How to use the finnish words 'ero', 'erota' and 'erottaa'

Here's a post about words that begin with ero. 

Usually ero means a difference, distinction or a divorce.

• Mitä eroa on sanoilla tai ja vai? - What's the difference between tai and vai?
• Etsi viisi eroa. - Find five differences.
• Haluan eron. - I want a divorce.

Erota is to divorce or to separate. 

(Here's an informative link about divorcing in Finland, and here's a song that you can sing to your ex in a Finnish karaoke.)

• Miksi te erositte? - Why did you divorce?

Erottaa is for example to fire and to tell apart.

• Kukaan ei voi erottaa meitä! - Nobody can separate/fire us!
• Mä en osaa erottaa niitä toisistaan. - I cannot tell the difference between them.
• A post about resigning and getting fired in Finnish

If you are confused by the similarity of these two verbs, you might enjoy my post about transitive and intransitive verbs.

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. 

Communication verbs in Finnish

Here's a small post about verbs that express some kind of communication between people. First, test how many words you already know:

1. ehdottaa
2. hokea
3. houkutella
4. huikata
5. huutaa
6. ihmetellä
7. ilmoittaa
8. inttää
9. juoruta, juoruilla
10. jutella
11. kehua
12. kertoa
13. kieltää
14. kiittää
15. kirjoittaa
16. korjata
17. kuiskata
18. kysäistä
19. kysyä
20. liioitella
21. lohduttaa
22. lukea ajatuksia
23. muistuttaa
24. mutista
25. neuvoa
26. myöntää
27. paljastaa
28. pohtia
29. puhua
30. puuskahtaa
31. pyytää anteeksi
32. sanoa
33. selittää 
34. suositella
35. tiedustella
36. todeta
37. toistaa
38. tuhahtaa
39. tunnustaa
40. valehdella
41. valittaa
42. varoittaa
43. vastata 
44. väittää
45. vähätellä
46. ärsyttää

Here are the translations:

1. ehdottaa - to suggest
2. hokea - to repeat, to parrot
3. houkutella - to persuade, to talk into
4. huikata - to shout out
5. huutaa - to yell
6. ihmetellä - to wonder
7. ilmoittaa - to announce, to notify
8. inttää - to insist, to argue
9. juoruta, juoruilla - to gossip
10. jutella - to talk, to chat
11. kehua - to praise
12. kertoa - to tell
13. kieltää - to deny, to forbid
14. kiittää - to thank
15. kirjoittaa - to write
16. korjata - to correct
17. kuiskata - to whisper
18. kysäistä - to ask quickly
19. kysyä - to ask
20. liioitella - to exaggerate
21. lohduttaa - to comfort
22. lukea ajatuksia - to read thoughts, to read someone's mind
23. muistuttaa - to remind
24. mutista - to mumble, to mutter
25. myöntää - to admit
26. neuvoa - to advice
27. paljastaa - to reveal
28. pohtia - to ponder, to discuss
29. puhua -  to speak
30. puuskahtaa - to snap, to splurge, to say abruptly
31. pyytää anteeksi - to apologize
32. sanoa - to say
33. selittää - to explain
34. suositella - to recommend
35. tiedustella - to inquire
36. todeta - to state
37. toistaa - to repeat
38. tuhahtaa - to groan, to say something angrily
39. tunnustaa - to confess
40. valehdella - to lie
41. valittaa - to complain
42. varoittaa - to warn
43. vastata - to answer
44. väittää - to insist, to claim
45. vähätellä - to belittle
46. ärsyttää - to annoy

If you like lists, here are some other posts that you might enjoy:

• 36 useful test instruction verbs
• 100 very common Finnish words
• Words that are both Finnish and English
• Words with one consonant and a long vowel
• 100 words in plural partitive

Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
– Hanna

Tilaa uutiskirjeeni - Subscribe to my newsletter 

Learning Finnish with Nightwish fans

I know that many foreigners start to learn Finnish because of the Finnish metal bands.  Nightwish is definitely the most famous one of them, and Yle just released a documentary made by Nightwish fans. If you haven't seen it yet, now is a good time, and you can also learn Finnish by reading the subtitles. (My favourite character is the man showing the pictures from his trip to Kitee.)

How to say in Finnish that you don't really like someone

Sometimes you might want to tell (the other people) that you don't really like someone. This is how the it's said in standard Finnish:

• En pidä hänestä. - I don't like him / her. 

This is how it's often said in spoken language, or colloquial Finnish:

• Mä en tykkää siitä. - I don't like him / her. 

Here are expressions that don't sound so harsh but have the same idea:

1. No.. en tunne häntä kovin hyvin. - Well.. I don't know him/her so well.
2. Emme ole kovin läheisissä väleissä. - We're not on very close terms.
3. Emme tule toimeen kovin hyvin. - We don't get along very well.  (Check out my post about words beginnish with toimi.)
4. Meidän kemiamme eivät oikein kohdanneet. - There was no chemisty. (Our chemistry didn't really meet.)
5. Meidän sukset menivät vähän ristiin. - I crossed swords with him / her. (Our skis got a bit crossed)

Here are the same expressions in colloquial Finnish:

1. Me ei olla kovin läheisissä väleissä. 
2. Mä en tunne sitä kovin hyvin. 
3. Me ei tulla toimeen kovin hyvin.
4. Meidän kemiat ei oikeen kohdannu. 
5. Meidän sukset meni vähän ristiin. 

If this was too negative, you might feel happier after these posts:

• Liking in Finnish
• Tykätä - Pitää
• Pitää
• Being happy in Finnish

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.  

How to impress Finnish audience

I don't know how many artists and bands actively study Finnish before their concert tour, but here's a small post for those who want to say something in Finnish and impress their audience.

The concert is probably in the evening, so you can start off by yelling Hyvää iltaa + whatever city you are performing at. That means Good evening. You can check the pronunciation in http://fi.forvo.com/.

• Mitä kuuluu? - How are you?
• Onko teillä kivaa? - Are you having fun?
• Kädet ilmaan! - Put your hands up in the air!
• Te olette mahtava yleisö. - You are an awesome audience. 
• Tämä on uusi laulu. - This is a new song. 
• Kiitos! - Thank you!
• Te olitte mahtava yleisö! - You were an awesome audience!
• Hyvää yötä! - Good night!

Haloo Helsingin Elli. Kuva: Dušan C.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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 lisää selkokirjoista: https://privatefinnishlessons.com/books/