Talking about presidential elections in Finnish

Did you know that Finland will vote for a new president in 2024? The voting day of the first round of the election is on Sunday January 28. Sauli Niinistö has already served two terms as president, so he won't be an option. Check out this Wikipedia article for more details. 

Running for the office, in alphabetical order of their first name:  

• Alexander Stubb 
• Hjallis Harkimo
• Jussi Halla-Aho
• Jutta Urpilainen
• Li Andersson
• Mika Aaltola
• Olli Rehn
• Pekka Haavisto (Listen to a podcast episode about him.)
• Sari Essayah

Election-related questions: 

• Saatko äänestää? - Are you allowed to vote?
• Tiedätkö jo, ketä aiot äänestää? - Do you already know whom you are going to vote for? 
• Aiotko äänestää ennakkoon vai äänestätkö vaalipäivänä? - Are you planning to vote in advance or on the election day?
• Mennäänkö yhdessä vaalikahveille? - Shall we go for a cup of coffee together after voting?

How many of these words do you already know?

1. asettaa ehdokkaaksi
2. asettua ehdokkaaksi
3. ehdokasasettelu
4. ennakkoäänestys
5. ilmoittaa halukkuutensa
6. istuva presidentti
7. kallistua kohti ehdokkuutta
8. kannattaa
9. kannattajakortti
10. kieltäytyä
11. olla ehdolla
12. puoluekokous
13. pyrkiä presidentiksi
14. päättää 
15. toimikausi
16. toinen kierros
17. tukea
18. vaalijuliste
19. vaalikampanja
20. vaalikahvit
21. vaalikone
22. vaaliohjelma
23. vaalipaneeli
24. vaalipiiri
25. vaalipäivä
26. vaalit
27. vaalitulos
28. valita
29. valitsijayhdistys
30. äänestää
31. äänestysaktiivisuus
32. äänestyslippu
33. äänestyspaikka
34. äänestysprosentti
35. ääni 
36. äänioikeus

Sauli Niinistö 
Kuva: Tasavallan presidentin kanslia

Here are the translations:

1. asettaa ehdokkaaksi - to name a candidate
2. asettua ehdokkaaksi - to stand for election
3. ehdokasasettelu - candidate nomination
4. ennakkoäänestys - advance voting, early voting
5. ilmoittaa halukkuutensa - to announce one's willingness
6. istuva presidentti - an incumbent president
7. kallistua kohti ehdokkuutta - to lean into the direction of running for president
8. kannattaa - to support
9. kannattajakortti - a supporter card
10. kieltäytyä - to refuse, to decline
11. olla ehdolla - to be a candidate, to run for office
12. puoluekokous - a party convention
13. pyrkiä presidentiksi - to seek the presidency
14. päättää - to decide (also to end)
15. toimikausi - a term of office
16. toinen kierros - the second round
17. tukea -  to support
18. vaalijuliste - a campaign poster
19. vaalikampanja - an election campaign
20. vaalikahvit - having a cup of coffee after voting
21. vaalikone - a voting advice application
22. vaaliohjelma - an election manifesto
23. vaalipaneeli - an election panel, a candidate forum
24. vaalipiiri - an electoral district
25. vaalipäivä - the election day
26. vaalit - elections
27. vaalitulos - election result
28. valita - to choose
29. valitsijayhdistys - an electoral alliance
30. äänestää - to vote
31. äänestysaktiivisuus - voter turnout
32. äänestyslippu - a ballot
33. äänestyspaikka - a polling station
34. äänestysprosentti - voter turnout percentage
35. ääni - a vote
36. äänioikeus - suffrage, the right to vote

Read more:

• President of Finland's home page
• President of Finland's pictures on Flickr
• Read about the election on Wikipedia

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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. Follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new. If you want to subscribe to my newsletter, you can do it here. 

Numeroruuhka - a novel in easy Finnish

Have you read the easy Finnish novels Yösyöttö, Tarhapäivä, or Hammaskeiju? Or perhaps all of them? The fourth part of the series, Numeroruuhka, was just published in easy Finnish! The original novels are written by Eve Hietamies.

Here's the landing page of the book: www.privatefinnishlessons.com/numeroruuhka

You can buy the book directly from me here: https://bit.ly/tilaaselkokirjoja  

The name of the novel might require a bit of explanation: numero is a number, and ruuhka is a traffic jam. In this novel, numeroruuhka refers to the presence of too  many people in certain situations in Antti's life. The other titles of the series are Yösyöttö - a night-time feeding, Tarhapäivä - a day in day care and Hammaskeiju - a tooth fairy.

