Monday, August 21, 2017

How to say "by" in Finnish

Yes, how to say by is a tough question. Sometimes it seems that you can just use by in the middle of a Finnish expression:


I would say that you have four ways to avoid the horrible use of by in the middle of a Finnish text:

1. Use a genitive:



  • Suomen käsityömuseon järjestämä kansallispukunäytös - A national costume show organized by Craft Museum of Finland

3. Use a whole sentence: 


4. Use a colon or parenthesis:


I know that something by someone is a quite popular structure when it comes to Finnish blogs and small business and event names. I wonder how many years it will take and we'll have Uudenvuoden puhe by tasavallan presidentti?

Similar posts:


p.s. If you like my posts, it would be really really nice if you did at least some of these things: 


 Minä olen kirjoittanut nämä selkokirjat! www.privatefinnishlessons.com/books
www.privatefinnishlessons.com/books
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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. Click here to see all my courses.


Friday, August 18, 2017

New podcasts in Mixcloud

Some of you might know that I have a Mixcloud account. I basically just interview people in easy Finnish and try to make them speak a bit more calmly and with simple structures and vocabulary. The latest interviews are with my friend and with my mother. I Hope you'll enjoy listening to us! :)

Click here to listen to Tulkki ja suomen kielen opettaja - An interpreter and a Finnish teacher.

Click here to listen to Käräjätuomari - A judge of district court.

p.s. It would be super nice if you commented something after listening to the podcast! I'm actually trying to persuade real radio people to make a real podcast with me, so it would be useful to have feedback from actual listeners.:)


Thursday, August 17, 2017

Buying a book in Finnish

I have written a post about online shopping in Finnish before. This is a similar post, but focusing on the website where you can buy the easy Finnish edition of Punainen kuin veri, a young adult novel written by Salla Simukka. I have simplified it, and I'm super excited about my new job!

This is the text on the main page of the book:

  • Lisää ostoskoriin. - Add to the basket.
  • Tuotetta lisätty ostoskoriin 1 kpl. - 1 unit of the product has been added to the shopping basket.
  • Siirry koriin. - Go to the basket.



Ostoskori - Shopping basket

  • Email tai asnro - Email or customer number (asiakasnumero)
  • Salasana - Password
  • Rekisteröidy - Register
  • Kirjaudu ja tilaa - Log in and order
  • Tilaan kirjautumatta. - I will order without registering.
  • Henkilöasiakkaana - As an individual customer
  • Yritysasiakkaana - As a business customer
  • Tuote - Product
  • Hinta - Price
  • Lkm. - Amount (lukumäärä)
  • Kirje tai postipaketti - A letter or a package
  • Päivitä  - Update
  • Tyhjennä - Empty
  • Lahjakortti / Kampanjakoodi - Gift card / campaign code 
  • Voit lisätä ostokoriin lahjakortin tai kampanjakoodin kirjoittamalla tunnuksen alla olevaan kenttään ja  painamalla lähetä-painiketta.  - You can add a gift card or a campaign code to the shopping basket by adding the code to the field below and by pressing the Lähetä button.
  • Haluatko ostaa lahjakortin? - Do you want to buy a gift card?
  • Lähetä - Send

Tilauksen käsittely - Handling the order

  • Toimitusosoite - Delivery address
  • Nimi  - Name
  • Osoite - Address
  • Postinumero - Postal code
  • Postitoimiosoite - Town / City
  • Maa - Country
  • Laskutusosoite - Billing address
  • Maksajan osoite on eri kuin toimitusosoite. - The address of the payer is different from the recipient's address.
  • Muut tiedot - Other information
  • Sähköpostiosoite - Email address
  • Puhelinnumero - Phone number
  • Tilauksen lisätiedot - Additional information about the order
  • Jatka - Continue
  • Maksutapa - Way of paying 
  • Lahjapaketointi - Gift wrapping
  • Toimitusehdot - Terms of delivery
  • Mainonta - Advertising
  • Tietojani saa käyttää suoramarkkinointiin. - You can use my information for direct advertising.
  • Siirry maksamaan. - Go to pay.
  • Tilauksen toimitusaika-arvio - Estimated delivery time of the order

p.s. If you are still wondering whether you should get the book or not, here are some sample pages: 


Romaanin henkilöt - Characters of the novel

A map of Tampere to make the reading experience more fun!

A sample from pages 8 and 9.

A sample from pages 56 and 57.

If you liked this post, you might also like my Facebook page and my Instagram account! I'm happy to solve your grammar problems, so feel free to suggest new topics for blog posts. :)

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

How to say 'about' in Finnish

Sometimes Finnish is so easy. The English about is either the the adverb noin or the ending sta / stä, depending on the sentence.



