Camping in Finland

It's time to start planning your camping vacation in Finland! Here's a set of random questions that you might want to ask if you call or email to the camping site:

• Onko teillä vapaita mökkejä juhannuksena? - Do you have free cabins during the Midsummer?
• Kuinka paljon yksi yö maksaa? - How much does one night cost?
• Mitä varusteita mökeissä on? - Which equipment do the cabins have?
• Mitä kaikkea hintaan sisältyy? - What is included in the price?
• Sisältyvätkö pyyhkeet ja lakanat hintaan? - Are the towels and sheets included in the price?
• Onko mökissä suihku? - Is there a shower in the cabin?
• Onko mökissä oma jääkaappi? - Is there a fridge in the cabin? (oma = own)
• Onks mökissä oma vessa? - Is there a toilet in the cabin?
• Saako leirintäalueelle tuoda eläimiä? - Is it allowed to bring animals to the camping site?
• Voinko mä ottaa mun koiran mukaan? - Can I bring my dog along?

Here's a link to a legendary complaint about mosquitos ruining the vacation. "Mökillä oli enemmän hyttysiä kuin kotona Vantaalla. - There were more mosquitos at the cabin than at home in Vantaa." 

How to use the Finnish word 'ympäri'

Here's a post about ympäri. For more examples, take a look at Kielitoimiston sanakirja. If you want to read exciting local news, try googling the name of your town with ympäri. 

Genitive + ympäri means around something: (usually a whole round)

• Juostaan järven ympäri! - Let's run around the lake!
• Mä haluan matkustaa maailman ympäri. - I want to travel around the world.

Make ympäri into a preposition, and it means all around:

• Kävelin koko yön ympäri Helsinkiä. - I spent the whole night walking all around Helsinki.
• Miestä etsittiin ympäri maailmaa. - The man was searched for all around the world.

With time expressions, ympäri can be both ways:

• Kauppa on auki ympäri vuorokauden. - The shop is open day and night.
• Minä asun teltassa vuoden ympäri. - I live in a tent all year round. 

Ympäri can take these three local cases:

• Ympärillä: Mitä toi ihottuma sun suun ympärillä on? - What is that rash around your mouth?
• Ympäriltä: Ota sun kädet pois mun ympäriltä! - Take your hands off from around me!
• Ympärille: Laita sun käsi mun kaulan ympärille. - Put your hand around my neck. 

This is a good song by Zen Café where they sing about a man from around whom the chairs are taken - Mies jonka ympäriltä tuolit viedään. (Such a simple expression in Finnish, so hard to translate.)

Ympäri mennään, yhteen tullaan is a Finnish proverb that means Around we go, together we come. Is there a similar one in your language?  

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. 

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 (some) Finns say. The pronouns might be different depending on where you live, and many things depend on the local dialect. 

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) 

• 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.

• Say 'Se on vaan joku kirja' and  'Se on jonkun puiston vieressä' instead of 'Se on vain jokin kirja' and 'Se on jonkin puiston vieressä.' (It's just some book. It's next to some park.)

• Say 'Se on jollain muulla.' instead of 'Se on jollakulla muulla.' (Someone else has it.)

• Say 'Kysy joltain muulta' instead of 'Kysy joltakulta muulta.' (Ask someone else.)

• Say 'Anna se jollekin muulle.' instead of 'Anna se jollekuulle muulle.' (Give it to someone else.)

Verb forms

• Forget the vat ending and just use the singular thrird person conjugation: he ovat = ne on, he olivat = ne oli, he ovat olleet = ne on ollu. (they are, they were, they have been)

• 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)  

• Ask Mitä me tehtäis? instead of Mitä me tekisimme? (What shall we do? What would we do?)

• The question ending ko is actually ks or ts.

• Read more about the verb conjugation in spoken Finnish

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)

Other features

• Possessive suffixes are not really used in spoken language. What is kirjani is standard Finnish is usually mun, miun, or minun kirja in spoken Finnish. Now that I think of it, the only time I do use possessive suffixes is in expresssions like mun tietääkseni, as far as I know.

• Say 'vaan' instead of 'vain' (only).

• Say 'ku' instead of 'kuin' (than).

