Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Complaining politely

A reader asked me to post about complaining in Finnish. Thanks for the idea and challenge! Luckily, I have super nice neighbours and I rarely end up arguing with strangers either, but here are some sentences that might come in handy:

  • Anteeksi, mutta teidän koira on tainnut kakata meidän pihalle.  - I'm sorry but I'm afraid that your dog has pooped in our yard. 
  • Anteeksi, mutta voisitteko laittaa musiikkia vähän hiljemmalle? Me yritämme nukkua. - Excuse me, but could you turn the music down a bit? We're trying to sleep. 
  • Anteeksi, mutta täällä ei saa juoda eikä polttaa. - Excuse me, but it's not allowed to drink or smoke in here. 
  • Voisitteko olla kiroilematta niin paljon? - Would you mind not swearing so much? (olla kiroilematta = be without swearing)
  • Hei anteeksi, sinulta putosi jotain. - Excuse me, but you dropped something. (Try this when you see people littering. If they say something stupid like Ei se ollut tärkeetä. - It's wasn't important, snap the following one:)
  • Hauskaa illanjatkoa! - (Continue to) Have a nice evening!

You might also need these:

  • Älkää antako teidän kaverin ajaa autoa. - Don't let your friend drive. 
  • Tilatkaa sille taksi kotiin. - Call a taxi to take him/her home.
  • Varmistakaa, että teidän kaveri pääsee kotiin. - Make sure that your friend gets home. 
  • Olkaa varovaisia! - Be careful!




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