Flunssa on paha tänään.

The flu is bad today.

Breakdown of Flunssa on paha tänään.

• olla: to be
• tänään: today
• paha: bad
• flunssa: the flu

Questions & Answers about Flunssa on paha tänään.

What exactly does flunssa mean here? Is it “flu” or “cold”?

Flunssa usually means a fairly mild viral respiratory infection – what many English speakers might casually call a cold or the flu, depending on symptoms.

In everyday Finnish:

• flunssa = a generic cold/flu-like illness (runny nose, sore throat, mild fever, etc.)
• It’s not strictly tied to the English medical term influenza.

Whether you translate it as a cold or the flu in English depends on context and how strong the illness feels, but the Finnish word itself is more general.

Why is there no article before flunssa? How do I know if it means “a flu” or “the flu”?

Finnish has no articles (no a/an or the), so flunssa is just the bare noun.

Context tells you whether you would say in English:

• a flu / a cold (introducing it for the first time, or talking about it in general)
• the flu / the cold (when it’s already known which one)

In this sentence, Flunssa on paha tänään, English translations could be:

• The flu is bad today.
• My flu is bad today.
• My cold is really bad today.

All of these are possible translations of the same Finnish sentence, depending on what has been mentioned or is obvious from context (for example, that we’re talking about my current illness).

Is on just the Finnish word for “is”?

Yes. On is the 3rd person singular form of the verb olla (to be).

Roughly:

• olla = to be
• (se) on = it is / he is / she is / that is

So:

• Flunssa on paha tänään.
  → The flu is bad today.

As in English, a sentence that states what something is normally requires the verb olla:

• Flunssa paha tänään. ❌ (ungrammatical)
• Flunssa on paha tänään. ✅

Why is the word order Flunssa on paha tänään? Could I say Tänään flunssa on paha or Flunssa on tänään paha?

All these orders are possible and grammatical in Finnish, but the focus shifts slightly.

1. Flunssa on paha tänään.
   Neutral-ish. You’re stating a fact: As for the flu, it’s bad today.
   The time word tänään just adds “today” at the end.

2. Flunssa on tänään paha.
   Also quite natural. This can slightly highlight today:
   As far as today goes, the flu is bad.

3. Tänään flunssa on paha.
   This puts more emphasis on today as the topic:
   Today, the flu is bad (as opposed to some other day / in general).

In everyday speech, you will hear all of them. Finnish word order is relatively flexible, but the subject–verb–complement order (Flunssa on paha) is the most basic pattern.

Why is it paha and not huono for “bad”? What’s the difference?

Both paha and huono can translate as bad, but they are used differently.

• paha often means:

  • bad in the sense of nasty, severe, serious, evil, morally bad, or painful
  • with illnesses: strong, rough, hard to bear

  Examples:

  • Paha flunssa. = a nasty/strong flu.
  • Paha haava. = a bad/deep wound.
  • Paha ihminen. = a bad/evil person.

• huono usually means:

  • bad in the sense of poor quality, not good, not functioning well

  Examples:

  • huono kirja = a bad (poor quality) book
  • huono auto = a bad / low-quality car
  • huono sää = bad weather

So with flunssa, paha is much more natural: it suggests the illness is strong or rough, not that the flu is “poor quality.”

Why is it paha and not pahaa? I often see adjectives ending in -a/ä in similar sentences.

In Flunssa on paha tänään, paha is a predicative adjective describing the subject flunssa.

In Finnish:

• When the subject is in the nominative (flunssa), the adjective is also typically in the nominative:
  • Flunssa on paha. = The flu is bad.
  • Kakku on kallis. = The cake is expensive.

You get pahaa (partitive) in different structures, for example:

• With “I have” constructions:
  
  • Minulla on pahaa flunssaa.
    Literally: At me there is bad flu (some)
    Used when speaking of having some amount of a bad flu.
• With certain verbs or when expressing an ongoing, partial, or indefinite state:
  • Flunssaa on pahaa. (rather odd on its own, but structurally it shows partitive)

So:

• Flunssa on paha tänään. → talking about the state of this illness (as a whole) now.
• Minulla on pahaa flunssaa. → talking about having some bad flu.

Different grammar, different case, hence paha vs pahaa.

Why is there no word for “it” or “my”? How do I know whose flu it is?

Finnish often omits pronouns and possessive words when they are clear from context.

• There is no explicit “it”:

  • English: It is bad today.
  • Finnish: Ø on paha tänään. is not said; instead you name the thing:
    • Flunssa on paha tänään.

• There is no explicit “my”:

  • Finnish could say Minun flunssani on paha tänään. = My flu is bad today, but that sounds quite heavy and formal in everyday speech.
  • Normally, context tells you we’re talking about my flu, especially if I’m talking about how I feel.

More natural, explicitly “I have a bad flu today”:

• Minulla on tänään paha flunssa.
  Literally: At me is today bad flu.

So:

• Flunssa on paha tänään. – Makes sense if we already know which flu we’re talking about (most likely my current flu).
• Possessors (my/your/his) are often left out when obvious.

What does tänään mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Tänään means today.

It’s an adverb and is quite free in terms of position. All of these are grammatical:

• Flunssa on paha tänään.
• Flunssa on tänään paha.
• Tänään flunssa on paha.

The meaning stays almost the same: you’re saying the flu is bad today, not necessarily yesterday or tomorrow.

Unlike English, Finnish doesn’t need a preposition like on; you just say tänään:

• today → tänään
• not “on tänään”

Is flunssa countable? Could I say flunssat ovat pahoja?

Yes, flunssa is grammatically countable.

• Singular:

  • Yksi flunssa = one flu/cold
  • Minulla on flunssa. = I have a cold/flu.

• Plural:

  • Kaksi flunssaa = two flus/colds
  • Flunssat ovat pahoja tänä talvena.
    = The flus are bad this winter.

In Flunssa on paha tänään, we’re using the singular and treating it as one particular illness (usually the speaker’s current flu/cold).

How would I say “The flu was bad yesterday” or “The flu will be bad tomorrow”?

You change the form of olla (on) to past or future context:

• Present (now):

  • Flunssa on paha tänään.
    The flu is bad today.

• Past (yesterday):

  • Flunssa oli paha eilen.
    The flu was bad yesterday.

• Future-like meaning (tomorrow): Finnish has no separate future tense; you use the present with a time word.

  • Flunssa on varmaan paha huomenna.
    The flu will probably be bad tomorrow.
  • Huomenna flunssa on paha.
    Tomorrow the flu will be bad.

So the verb mostly changes between on (is) and oli (was); future is expressed with the present tense + a time adverb like huomenna (tomorrow).

Is Flunssa on paha tänään formal or informal? Would a doctor say this?

The sentence itself is neutral and perfectly grammatical in both spoken and written Finnish.

• A friend talking about how they feel could say:

  • Flunssa on paha tänään.
    = My flu/cold is bad today.

• A doctor might say something close, but often with more context:

  • Sinulla on aika paha flunssa tänään.
    = You have quite a bad flu today.
  • Tämä flunssa on aika paha.
    = This flu is quite bad.

So the sentence is fine for everyday use and is not slangy or childish; it’s standard Finnish.