Being envious and jealous in Finnish

Kateellinen and mustasukkainen mean envious and jealous. Here's how I'd explain the difference:

Kateellinen

If a person is kateellinen, they want the same thing as somebody else.
If you spend too much time on social media, you're probably sometimes a little bit kateellinen.

• Mä olen salaa kateellinen Madeleinelle, kun se asuu New Yorkissa. (kateellinen + lle) - I'm secretly envious of Madeleine because she lives in New York. 
• Mä kadehdin Victoriaa, kun sillä on niin kaunis koti! (The verb is kadehtia. It's used with a partitive.) - I'm envious of Victoria, because she has such a beautiful home!

Mustasukkainen

To be mustasukkainen means that you have (or think that you have) something and you don't want other people to enjoy the same thing. It is often used of clingy people who think that their partner will run away with some handsome / beautiful stranger. If you are mustasukkainen, get help here.

• Daniel on tosi mustasukkainen. Mä en saanut tänä vuonna mennä edes firman pikkujouluihin! - Daniel is really jealous. I could not even go to the company's pre-Christmas party this year!

In Swedish, the word is svartsjuk. The word sjuk means sick, but it sounds similar to sukka, a sock, so the word was translated mustasukkainen although it has nothing to do with socks. You can read more about the word here.

Lue lisää

• Finnish feelings in a nutshell

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.