How to talk about many, all and everything in Finnish

I've noticed that this topic is quite tricky for many Finnish learners. I hope that this post is helpful. 

• monta = many: Minulla on monta hyvää ystävää. - I have many good friends. (This is a partitive form of moni) 
• paljon = a lot: Onko sulla paljon suomalaisia kavereita? - Do you have a lot of Finnish friends? 
• kaikki = all:  Kaikki mun vanhat lukiokaverit asuvat Helsingissä. - All my old high school friends live in Helsinki. 

Common forms of moni:

• moni: Moni mun kavereista on jo naimisissa. - Many of my friends are already married. (singular nominative)
• monet: Monet mun kavereista ovat jo naimisissa. - Many of my friends are already married. (Plural noninative)

Monta is always followed by a singular partitive:

• Minulla on monta hyvää ystävää.  - I have many good friends. 
• Kuinka monta Facebook-kaveria sulla on? - How many Facebook friends do you have?
• Mä yritin soittaa sulle monta kertaa. - I tried to call you many times.

Monet is always followed by a t-plural:

• Monet suomalaiset puhuvat hyvää englantia. - Many Finns speak good English.
• Monet luulevat, että Suomessa on jääkarhuja. - Many people think that there are polar bears in Finland.

Notice that you can also use the singular form moni: 

• Moni suomalainen puhuu hyvää englantia. - Many Finns speak good English.
• Moni luulee, että Suomessa on jääkarhuja. - Many people think that there are polar bears in Finland.

Kaikki is also followed by a t-plural:

• Kaikki mun vanhat lukiokaverit asuvat Helsingissä. - All my old high school friends live in Helsinki. 
• Kaikki mun tavarat varastettiin! - All my things were stolen!
• Missä kaikki muut ovat? - Where are all the others?

How to use paljon?

Paljon is followed by a plural partitive when talking about concrete, countable things. 

• Onko sulla paljon suomalaisia kavereita? - Do you have a lot of Finnish friends? 
• Tuolla on paljon ihmisiä. - There are a lot of people over there. 
• Muista syödä paljon vihanneksia. - Remember to eat a lot of vegetables. 

Paljon is followed by a singular partitive when talking about uncountable things, also know as mass nouns:

• Juo paljon vettä. - Drink a lot of water. 
• Sinä syöt liian paljon sokeria. - You eat too much sugar. 
• Minulla on paljon aikaa. - I have a lot of time.

Also vähän, (a little), liikaa (too much) and tarpeeksi (enough) behave the same way as paljon.

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.