Word
Se on kiva tyyppi, mut toisaalta tosi laiska.
Meaning
He is a nice guy, but on the other hand really lazy.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Se on kiva tyyppi, mut toisaalta tosi laiska.
olla
to be
se
it / he / she (of a person) / that
mutta
but
laiska
lazy
Questions & Answers about Se on kiva tyyppi, mut toisaalta tosi laiska.
Why does the sentence use Se for 'He' instead of Hän?
In written standard Finnish, se means 'it' and hän is used for 'he' or 'she'. However, in spoken Finnish (puhekieli), it is extremely common to use se for people. Using hän in everyday conversation often sounds too formal.
Is kiva a spoken-language word?
Yes, kiva (nice) is a very common everyday word that replaces the more formal mukava in spoken Finnish. It is so common that you will sometimes see it in casual writing too.
What word is mut short for?
Mut is the colloquial, shortened version of the conjunction mutta, meaning 'but'. In fast everyday speech, the final -ta is simply dropped.
How is toisaalta formed?
Toisaalta means 'on the other hand.' It is built from a stem of toinen (other/second) with the ablative case ending -lta (from). Literally, it implies looking at things 'from another perspective'.
Why is tosi used here instead of todella for 'really'?