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Finnish

### Spoken Connectors and Vocabulary

In everyday spoken Finnish (*puhekieli*), the function words that glue sentences together are sharply clipped. To keep conversation flowing smoothly, common conjunctions are reduced to their absolute shortest forms.

| Written | Spoken | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| että | et | that |
| kun | ku | when / because |
| mutta | mut | but |
| sitten | sit | then |
| niin | ni | so / then |

Spoken Finnish also uses reduced or alternative forms for some very common everyday vocabulary.

| Written | Spoken | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| takaisin | takas | back |
| todella | tosi | really / truly |
| mukava | kiva | nice / pleasant |
| ystävä | kaveri | friend |

Let's look at how these forms pair with conversational adverbs like *oikeastaan* (actually) and *äsken* (just now).

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### Adding Contrast and Context

To tell a natural-sounding story, you will often use conversational adverbs to add contrast or extra context, such as *kuitenkin* (however / anyway) and *muuten* (by the way / otherwise).

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The verb *sattua* is often used to mean "to hurt", but in storytelling, it also commonly means "to happen (by chance)".

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### Emphasis and Nuance

In spoken Finnish, *kyllä* is often shortened to *kyl*. Rather than just meaning "yes", *kyl* is frequently dropped into the middle of a sentence for emphasis (like "definitely" or "surely").

You can also soften or qualify your statements with adverbs like *tavallaan* (in a way) and *melkein* (almost).

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Finally, here are a few more vital adverbs to round out your conversational toolkit: *luultavasti* (probably), *toisaalta* (on the other hand), and *varsinkin* (especially). Notice how naturally they blend with the short spoken connectors.

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Spoken connectors (mut, sit, et)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
actually	oikeastaan
I actually know that they are coming back.	Mä oikeastaan tiiän, et ne tulee takas.
That is actually a really nice idea.	Toi on oikeastaan tosi kiva idea.
just now	äsken
I saw him just now, when I was outside.	Mä näin sen äsken, ku mä olin ulkona.
He said to me just now that he would buy a car.	Se sanoi mulle äsken, et se ostais auton.
however	kuitenkin
We went to the park, but then it started to rain anyway.	Me mentiin puistoon, mut sit alkoi sataa kuitenkin.
I would help you, but I am going to work anyway.	Mä auttais sua, mut mä meen kuitenkin töihin.
by the way	muuten
By the way, my friend is coming too.	Mun kaveri tulee muuten myös.
Let's go inside, otherwise you will get wet.	Mennään sisään, muuten sä kastut.
to happen (by chance)	sattua
Did you see what happened then?	Näitkö sä, mitä sit sattui?
It hurt a lot when I fell.	Se sattui tosi paljon, ku mä kaaduin.
definitely (emphasis)	kyllä
in a way	tavallaan
It would definitely be kind of an accident.	Se ois kyl tavallaan vahinko.
I kind of know that that guy is single.	Mä tavallaan tiiän, et toi on sinkku.
almost	melkein
We were almost at home, when it happened.	Me oltiin melkein kotona, ku se sattui.
He is almost a professional, but I am better.	Se on melkein ammattilainen, mut mä oon parempi.
probably	luultavasti
They will probably come back tomorrow.	Ne tulee luultavasti takas huomenna.
I will probably take the car, so we will make it on time.	Mä otan luultavasti auton, ni me ehditään ajoissa.
on the other hand	toisaalta
On the other hand, this is definitely really expensive.	Toisaalta tää on kyl tosi kallis.
He is a nice guy, but on the other hand really lazy.	Se on kiva tyyppi, mut toisaalta tosi laiska.
especially	varsinkin
I like to travel, especially in the summer.	Mä tykkään matkustaa, varsinkin kesällä.
It is really cold outside, so we will definitely be inside especially today.	Ulkona on tosi kylmä, ni me ollaan kyl sisällä varsinkin tänään.