About = noin:


  • Maitopurkki maksaa noin euron. - A carton of milk costs about one euro.
  • Jyväskylästä Tampereelle on noin 150 kilometriä. - It's about 150 km from Jyväskylä to Tampere. 

You can replace noin with suunnilleen, which means approximately. 

  • Maitopurkki maksaa suunnilleen euron. - A carton of milk costs approximately one euro.

However, noin requires some kind of amount. With other words, use suunnilleen:

  • Tämä on suunnilleen näin. - This is approximately like this. 
  • Tämä on suunnilleen oikein. - This is approximately correct.

About = the ending sta or stä:


  • Saanko kysyä jotain Yki-testistä? - May I ask something about the Yki exam? 
  • Voidaanko vähän jutella sun rahankäytöstä? - Can we talk a little about the way you use money?

Other useful links:


p.s. If you like my posts, it would be really really cool if you did at least some of these things: 


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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. 


Thursday, August 10, 2017

Finnish slang words

Here's a list of words that I just heard in a radio show. (EDIT: I have heard them before, and most of the expressions are quite old, but I just happened to hear an interview where they were used.)  I understand all of them, but I don't think that I would ever use them in my normal speech. I'm a 40+ years old woman who has lived in Jyväskylä for the past 20 years, and before that I lived in Seinäjoki, so I don't really speak like the twenty-something young adults from Helsinki. (It's totally OK if someone else does! :)) Do you know what these words mean?

  1. duuni
  2. digata
  3. faija
  4. fiilis
  5. hima
  6. jengi
  7. leveli
  8. mutsi
  9. rela
  10. spessu




Here are the explanations and translations:

  1. duuni = työ - a work
  2. digata = kannustaa, tykätä jostain - to dig
  3. faija = isä - dad
  4. fiilis = tunnelma - a feeling
  5. hima = koti - a home
  6. jengi = ihmiset - the gang, the people
  7. leveli = taso - a level
  8. mutsi = äiti - mom
  9. rela = rento - relaxed
  10. spessu = erikoinen, erityinen - special

If I have no clue what people are saying, I check the words from Urbaani sanakirja. If you are interested in the slang that many people use in Helsinki, you might like Stadin slangi ry page.


Yle Puhe on paras radiokanava!


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.  

 

Friday, August 4, 2017

Finnish war movies

You must have noticed that the new version of Tuntematon sotilas - The Unknown Soldier will have its premiere on October 27. To prepare for that, you could watch some older Finnish movies about the war and other events in the past. All you need is a Finnish library card and a dvd player, and you can watch all these movies for free. Watching movies is a great way to learn about Finland's history while practicing listening and even reading, if you choose to turn on the Finnish subtitles.

http://www.tuntematonsotilas2017.fi/

Movies about the Civil War:


Movies about the Winter war:


Movies about the Winter War and the Continuation war:


Movies about the Continuation War:


Movies about the Lapland War:


Books about Finnish history in easy Finnish.
All these books are from the library.
The picture is from my Instagram account.



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.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

How to use the Finnish conjunction 'että'

A common challenge with the Finnish että is that students often use it the same way as the English that. That means that you either leave it out when you should use it, use it when you shouldn't, or that you use it when you should use joka instead. In short, it goes like this:

Että as a conjunction:
Don't use että:
Use joka:
Mä tiedän, että sä olet oikeassa. - I know that you are right.

Ajattelen, että tämä on tärkeä aihe. - I think that this is an important topic.

Remember to put pilkku, a comma, before että.
Mun mielestä sä olet oikeassa. - In my opinion, you are right.

Mielestäni tämä on tärkeä aihe. - I think that this is an important topic.

Minusta tämä on näin. - In my opinion it's like this.
Kalle on se mun kaveri, joka on aina oikeassa. - Kalle is that friend of mine who is always right.


More examples with että:

  • Mä tiedän, että sä muutat pian. - I know that you're moving soon.
  • Mä olen sitä mieltä, että tämä on väärin. - I'm of the opinion that this is wrong.
  • Mä ajattelen, että meidän pitäisi mennä. - I think that we should go.
  • Minulle kerrottin, että kokous on peruttu. - I was told that the meeting is cancelled.
  • kuulin, että pomo on myöhässä. - I heard that the boss is late.
  • Notice that sometimes että is left out, for example in song lyrics, but usually it is there.

Do not use että with these expressions:



Use joka instead of että:


  • Minna on se mun kaveri, joka asuu Helsingissä. - Minna is that friend of mine, who lives in Helsinki.
  • Mikko on se mun naapuri, jolla on neljä koiraa. - Mikko is that neighbor of mine who has four dogs.

Että in the expression 'both x and y':


  • Hän on sekä rikas että komea. He is both rich and handsome.
  • Neither x nor y: Hän ei ole rikas eikä komea. - He is neither rich nor handsome.


Lue lisää - Read more



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.