Like French vous or German Sie, Finnish te does double duty: it is plural "you" (more than one person) and also the polite singular — a formal way of addressing a single person. This second use is called teitittely ("te-ing" someone). The mechanics are easy. The genuinely important thing to learn is when to use it, because the honest answer for modern Finland is: almost never. Finnish is one of the most consistently informal languages in Europe, and reaching for te too readily marks you as an outsider more surely than using sinä ever would.
How teitittely works: plural pronoun, plural verb
To address one person formally, use the plural pronoun te and the second-person plural verb ending -tte — exactly as if you were talking to several people. The person is singular; the grammar is plural.
| Informal (sinä) | Formal (te) | English |
|---|---|---|
| Mitä sinä haluat? | Mitä te haluatte? | What would you like? |
| Haluatko kahvia? | Haluatteko te kahvia? | Would you like coffee? |
| Oletko sinä valmis? | Oletteko te valmis? | Are you ready? |
Mitä te haluatte juoda?
What would you like to drink?
Voisitteko odottaa hetken?
Could you wait a moment?
Look carefully at Oletteko te valmis? — the pronoun and verb are plural (te … oletteko), but the predicate adjective valmis stays singular, because you are really addressing one person. This mixed agreement is a hallmark of true politeness teitittely to an individual.
The cases of te are the plural forms
When you address someone formally, use te's ordinary plural case forms — teidän, teitä, teidät, teillä, teille. There is no separate "polite" declension; the plural forms carry the polite meaning by context.
| Case | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive | teidän | teidän täytyy — you must |
| Partitive | teitä | odotan teitä — I'll wait for you |
| Accusative | teidät | vien teidät — I'll take you |
| Adessive | teillä | onko teillä — do you have |
| Allative | teille | annan teille — I'll give you |
Anteeksi, voisitteko sanoa, missä on lähin asema?
Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest station is?
Teidän täytyy täyttää tämä lomake.
You need to fill in this form.
Kiitos teille avusta.
Thank you for your help.
Capitalised Te in letters
In formal correspondence — official letters, business writing to a person you hold in high regard — te and its forms are sometimes capitalised as Te, Teidän, Teille. This is a written signal of extra deference, a little like the archaic English capitalised "You" in prayers. It is optional and increasingly old-fashioned, but you will meet it in official letters.
Toivotamme Teille hyvää joulua.
We wish you a merry Christmas. (formal letter)
The cultural reality: Finns default to sinä
Here is where Finnish diverges sharply from French, German, Russian or Spanish. Those languages have a living, everyday T–V distinction, and choosing the wrong one is a real social error. Finland went the other way. Since a broad wave of informality in the 1970s, sinä is the default with almost everyone — strangers on the street, shop assistants, customers, colleagues, even people decades older than you. Using te with a random adult can feel distancing or even faintly sarcastic.
So where does teitittely survive? In a shrinking set of situations:
- The elderly, especially those who grew up expecting it, and often only until they invite sinä.
- Officialdom and ceremony — a formal speech, a courtroom, addressing the President, very formal customer service in a bank or upscale restaurant.
- Formal letters and emails to an institution or a person of clear rank.
Saanko tarjota teille jotain?
May I offer you something? (a waiter in a formal restaurant)
Rouva presidentti, mitä te ajattelette asiasta?
Madam President, what do you think about the matter?
te is "you", not "they"
One last spelling and meaning trap: te (the pronoun "you") looks nothing like, and must not be confused with, the demonstrative plural ne ("those / they, things") or the personal he ("they, people"). te always means "you," singular-formal or plural.
Oletteko te jo syöneet?
Have you (pl./formal) eaten yet?
Common Mistakes
❌ Te haluat kahvia?
Incorrect — te takes the plural verb: te haluatte.
✅ Te haluatte kahvia? / Haluatteko te kahvia?
You'd like coffee?
❌ (To a shop clerk your own age) Voisitteko te auttaa?
Over-formal — Finns use sinä here.
✅ Voitko auttaa?
Can you help?
❌ Odotan te.
Incorrect — the object needs a case: teitä (partitive) or teidät (total).
✅ Odotan teitä.
I'll wait for you.
❌ Mitä ne haluatte? (formal 'you').
Wrong pronoun — formal 'you' is te, not ne ('they/those').
✅ Mitä te haluatte?
What would you like?
❌ Oletteko te valmiit? (to one person).
Over-pluralised — to a single person the adjective stays singular: valmis.
✅ Oletteko te valmis?
Are you ready?
Key Takeaways
- te is both plural "you" and the polite singular (teitittely).
- Formal address = plural pronoun + plural verb: Mitä te haluatte?
- Its cases are the plural forms: teidän, teitä, teidät, teillä, teille.
- Capitalised Te in letters adds deference; it is formal and old-fashioned.
- Culturally, sinä is the default. Reserve te for the elderly, officialdom, and formal letters — when unsure, use sinä.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Personal PronounsA1 — The six Finnish personal pronouns — minä, sinä, hän, me, te, he — with the genderless hän and why the subject pronoun is usually dropped.
- Addressing People: sinä vs teA2 — Finland's T/V distinction and its modern collapse — why sinä is now the default even with strangers, and why over-using formal te can sound cold rather than respectful.
- Declining Personal Pronouns: minä → minua → minutA2 — The case forms of Finnish personal pronouns — genitive minun, partitive minua, the special accusative minut, and the local cases minulla, minulle.
- Making Requests PolitelyA2 — How Finnish scales the politeness of a request — from a bare imperative up through a plain present question to the default polite form, the conditional question (Voisitko…?, Saisinko…?), optionally softened with -han and closed with kiitos.