Learn Hardcore Finnish: En pelkää koskaan puhua suomea.

En = the negative verb in 1st person singular: “I do not.”
pelkää = “fear,” in the special connegative form required by negation (from the verb pelätä “to fear”).
koskaan = “ever”; with a negative it means “never” (“not ever”).
puhua = “to speak,” the 1st infinitive.
suomea = “Finnish,” in the partitive case (the language as an indefinite mass object). Literal feel: “I do-not fear ever to-speak Finnish(partitive).”

Why is it En pelkää and not Minä en pelkään?

Finnish has a dedicated negative verb that carries person/number: en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät. With this negative verb, the main verb goes to a special “connegative” form (no personal ending):

Affirmative: minä pelkään (I fear)
Negative: en pelkää (I do not fear) So not “pelkään” after “en.” The subject pronoun minä is optional; it’s omitted unless you want emphasis: Minä en pelkää.

What’s the deal with koskaan? Does it mean “ever” or “never”?

Koskaan by itself means “ever,” but in Finnish you typically use it with a negative to express “never” (literally “not ever”): en koskaan = “never.” It’s also common in questions: Oletko koskaan…? = “Have you ever…?” A more colloquial synonym is ikinä: en ikinä.

Can I move koskaan around in the sentence?

Yes. Common placements:

En koskaan pelkää puhua suomea. (neutral; “never” is early and prominent)
En pelkää koskaan puhua suomea. (also fine; slightly different rhythm)
Koskaan en pelkää puhua suomea. (fronted for emphasis on “never”) Putting koskaan at the very end is possible but less typical unless you’re giving it heavy emphasis.

Why is suomea in the partitive and not suomi?

Languages used as the object of puhua are in the partitive: puhun suomea/englantia. Think of the language as an indefinite mass you speak “some of.” You can also say puhua suomen kieltä (“the Finnish language”), where suomen is genitive and kieltä is partitive.

Could I say puhua suomeksi instead of puhua suomea?

Yes, with a nuance difference:

puhua suomea = “to speak Finnish” (ability/use in general).
puhua suomeksi = “to speak in Finnish / in the Finnish language” (focus on the language as the medium). Both are very common and often interchangeable in practice.

Is this sentence a “double negative” like in English?

No. Finnish negation works differently. En is the negative verb, and koskaan is an indefinite word that pairs with negation to mean “ever” → together “not ever.” This is standard, not incorrect doubling.

How would I say “I have never been afraid to speak Finnish”?

Use the perfect:

En ole koskaan pelännyt puhua suomea. Here ole is the auxiliary “to be,” pelännyt is the active past participle of pelätä.

Why is it pelkää puhua and not pelkään puhua in this sentence?

Because the sentence is negative. In a negative clause, the main verb takes the connegative form:

Affirmative: Pelkään puhua suomea. (I’m afraid to speak Finnish.)
Negative: En pelkää puhua suomea. (I’m not afraid to speak Finnish.)

Could I use a noun form like puhumista instead of puhua?

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly:

Pelkään puhua suomea. = I’m afraid to speak Finnish (to perform the act).
Pelkään puhumista suomeksi / suomea. = I’m afraid of speaking (the activity) in Finnish. The infinitive (puhua) is more natural when talking about being afraid to do something.

What’s the difference between pelätä and pelottaa?

pelätä = “to fear, be afraid of” (regular verb with a subject): Pelkään puhua suomea.
pelottaa = “to frighten / (I) feel scared,” an impersonal/experiential verb: Minua pelottaa puhua suomea (“Speaking Finnish scares me / I feel scared to speak Finnish”). Negative: Minua ei pelota puhua suomea.

Is suomi capitalized in Finnish?

No. Language names are lowercase: suomi, englanti, ruotsi. So the object form here is suomea, not capitalized.

How would this sound in everyday colloquial speech?

A typical casual version might be:

Mä en ikinä pelkää puhuu suomee. Features: mä for minä, ikinä for koskaan, infinitive puhua realized as puhuu in speech, and partitive suomea pronounced suomee. In writing, stick to the standard: En koskaan pelkää puhua suomea.

How do I conjugate pelätä in the present (affirmative vs. negative)?

Affirmative: minä pelkään, sinä pelkäät, hän pelkää, me pelkäämme, te pelkäätte, he pelkäävät.
Negative (connegative main verb): en pelkää, et pelkää, ei pelkää, emme pelkää, ette pelkää, eivät pelkää.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

ä in pelkää is a front vowel like the a in “cat,” but longer in the final -ää.
The diphthong uo in suomea is one smooth glide: “suo-me-a” (three syllables).
koskaan has a long aa: “kos-kaan.”
Stress is always on the first syllable of each word: EN pel-KÄÄ KOS-kaan PU-hua SUO-mea.