When referring to unknown people or things, Finnish uses the indefinite pronouns joku and jokin. Standard Finnish makes a strict distinction between the two based on whether you are talking about a person or a thing:
- joku = someone, somebody
- jokin = something
When these pronouns act as the subject of a sentence, the verb takes the standard third-person singular ending.
| Suddenly someone knocks on the door. | Yhtäkkiä joku koputtaa oveen. |
| Suddenly someone hears a strange step. | Yhtäkkiä joku kuulee oudon askeleen. |
| There is something here, because I hear a strange sound. | Täällä on jokin, koska kuulen oudon äänen. |
| Something knocks on the window, and it is a strange sound. | Jokin koputtaa ikkunaan, ja se on outo ääni. |
Kaikki (Everyone / Everything)
The pronoun kaikki means "everyone," "everybody," or "everything."
An important rule to remember is that when kaikki refers to "everyone" performing an action, it requires a plural verb. Unlike English, which treats "everyone" as a singular subject ("everyone is"), standard Finnish treats it as plural ("everyone are"). The verb takes the third-person plural ending -vat/-vät.
| This is a surprise, and everyone is a little afraid. | Tämä on yllätys, ja kaikki pelkäävät vähän. |
| It is a secret, but everyone knows it. | Se on salaisuus, mutta kaikki tietävät sen. |
| I notice that everyone loves a good surprise. | Huomaan, että kaikki rakastavat hyvää yllätystä. |
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