Friday, October 28, 2016

Finnish passive in a nutshell

Here are all the posts that I have written that have something to do with passive:


  • Minä maalaan tuon seinän huomenna. - I'll paint that wall tomorrow. 

In a passive sentence, you'd start with the object: 

  • Tuo seinä maalataan huomenna. - That wall will be painted tomorrow. 

You can also start a passive sentence with a time expression or a place.

  • Huomenna tuo seinä vihdoin maalataan! - Tomorrow, they will finally paint that wall!
  • Koulussa maalataan vesiväreillä. - At school, they paint with watercolours.





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. 

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Singing in a choir in Finland

Singing in a choir is one of my favourite hobbies. As you can see from this list, Finland is full of choirs. There is definitely a possible choir for anybody over 5 years old who is interested in laulaminen. Usually new singers are welcome in the the beginning of the fall season, but sometimes you can join a choir in the middle of the year. Singing is a great way of learning Finnish, and many Finnish choirs sing also in other languages.

This is what you should do if you want to join a choir in Finland:

  1. Find a suitable choir close to you.
  2. Google the contact information of puheenjohtaja (chairperson of the singer's association) or kuoronjohtaja (choir conductor), which is also sometimes called taiteellinen johtaja (artistic director).
  3. Call or email them and write that you'd like to sing in the choir. You can also ask for a recommendation for another choir.
  4. Be prepared for a possible audition and go to the choir practice, if there is space for another basso, tenori, altto or sopraano.

Here's a model email that you can use:


Hei,

olen 25-vuotias saksalainen opiskelija. Opiskelen yliopistossa musiikkitiedettä ja haluaisin laulaa kuorossa. Olen laulanut poika- ja sekakuoroissa  9-vuotiaasta lähtien. Olen basso. Osaan lukea nuotteja ja laulamisen lisäksi soitan selloa ja pianoa. Tulisin mielelläni koelauluun. Olisiko teidän kuorossanne tilaa? Jos ei, osaisitteko suositella jotain toista kuoroa, joka voisi sopia minulle?

N.N.


This is the choir where I sing: https://www.kipinatkuoro.fi/

Kuva: Meritta Lautamäki


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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. 


Monday, October 10, 2016

Finnish grammar classics

Many Finnish language learners seem to struggle with same topics. I'd say that these are the top 15+ challenges for many intermediate learners, or at least I seem to be sharing these ones a lot when teaching via Skype.

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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/

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Accusative verbs in Finnish

I'm sure that many of you have heard about partitive verbs, which are verbs that always require a partitive form of a noun after them. Here's a list of common accusative verbs or total object verbs. You might want to refresh your memory about the Finnish object afterwards.:)

These are the personal pronouns  and the question word kuka in the accusative form:


  • minä - minut
  • sinä - sinut 
  • hän - hänet
  • me - meidät
  • te - teidät
  • he - heidät
  • kuka - kenet?


Kuinka monta verbiä osaat jo? - How many verbs do you already know?

  1. esitellä
  2. herättää
  3. kutsua
  4. muistaa
  5. nähdä
  6. parantaa
  7. tappaa
  8. tavata
  9. tuntea
  10. unohtaa
  11. viedä
  12. yllättää




Here are the example sentences and translations: 


  1. Voisitko esitellä hänet minulle? - Could you introduce him to me?
  2. Herätä minut kuudelta. - Wake me up at six.
  3. Hän kutsui meidät juhliinsa. - She invited us to her party. 
  4. Minä muistan sinut! - I remember you!
  5. Minä näin sinut eilen kaupungilla. - I saw you at the city centre yesterday. 
  6. Tuo lääkäri paransi minut. - That doctor cured / healed me.
  7. Minä tapan sinut! - I'll kill you!
  8. Tapaan hänet huomenna. - I'll meet her tomorrow,  
  9. Tunnen heidät hyvin. - I know them well.
  10. Oletko unohtanut meidät? - Have you forgotten us?
  11. Minä voin viedä sinut kotiin. - I can take you home. 
  12. Sinä yllätit minut! - You surprised me!


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. 


Saturday, October 1, 2016

Finnish clothing brands

Do you remember by post about Finnish products? Here are three Finnish clothing brands that are definitely worth checking out!