Nainen on ystäväni.

The woman is my friend.

Breakdown of Nainen on ystäväni.

• olla: to be
• minun: my
• ystävä: the friend
• nainen: the woman

Questions & Answers about Nainen on ystäväni.

Why doesn’t the sentence have an article like “the” or “a”?

Finnish doesn’t use articles at all. In English, you might say “The woman is my friend”, but in Finnish, you would simply say “Nainen on ystäväni” with no separate article.

Why is ystäväni formed this way instead of writing minun ystäväni?

In Finnish, possessive suffixes often replace or accompany personal pronouns. Here, -ni is the first-person singular possessive suffix, so ystäväni literally means “my friend”. Writing minun ystäväni is also correct, but less commonly used in everyday speech.

Could I say “Ystäväni on nainen” instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you could say “Ystäväni on nainen.” It means “My friend is a woman”. These two sentences convey basically the same idea, but “Nainen on ystäväni” might feel more like pointing out who the woman is, while “Ystäväni on nainen” emphasizes describing who your friend is.

How would I say “She is my friend” in Finnish?

You can say “Hän on ystäväni.” In Finnish, hän can refer to either a man or a woman because Finnish pronouns aren’t gender-specific. If you want to specify that the person is female, you can still say “Nainen on ystäväni,” although typically “Hän on ystäväni” is enough in context.

How do I negate the sentence if I want to say “The woman is not my friend”?

To negate, you use ei plus the correct form of the verb to be. So you’d say “Nainen ei ole ystäväni.” The verb on becomes ole in the negation form, and ystäväni remains the same.