Cover of the book

In short, the story continues to follow Antti Pasanen and his son Paavo. Antti still works as a journalist, and Paavo is already 10 years old.  However, new challenges arise in Antti's life: change negotations at work, having to take care of his own father, and problems with his own health. The book blends humor with darker elements, and it will definitely teach you useful vocabulary and expressions to use in your own life. 

Back cover of the book

Antti is still together with Enni, but things are not going very well between them. The main characters of the book are mostly the same as in the previous novels. 

List of characters

The novel is written in easy Finnish. While the story and atmosphere remain the same as in the original novel, the language has been simplified, and certain details, characters, and side plots have been omitted. The layout follows the easy language standars, with the right side of the column intentionally left uneven. 

Ina Majaniemi's illustration
Notice the the layout, where the right side of the column is uneven.

Numeroruuhka is illustrated by Ina Majaniemi. It was so much fun to plan which parts of the story would be illustrated! This is already the seventh easy Finnish novel of mine that Ina has illustrated.

This is my favourite picure in the book!

Useful links related to Numeroruuhka

• All my books in easy Finnish: www.hannamannikkolahti.com 
• Which books to read in easy Finnish
• Easy Finnish book samples
• Listen to me interviewing Ina Majaniemi on my podcast
• Watch me unboxing the package of books! (If you are interested in home-made unboxing videos. Otherwise, I totally understand if you won't watch this. :)) 

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. Follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  If you want to subscribe to my newsletter, you can do it here. 

Expanding your Finnish vocabulary with Gettomasa rap songs

If you like Finnish rap, or if you have kids in Finland, you have probably heard of Gettomasa. 

If you listen to the songs on Spotify, you can usually read the lyrics at the same time. Notice that depending of the source, the spelling might vary as in grindata/graindata or with other loan words from English. 

I have a post about spoken Finnish, but understading rap lyrics might require more specific vocabulary. Urbaani sanakirja is great, and you might also want to check out the grammar of swearing in Finnish. 

The words on the list are from these songs: 

• Muijii stadis
• Silmät
• Shamppanjadieetillä
• Jälkeekään
• Entä sä

Gettomasa Jyväskylässä 12.7.2023.
Kello on viisitoista yli yksitoista, 
ja ulkona on näin valoisaa.

Nouns

1. duuni
2. chanssi
3. hima
4. jengi
5. jäbä
6. kiesi
7. kundi
8. lande
9. leija
10. luuri
11. massi
12. meitsi
13. muija
14. plääni
15. rafla
16. rundi
17. skidi
18. Stadi
19. yläfemma

Verbs

 

1. ballata
2. chillata
3. delata 
4. fiilata
5. grindata
6. heitata
7. koodata
8. repata
9. rokata
10. smoukata
11. tsiigata
12. venata

Adverbial phrases

1. tikissä
2. mintissä
3. messissä

Here are the translations. I hope I got them right. :)

Nouns

1. duuni - work
2. chanssi - a chance
3. hima - home
4. jengi - a gang, people
5. jäbä - a boy, a man
6. kiesi - a car
7. kundi - a boy, a man
8. lande - countryside, or a person from there
9. leija - a boaster, very nice, probably also very expensive (Normally leija is a kite. It can also be a fart, but in rap songs, it probably isn't.) 
10. luuri - a phone
11. massi - money
12. meitsi - me, I
13. muija - a woman, a girl (but not everyone likes this, so be careful if using it. If you want to talk about your girlfriend, here are some options.)
14. plääni - a plan
15. rafla - a bar, a restaurant
16. rundi - a tour, a round
17. skidi - a kid, a child
18. Stadi - Helsinki, Helsinki city center
19. yläfemma - a high five

Verbs 

1. ballata - to spend a lot of money
2. chillata - to chill
3. delata - to die
4. fiilata - to feel, to like, to know the feeling
5. grindata - to work hard
6. heitata - to hate
7. koodata - to message
8. repata - to represent
9. rokata - to rock, to wear something
10. smoukata - to smoke
11. tsiigata - to look
12. venata - to wait

Adverbial phrases

1. tikissä - in good shape
2. mintissä - in mint condition, in good shape (I have no idea which one is better.)
3. messissä - along, with

Read more

• Learning Finnish with music
• Spoken language tips
• Finnish loan words
• Finnish words ending with 'ari' or 'äri'
• My old post about slang words (I wrote it after listening to an interview with Cheek.) 
• Urban dictionary of Finnish
• Etymological dictionary of Finnish
• Verb type 4 

Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
– Hanna

Tilaa uutiskirjeeni - Subscribe to my newsletter 

www.privatefinnishlessons.com