Hyödyllisiä linkkejä - Useful links:

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

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.
– Hanna

How to say 'normally' in Finnish

I don't usually offer my Finnish teaching services to strangers on the street, but every time I hear someone saying normaalisesti, I wish I could do something to let them know, very kindly,  that it should actually be normaalisti. 

It is understandable that it's so easy to say normaalisesti, because many adjectives end with nen:

• tavallinen - usual, normal
• yleinen - common
• erityinen - special
• erikoinen - special, strange

The adverbs go like this:

• tavallisesti - usually, normally
• yleisesti - commonly (Notice that usually is yleensä.)
• erityisesti - specially
• erikoisesti - in a strange way

However, normal in Finnish is just normaali. 

There is no such word as normaalinen, and therefore there cannot be an adverb normaalisesti. 

Siinä kaikki. :)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.
– Hanna

Words that are both Finnish and English

Read these English words aloud.

1. me
2. he
3. no
4. on
5. sun
6. tee
7. tie
8. into
9. home
10. some
11. oven
12. pore
13. pure
14. sure
15. made
16. side
17. alas
18. lava
19. vain
20. teen
21. join
22. vein
23. villa
24. helmet

Then read them in Finnish, because they're normal Finnish words, too!

1. me - we
2. he - they
3. no - well
4. on - is 
5. sun - your, yours
6. tee - tea
7. tie - a road, a street
8. into - enthusiasm
9. home - mold
10. some - social media
11. oven - door's (genitive of ovi)
12. pore - a bubble, fizz
13. pure - bite (imperative of purra)
14. sure - mourn (imperative of surra)
15. made - a burbot
16. side - a bandage, gauze, sanitary pad
17. alas - (to) down
18. lava - stage,  platform
19. vain - only
20. teen - I do, I make (also the genitive of tee)
21. join - I drunk (past tense of juoda in 1st person singular)
22. vein - I took (past tense of viedä in 1st person singular)
23. villa - wool
24. helmet - pearls

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. 

Finnish comedy with English subtitles

I'm sure that many of you have already seen this YouTube clip about Finnish people saying hi. The same user has also uploaded video clips and added English subtitles to Ihmisten puolue, Siskonpeti, and many more. Hope you'll find something that you like!

How do you feel in Finnish?

There are so many ways  to decribe how you feel in Finnish. I already have a post about the verbs tuntea and tuntua, but here are some sentences that came to my mind, organized according to the structure.

To have a certain type of a feeling, olo:

• Mulla on kuumeinen olo. - I'm feeling feverish.
• Mulla oli eilen tosi kummallinen olo. - I felt really weird yesterday. 
• Mulla on ihan paska olo. - I feel like sh*t.
• Onko sulla jo parempi olo? - Are you feeling better already?
• Mulla on tosi hyvä olo! - I'm feeling great!

Partitive + a feeling verb

• Mua väsyttää. - I'm feeling tired. 
• Mua ärsyttää. - I'm annoyed.
• Eikö tämä asia huolestuta ketään muuta? - Doesn't this thing make anyone else worried?

Voida

• Kuinka sä voit tänään? - How do you (physically) feel today?
• Voitko sä vielä huonosti? - Are you still feeling sick?
• Mä voin ihan hyvin. - I'm feeling just fine.

Tuntua + lta

• Minusta tuntuu siltä, että pian tapahtuu jotain kamalaa. - I feel like (it) that something horrible is going to happen soon. (This one seems to be the most difficult one. Notice that the person who feels is in the elative case. You can also leave the person out.)
• Musta tuntui tyhmältä seisoa siellä. - I felt stupid standing there. 
• Se tuntui musta tosi pahalta. - It felt really bad for me. 
• Miltä nyt tuntuu? - How does it feel now?
• Tämä tuntuu hyvältä. - This feels good.

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.  

