Tuesday, August 30, 2016

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.)


Erottaa is for example to fire and to tell apart.



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. 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

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



Here are the translations:

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

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


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, August 23, 2016

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.)

Monday, August 22, 2016

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:


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


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:


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.  

Thursday, August 18, 2016

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/.


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/