Learn Finnish: Tunteeko toi tyyppi sua?

Tunteeko toi tyyppi sua?

Does that guy know you?

Breakdown of Tunteeko toi tyyppi sua?

tuntea

to know (a person)

sä

you (spoken, incl. sun, sua)

Questions & Answers about Tunteeko toi tyyppi sua?

What is "toi" short for in this sentence?

toi is the common spoken language (puhekieli) version of tuo, meaning "that". It pairs with tyyppi to mean "that guy".

Why is "you" translated as "sua" instead of "sä"?

sua is the spoken version of sinua, which is the partitive form of "you". We need the partitive here because the verb tuntea (to know someone) takes a partitive object. If "you" were the subject doing the action, it would be the spoken nominative sä.

Doesn't the verb "tietää" mean "to know"? Why use "tuntea"?

In Finnish, there is a strict difference between knowing facts and knowing people. You use tietää for facts or information, but you must use tuntea (which also means "to feel") when talking about being acquainted with a person.

Does "tyyppi" always mean "guy"?

In casual everyday speech, yes, it's the standard word for "guy", "dude", or just "person". Literally, it means "type" (as in a category of something), but people use it all the time to refer to individuals.