Monday, February 23, 2015

How to say 'normally' in Finnish

I don't usually offer my Finnish teaching services to strangers on the street, but every time I hear someone saying normaalisesti, I wish I could do something to let them know, very kindly,  that it should actually be normaalisti. 

It is understandable that it's so easy to say normaalisesti, because many adjectives end with nen:

  • tavallinen - usual, normal
  • yleinen - common
  • erityinen - special
  • erikoinen - special, strange

The adverbs go like this:

  • tavallisesti - usually, normally
  • yleisesti - commonly (Notice that usually is yleensä.)
  • erityisesti - specially
  • erikoisesti - in a strange way

However, normal in Finnish is just normaali. There is no such word as normaalinen, and therefore there cannot be an adverb normaalisesti. Siinä kaikki. :)





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. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if your want to be the first one to know when I post something new. 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Words that are both Finnish and English

Read these English words aloud.

  1. me
  2. he
  3. no
  4. on
  5. sun
  6. tee
  7. tie
  8. into
  9. home
  10. some
  11. oven
  12. pore
  13. pure
  14. sure
  15. made
  16. side
  17. alas
  18. lava
  19. vain
  20. teen
  21. join
  22. vein
  23. villa
  24. helmet

Then read them in Finnish, because they're normal Finnish words, too!

  1. me - we
  2. he - they
  3. no - well
  4. on - is 
  5. sun - your, yours
  6. tee - tea
  7. tie - a road, a street
  8. into - enthusiasm
  9. home - mold
  10. some - social media
  11. oven - door's (genitive of ovi)
  12. pore - a bubble, fizz
  13. pure - bite (imperative of purra)
  14. sure - mourn (imperative of surra)
  15. made - a burbot
  16. side - a bandage, gauze, sanitary pad
  17. alas - (to) down
  18. lava - stage,  platform
  19. vain - only
  20. teen - I do, I make (also the genitive of tee)
  21. join - I drunk (past tense of juoda in 1st person singular)
  22. vein - I took (past tense of viedä in 1st person singular)
  23. villa - wool
  24. helmet - pearls



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. 

Monday, February 9, 2015

Finnish comedy with English subtitles

I'm sure that many of you have already seen this YouTube clip about Finnish people saying hi. The same user has also uploaded video clips and added English subtitles to Ihmisten puolueSiskonpeti, and many more. Hope you'll find something that you like!

Thursday, February 5, 2015

How do you feel in Finnish?

There are so many ways  to decribe how you feel in Finnish. I already have a post about the verbs tuntea and tuntua, but here are some sentences that came to my mind, organized according to the structure.

To have a certain type of a feeling, olo:


  • Mulla on kuumeinen olo. - I'm feeling feverish.
  • Mulla oli eilen tosi kummallinen olo. - I felt really weird yesterday. 
  • Mulla on ihan paska olo. - I feel like sh*t.
  • Onko sulla jo parempi olo? - Are you feeling better already?
  • Mulla on tosi hyvä olo! - I'm feeling great!

Partitive + a feeling verb


  • Mua väsyttää. - I'm feeling tired. 
  • Mua ärsyttää. - I'm annoyed.
  • Eikö tämä asia huolestuta ketään muuta? - Doesn't this thing make anyone else worried?

Voida


  • Kuinka sä voit tänään? - How do you (physically) feel today?
  • Voitko sä vielä huonosti? - Are you still feeling sick?
  • Mä voin ihan hyvin. - I'm feeling just fine.

Tuntua + lta


  • Minusta tuntuu siltä, että pian tapahtuu jotain kamalaa. - I feel like (it) that something horrible is going to happen soon. (This one seems to be the most difficult one. Notice that the person who feels is in the elative case. You can also leave the person out.)
  • Musta tuntui tyhmältä seisoa siellä. - I felt stupid standing there. 
  • Se tuntui musta tosi pahalta. - It felt really bad for me. 
  • Miltä nyt tuntuu? - How does it feel now?
  • Tämä tuntuu hyvältä. - This feels good.


Lue lisää: Finnish feelings in a nutshell


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.  

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

How to arrange a work shadowing visit in Finnish

I'm really excited about a Finnish course that I'm teaching for nurses right now.  Since I'm not a nurse, I'd like to visit a nursing home or a hospital and observe the language in real situations. This is what I said when I called to a local nursing home earlier today:

  • Tässä on ______. - This is ________ speaking. 
  • Toivottavasti mä en häiritse, mutta.. - I hope I'm not disturbing you, but..
  • Olisiko mahdollista tulla tutustumaan teidän palvelutaloon?  - Would it be possible to come to observe your nursing home?
  • Mä haluaisin jutella hoitajien ja potilaiden kanssa. - I'd like to talk to the nurses and the patients.
  • Mä ymmärrän, jos se ei ole mahdollista. - I understand, if it's not possible.
  • Mä voisin tulla milloin vain teille sopii. - I could come whenever is good for you.
  • Se sopii hyvin. - That suits me well. 
  • Kiitos tosi paljon. - Thank you so much.
  • Nähdään silloin. - See you then.