Learn Hardcore Finnish: Keho on terve.

In Finnish, when you say X is Y (noun + olla + adjective), the adjective usually appears in the nominative case and agrees in number with the noun.

Keho on terve. – The body is healthy.
- keho = nominative singular
- terve = nominative singular (predicative adjective)

Other forms you might see:

terveä – partitive singular
- Used in various structures, but not in a simple “X is Y” sentence like this.
terveenä – essive singular
- e.g. Pysyn terveenä. – I stay healthy.

So for a basic statement with olla and a singular subject, terve (nominative) is the normal choice: Keho on terve.

Is terve here the same word as the greeting Terve!?

Yes, it is the same word, just used in a different way.

As an adjective: terve = healthy
- Keho on terve. – The body is healthy.
As a greeting: Terve! ≈ Hi! / Hello!
- A bit informal, somewhat old-fashioned or dialectal in tone, but you will hear it.

Context and sentence structure tell you whether terve means “healthy” or “hi”.

What is the difference between keho, ruumis, and vartalo? Which one should I learn first?

All of these are related to “body,” but they have different nuances:

keho
- General, neutral word for body, especially in medical, scientific, or neutral contexts.
- e.g. Keho on terve. – The body is healthy.
ruumis
- Literally body, but very often used to mean a dead body / corpse.
- It can also mean “body” in some expressions, but for learners it’s safer to associate it with corpse.
vartalo
- Figure, torso, physique – more about shape, form, or build.
- e.g. Hänellä on urheilullinen vartalo. – He/She has an athletic body/figure.

For general “body” in neutral contexts, keho is the best basic word to learn first.

Would Finns more often say Olen terve instead of Keho on terve?

Yes. In everyday speech, to say “I am healthy”, Finns normally say:

Olen terve. – I am healthy.

Keho on terve literally focuses on the body itself, not on the person as a whole. You might see it in:

medical or scientific descriptions
texts that talk specifically about the body as an object (keho vs. mieli “mind”)

So:

Olen terve. – natural, everyday way to say I’m healthy.
Keho on terve. – more technical, descriptive, or context-specific.

How do I say “My body is healthy” in Finnish?

You have a few options:

Kehoni on terve.
- kehoni = my body (noun + possessive suffix -ni)
- Pronoun minun is often omitted because -ni already tells you it’s “my.”
Minun kehoni on terve.
- More emphatic: My body is healthy (as opposed to someone else’s).
Less natural / rarely needed:
- Minun keho on terve. – Grammatical, but Finns usually either
  - use kehoni, or
  - say Minun keho only in very colloquial speech. As a learner, prefer Kehoni on terve or Minun kehoni on terve.

How do I make the sentence negative: “The body is not healthy”?

Use the negative verb ei plus the basic form of olla:

Keho ei ole terve. – The body is not healthy.

Structure:

ei (negative verb, 3rd person singular)
ole (basic form of olla, used with negatives)
terve stays in nominative.

Other persons, for comparison:

En ole terve. – I am not healthy.
Et ole terve. – You (sg.) are not healthy.
Emme ole terveitä. – We are not healthy. (adjective often in plural partitive here)

How do I turn Keho on terve into a yes/no question?

Attach the question clitic -ko / -kö to the verb and move it to the start:

Onko keho terve? – Is the body healthy?

Pattern:

Statement: Keho on terve.
Question: Onko keho terve?

-ko is used after a word with a back vowel (a, o, u); -kö after a front vowel (ä, ö, y).
Here we attach -ko to on → onko.

Can I change the word order, like Terve on keho or On keho terve?

Word order in Finnish is flexible, but Keho on terve is the neutral, most natural order here.

Other orders:

Terve on keho.
- Sounds poetic or strongly emphatic, like “Healthy is the body.”
- Not used in normal conversation for a simple statement.
On keho terve.
- This is not a normal statement.
- It might appear as part of some special structure, but on its own it sounds very odd.

For ordinary speech and writing, use:

Keho on terve. – neutral statement
Onko keho terve? – question

How do you pronounce keho and terve? Where is the stress?

Finnish word stress is almost always on the first syllable.

keho
- Pronunciation: /ˈkeho/
- ke as in ke in “ketchup”, ho like ho in “hobby” (but with pure vowels, no diphthong)
- Stress on ke: KE-ho
terve
- Pronunciation: /ˈterʋe/
- The r is rolled or tapped, v is a normal /v/
- Stress on ter: TER-ve

Both vowels are short in these words (not doubled). In Finnish, vowel length is important: te vs. tee are different words.

How would I say “The bodies are healthy” or “All bodies are healthy”?

You need the plural of both the noun and the verb:

The bodies are healthy.
- Kehot ovat terveitä.
All bodies are healthy.
- Kaikki kehot ovat terveitä.

Notes:

kehot = plural of keho (nominative plural)
ovat = 3rd person plural of olla (they are)
terveitä = plural partitive of terve, commonly used for describing a quality of a plural subject.

You may also see Kehot ovat terveet, with terveet (nominative plural). That’s also grammatically correct; the choice between terveet and terveitä involves subtle nuance that learners can safely ignore at the beginning—both will be understood.

What grammatical pattern is Keho on terve an example of? Is it common?

Keho on terve is a basic copular sentence:

Noun (subject) + olla (“to be”) + adjective (predicative)

This pattern is extremely common in Finnish:

Olen väsynyt. – I am tired.
Auto on kallis. – The car is expensive.
Kaupunki on suuri. – The city is big.
Ruoka on hyvää. – The food is good. (here the adjective is in partitive)

In our sentence:

Keho = subject
on = copula (form of olla)
terve = predicative adjective describing the subject

Learning this pattern is essential; you’ll use it all the time when describing people, things, and states.