How to arrange a work shadowing visit in Finnish

I'm really excited about a Finnish course that I'm teaching for nurses right now.  Since I'm not a nurse, I'd like to visit a nursing home or a hospital and observe the language in real situations. This is what I said when I called to a local nursing home earlier today:

• Tässä on ______. - This is ________ speaking. 
• Toivottavasti mä en häiritse, mutta.. - I hope I'm not disturbing you, but..
• Olisiko mahdollista tulla tutustumaan teidän palvelutaloon?  - Would it be possible to come to observe your nursing home?
• Mä haluaisin jutella hoitajien ja potilaiden kanssa. - I'd like to talk to the nurses and the patients.
• Mä ymmärrän, jos se ei ole mahdollista. - I understand, if it's not possible.
• Mä voisin tulla milloin vain teille sopii. - I could come whenever is good for you.
• Se sopii hyvin. - That suits me well. 
• Kiitos tosi paljon. - Thank you so much.
• Nähdään silloin. - See you then.

How to change and move in Finnish?

Muuttaa

Muuttaa has many meanings, but in everyday language it's usually to move somewhere or from somewhere, or to change a style or a quality. The four important forms are muuttaa, muutan, muutin and muuttanut.

• Mä haluan muuttaa Helsinkiin. - I want to move to Helsinki.
• Milloin te muutatte? - When will you move?
• Meidän naapuriin on muuttanut uusi perhe. - There's a new family next door to us. (A new family has moved to our neighbour.)
• Muutetaan yhteen! - Let's move in together!
• Sä voisit muuttaa tätä kappaletta. - You could change this chapter.
• Mä en halua muuttaa mitään. - I don't want to change anything.

Muuttua

Muuttua is to change. It is an intransitive verb, so there's no object in the sentence. Things sort of change by themselves.  The four important forms are muuttua, muutun, muutuin and muuttunut.

• Älä koskaan muutu! - Don't ever change!
• Olipa se muuttunut! - Man, he had changed!
• Sää muuttuu kylmemmäksi. - The weather will turn colder.
• Prinssi muuttui sammakoksi. - The prince turned into a frog. 

Sanni: Sit ku mä oon vapaa

Vaihtaa

Vaihtaa (vaihdan, vaihdoin, vaihtanut) is to change something into somehing else.

• Mene vaihtamaan vaatteet. - Go change your clothes. 
• Älä vaihda puheenaihetta! - Don't change the topic!
• Kuka on taas vaihtanut huonekalujen paikkaa? - Who has changed the position of the furniture again?

Vaihtua

Vaihtua (vaihdun, vaihduin, vaihtunut) is to be changed or switched into something else.

• Vauvat vaihtuivat sairaalassa. - The babies were switched in the hospital. 
• Miksi meidän luokka on taas vaihtunut? - Why have they changed our classroom again?
• Vuosi vaihtui vesisateessa. - It rained on New Year's Eve. (The year changed in the rain.)

Liikuttaa 

Liikuttaa (liikuttaa, liikutan, liikutin, liikuttanut) is to move something, but keep in in the same place. 

• Älä liikuta sun päätä koko ajan. - Don't move your head all the time. 
• Tämä elokuva liikutti minua.  - This movie touched me.

Liikkua

Liikkua  (liikkua, liikun, liikuin, liikkunut) is to move and to exercise.

• Älä liiku! - Don't move!
• Minun pitäisi liikkua enemmän. - I should exercise more. 

Siirtää

Siirtää (siirtää, siirrän, siirsin, siirtänyt) is to move something to another place. 

• Voisitko siirtää pianon toiseen huoneeseen? - Could you move the piano to the other room? 
• Voitko siirtää jalkaasi vähän? - Can you move your leg a little bit?

Siirtyä

Siirtyä (siirtyä, siirryn, siirryin, siirtynyt) is to move somewhere, but not to live. :) 

• Voitko siirtyä vähän? -  Can you move a little? 
• Kokous siirtyi ensi viikolle. - The meeting was postponed to next week.

Lue lisää: 

• Hot to blame things in Finnish
• Transitive and intransitive verbs

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it. 
Kiitos, kun luit! Jos pidit postauksesta, voit jakaa sen eteenpäin.

– Hanna 

Private Finnish Lessons

Hyvää uutta vuotta!

The first blog post of the year is pretty much just me advertising myself as a teacher. Here's my very simple home page (I'll get a brand new website soon!), and these are the courses that I'll be teaching in Jyväskylä in the spring and summer. If you are interested in private lessons, do contact me and we'll set up the free trial session. Here's an interesting post about language lessons on Skype.

Do you have a business that you would like to promote? Leave a comment and a link, and I'll add your website here.:)