Breakdown of Se on tosi söpö.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
tosi
really (intensifier)
söpö
cute
Questions & Answers about Se on tosi söpö.
Why use se instead of hän for "he"?
In spoken Finnish (puhekieli), people almost always use se (which means "it" in standard Finnish) to mean "he" or "she". The formal word hän is rarely used in casual conversation.
Since se can mean "it", "he", or "she", how do I know who this sentence is about?
You just have to rely on context! In Finnish, pronouns do not reveal gender. Whether you are talking about a cute dog, a cute guy, or a cute girl, the sentence is exactly the same: se on tosi söpö.
Is tosi a colloquial word here?
Yes. While tosi literally means "true", in everyday speech it is extremely common to use it as an adverb meaning "really" or "very". In standard written Finnish, you would usually see todella or erittäin instead.
If we changed this to "They are really cute" using the spoken ne, would söpö change?
Yes! Even though the spoken pronoun ne (they) takes a singular verb (ne on), the adjective still needs to be plural. You would say ne on tosi söpöjä.