Spoken Finnish (puhekieli) tips

Here are some tips for spoken language. Notice that not everybody speaks like this, and it is totally ok to use the standard Finnish, if you want. However, these tips might help you to understand what Finns say. The pronouns might be different depending on where you live.

Pronouns

• Say se instead of hän. (it, s/he)
• Say toi instead of tuo. (that)
• Say tää instead tämä. (this)
• Say ne instead of he (those, they) and use the verb's singular form in the third person. Say ne on instead of he ovat  and ne tulee instead of he tulevat. (They are. They come.)
• Use the personal pronouns. You can say things like Asun Helsingissä, but usually we'd say mä / mää / mie / miä / minä asun Helsingissä. (I live in Helsinki.)

Verb forms

• Forget the vat ending and just use the singular conjugation ne on instead of he ovat. (they are)
• Say me ollaan instead of me olemme and me oltiin instead of me olimme.  (we are, we were)
• Say me ei olla instead of me emme ole and me ei oltu instead of me emme olleet. (we aren't , we weren't)  
• The question ending ko is actually ks or ts.

Pronunciation

• Drop the d and say kaheksan, yheksän, nähään, tehään and ootan instead of kahdeksan, yhdeksän, nähdään, tehdään and odotan. (eight, nine, See you, Let's do, I wait)
• Don't be so careful with the pronunciation of two different vowels in a row. Say maitoo, juustoo, kinkkuu, vihree and  pehmee instead of maitoa, juustoa, kinkkua, vihreä and pehmeä. (some milk, some cheese, some ham, green and soft)
• Drop the t in the past participle active and say en ollu instead of en ollut.
• Don't be so careful with the endings. Some people say Helsingis instead of Helsingissä. Että is et, mutta is mut, sitten is sit, and so on. (that, but, then)

Hyödyllisiä linkkejä - Useful links:

• Words ending with -ari or -äri
• Words that I don't use (because I'm not cool enough)
• Confusing spoken lahguage expressions (kylmä musta mäki)
• Urbaani sanakirja
• Puhutsä suomee? A course about puhekieli

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.