Finnish Has Three Ways to Say Hi
Hei is the safe one. It works with anybody — a stranger, a shop assistant, your teacher, your friend — and if you learn only one greeting, learn this.
Moi is casual and extremely common among friends and younger speakers. Terve is also casual, a little more blunt, and very Finnish.
None of the three is rude. Finnish does not split its greetings by politeness the way many languages do — the formal/informal line runs through sinä and te instead, not through hei.
| Hi! I am a teacher. | Hei! Minä olen opettaja. |
Greetings for the Time of Day
| formula | when | literally |
|---|---|---|
| hyvää huomenta | morning | good morning |
| hyvää päivää | daytime | good day |
| hyvää iltaa | evening | good evening |
| hyvää yötä | going to bed | good night |
All four are in the partitive case — hyvää, not hyvä — because they are the leftovers of a longer wish ("[I wish you] a good day"). You do not need the grammar yet; learn each as one frozen unit.
And note the last one. Hyvää yötä is not a greeting. Like English good night, it is what you say to someone on their way to sleep, never to someone arriving.
| Good day! Is this a school? | Hyvää päivää! Onko tämä koulu? |
Saying Goodbye
Näkemiin is the neutral farewell — literally "until seeing". Heippa is its casual counterpart, pairing with moi.
Nähdään means "see you" — literally "we will be seen". It promises a next time, so it is warmer than näkemiin and you would not use it with someone you will never meet again.
| Goodbye, teacher! | Näkemiin, opettaja! |
| See you! You are a good friend. | Nähdään! Sinä olet hyvä ystävä. |
Welcoming Somebody
Tervetuloa is one word, and it is everywhere in Finland — on doormats, on shop doors, at the airport. It shares its root with terve.
| Welcome! This is a new school. | Tervetuloa! Tämä on uusi koulu. |
