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the city and summer activities, and also study Finnish on your own and practice with the locals. I can help you to find accommodation during your stay here, and I can also suggest fun things to do in Jyväskylä after the lessons.  

Send me an email (hanna.mannikkolahti@gmail.com) and let me know something about yourself. We'll be using the text book Sun suomi, and you'll also have a short Skype session and  some homework before the course even starts.  The price of the course is 250 euros.

Another option is to come to Jyväskylä at the end of the summer and study at a Jyväskylä Summer University course from August 8 to August 18. The course fee is 390 €, and the course will be located at the university campus by the lake. 

Tervetuloa Jyväskylään opiskelemaan suomea!




Past participle active in Finnish

This one is also called the NUT participle, and it's used in three tenses:

Past tense negative:


  • Miksi sinä et kertonut minulle? - Why didn't you tell me?

 Perfect tense:


  • Oletko sinä jo kertonut hänelle? - Have you told him already?
  • En ole kertonut hänelle vielä. - I haven't told him yet. 

Pluperfect tense:


  • Olin jo kertonut kaiken, mutta hän halusi tietää lisää. - I had already told everything, but he wanted to know more. 
  • En ollut kertonut hänelle mitään, mutta hän tiesi, mitä oli tapahtunut - I hadn't told him anything, but he knew what had happened. 

The NUT participle is quite easy to form: drop the infinitive ending and add NUT or NYT. In plural, it's NEET.


  • (to tell) kertoa > kerto + nut > kertonut
  • (to ask) kysyä > kysy + nyt > kysynyt

  • (to drink) juoda > juo + nut > juonut
  • (to eat) syödä > syö + nyt  > syönyt

Verb type 3: 

(Notice the slightly different ending!)

  • (to go) mennä > men + nyt > mennyt
  • (to study) opiskella > opiskel + lut  > opiskellut
  • (to walk) kävellä > kävel + lyt > kävellyt
  • (to wash) pestä > pes + syt > pessyt
  • (to bite) purra > pur + rut > purrut

Verb type 4: 

(Notice the double n.)

  • (to play) pelata > pela + nnut > pelannut
  • (to clean) siivota > siivo + nnut > siivonnut
  • (to wake up) herätä > herä + nnyt > herännyt

Here's a post about the use of the past tenses in Finnish.
This one is about the negative past tense.

NUT participle as an adjective:


  • Mihin se tuossa istunut poika meni? - Where did the boy who sat there go?
  • Mikä sen äsken puhuneen miehen nimi oli? - What was the name of the man who just spoke? (Yes, the stem of puhunut is puhunee-.)


NUT participle in a referative construction:


  • Tiedän hänen asuneen Helsingissä. - I know that he lived in Helsinki. (This one is more common in written language. Usually people would say Tiedän, että hän asui Helsingissä.)

If this was useful, you might also like my posts about the other participles.


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.