Jokainen on ystävällinen.

Everyone is friendly.

Breakdown of Jokainen on ystävällinen.

• olla: to be
• ystävällinen: friendly
• jokainen: everyone

Questions & Answers about Jokainen on ystävällinen.

What exactly does jokainen mean, and what kind of word is it?

Jokainen is an indefinite pronoun that means “everyone / everybody / each (person)”.

• Literally it’s close to “each one”.
• It can stand alone, like in Jokainen on ystävällinen (Everyone is friendly), or come before a noun, like jokainen ihminen (every person).
• Grammatically it is singular, even though it refers to a group of people.

Why is it on and not ovat? In English it’s “Everyone is friendly”, but why singular in Finnish?

The verb on is the 3rd person singular form of olla (to be), and it agrees with jokainen, which is grammatically singular.

• Jokainen on ystävällinen = Everyone is friendly (singular verb in both languages).
• Using ovat (3rd person plural) here would be incorrect: ✗ Jokainen ovat ystävällisiä is ungrammatical.

So:

• jokainen → singular → on
• he / he kaikki (they) → plural → ovat

What’s the difference between jokainen and kaikki?

Both relate to “every/everyone/all,” but they work differently:

• jokainen = each individual one, every single one

  • Jokainen on ystävällinen. = Each person is friendly.
  • Focus on individuals.

• kaikki = all, everyone, everything (as a group)

  • Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä. = Everyone is friendly.
  • Focus on the group as a whole.

Often both are possible, but:

• Jokainen on ystävällinen sounds slightly more “each and every one of them is friendly.”
• Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä feels more like “as a group, they’re all friendly.”

Why is it ystävällinen and not something like ystävällisiä?

Ystävällinen is in the nominative singular, and it agrees with the subject jokainen, which is also singular.

• Subject: jokainen (singular)
• Verb: on (singular)
• Predicative adjective: ystävällinen (singular nominative)

So:

• Jokainen on ystävällinen. = Everyone is friendly.

If you use plural kaikki, the adjective normally changes:

• Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä.
  
  • kaikki = all (plural idea)
  • ovat = are (plural)
  • ystävällisiä = friendly (partitive plural, typical for describing a quality of people in general)

Could I say Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä instead? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä is perfectly natural and very common. It means essentially the same thing as Jokainen on ystävällinen: Everyone is friendly.

Subtle difference in feel:

• Jokainen on ystävällinen.

  • Focuses on each individual: Each person is friendly.

• Kaikki ovat ystävällisiä.

  • Focuses on the group: They are all friendly.

In everyday speech, Kaikki ovat tosi ystävällisiä might actually be more common than Jokainen on ystävällinen.

Can jokainen also be used in front of a noun, like “every person is friendly”?

Yes. Jokainen can function like “every” in English when placed before a noun:

• Jokainen ihminen on ystävällinen.
  = Every person is friendly.

Here:

• jokainen = every
• ihminen = person
• on ystävällinen = is friendly

You can also say:

• Jokainen opiskelija on ystävällinen.
  = Every student is friendly.

How would I say “Not everyone is friendly”?

In Finnish you normally express “Not everyone is friendly” with kaikki, not with jokainen:

• Kaikki eivät ole ystävällisiä.
  
  • Word-for-word: All do not be friendly → Not everyone is friendly.

Notes:

• eivät is the 3rd person plural negative verb.
• ole is the basic form of olla used with negation.
• ystävällisiä is partitive plural, common in this type of descriptive sentence.

Jokainen ei ole ystävällinen is grammatically possible, but it tends to mean something like “Each one is not friendly” (often understood as “nobody is friendly”) and is not the usual way to say “Not everyone is friendly.”

What are the other common forms of jokainen I should know?

Here are the main cases you’ll see often:

• Nominative: jokainen

  • Jokainen on ystävällinen.
  • Everyone is friendly.

• Genitive (of everyone): jokaisen

  • Tiedän jokaisen nimen.
  • I know everyone’s name.

• Partitive (everyone as an object / “each one”): jokaista

  • Rakastan jokaista teistä.
  • I love each one of you.

• Illative (into / to everyone): jokaiseen

  • Luotan jokaiseen teistä.
  • I trust each one of you.

You don’t need the full declension table immediately, but these four forms come up a lot.

What exactly does ystävällinen mean? Is it more like “friendly,” “kind,” or “polite”?

Ystävällinen covers several English nuances:

• friendly – warm, approachable
  
  • Hän on hyvin ystävällinen. = He/She is very friendly.
• kind – considerate, nice
  
  • Se oli ystävällinen ele. = That was a kind gesture.
• polite – in requests or formal language
  
  • Olisitko ystävällinen ja sulkisit oven?
    = Would you be so kind as to close the door?

It’s a fairly neutral, positive word and is used a lot in both everyday and polite/formal contexts.

Is ystävällinen related to ystävä (“friend”)?

Yes, ystävällinen is derived from ystävä (friend).

• ystävä = friend
• -llinen / -inen is a common adjective-forming ending.

So ystävällinen literally has the idea of “friend-like” / “in a way of a friend”, which fits well with meanings like friendly and kind.