Joku is someone. You don't really know joku that well, or it doesn't matter who she or he is.
- Joku on varastanut mun pyörän! - Someone has stolen my bike!
- Meneekö joku vielä saunaan? - Is someone still going to the sauna?
- Ottaako joku vielä maksalaatikkoa? - Is someone still taking liver casserole?
- Se oli vain joku puhelinmyyjä. - It was just some telemarketer.
- Tuolla rannalla makaa joku mies! - There's some guy lying on the beach!
(Notice that joku is also used in spoken language when talking about jokin, something. I have a whole post about those two.)
Eräs is actually not so common in everyday spoken language. It's much more formal and old-fashioned than yksi.
- Eräänä päivänä Punahilkka lähti käymään isoäidin luona. - Once upon a time Little Red riding Hood went to visit her grandmother.
- Minulla on sinulle eräs mielenkiintoinen projekti. - I have an interesting project for you.
Eräs in plural can be used in an ironic tone of voice:
Finally, here are some everyday sentences with yksi. In spoken language, it's often just yks.
- Se on vaan yks mun vanha tyttöystävä. - She's just an old girlfriend of mine.
- Se on yks mun kurssikaveri. - S/he's a course friend of mine.
- Me nähtiin eilen yks tosi hyvä elokuva. - We saw a really good movie yesterday.
- Mä olin eilen yhdessä uudessa ravintolassa. - I went to a new restaurant yesterday.
Read more:
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About the author of this blog:
My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. You can contact me through www.privatefinnishlessons.com. You can subscribe to this blog from the right-hand banner.
3 comments:
Kiitoksia :)
Eipä kestä.:)
The reason "eräs" is used in ironic tones is that it is used to mean "someone", "a person", etc. (or "a certain someone" - no definite/indefinite separation, remember?), whereas "yksi" isn't. Then again "yksi" means "one" in a numerical sense (it's a numeral) and also "a"/"an", whereas "eräs" (a noun) does not, so "eräs" can be used separately, whereas "yksi" tends to beg the question "one what?", even though that isn't grammatically required.
I think the very few people using "yksi" separately in place of "eräs" is mostly Swedish or foreign influence.
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