Hän on suosikki.

He/She is a favorite.

Breakdown of Hän on suosikki.

• olla: to be
• hän: he/she
• suosikki: the favourite

Questions & Answers about Hän on suosikki.

Why does Finnish use hän for both he and she?

Finnish does not grammatically mark gender in third-person singular pronouns.
Hän simply means he / she / they (that one person).

Whether it refers to a man, a woman, or any other gender is understood from context (or from earlier mention like poika “boy”, tyttö “girl”, ystävä “friend” etc.). There is no separate feminine or masculine form to learn.

How do I know if hän means he or she in a sentence like Hän on suosikki?

You only know from context, not from the word itself. For example:

• If people were just talking about your brother, hän will naturally be understood as he.
• If they were talking about your sister, hän will be understood as she.

If it is not clear, Finns will usually clarify by adding a noun:

• Hän on se poika. – He is that boy.
• Hän on se tyttö. – She is that girl.

But grammatically, hän itself is always neutral.

Can I leave out hän and just say On suosikki?

Yes, but only when the subject is already very clear from context.

On suosikki is possible in, for example:

• Headlines or lists: On suosikki voittajaksi – (He/She) is the favorite to win.
• A follow-up line when the subject has just been mentioned:
  Matti pelaa tänään. On suosikki. – Matti is playing today. (He) is the favorite.

In neutral, complete sentences, especially in written standard Finnish, you normally keep hän:

• Hän on suosikki. is the default full sentence.

Is suosikki a noun or an adjective here?

Suosikki is a noun meaning favorite (person/thing).

So in Hän on suosikki, the structure is:

• Hän – pronoun (subject)
• on – verb olla “to be”, 3rd person singular
• suosikki – noun used as a predicative (a noun telling what the subject is)

Finnish often uses a bare noun like this after olla:

• Hän on opettaja. – He/She is a teacher.
• Hän on opiskelija. – He/She is a student.
• Hän on suosikki. – He/She is a favorite.

Why doesn’t suosikki change its form? Shouldn’t it agree with hän somehow?

No. In Finnish, predicative nouns after olla do not change for gender (there is no gender), and they usually match the subject only in number:

• Singular: Hän on suosikki. – He/She is a favorite.
• Plural: He ovat suosikkeja. – They are favorites. (indefinite)
  or He ovat suosikit. – They are the favorites. (more definite)

There is no adjective-style agreement in gender like in many Indo‑European languages, because Finnish has no grammatical gender at all.

Why is there no word for a or the in Hän on suosikki?

Finnish has no articles (no a/an, no the).

Whether the meaning is more like a favorite or the favorite is understood from context:

• In many situations, Hän on suosikki naturally means He/She is the favorite, e.g. the main favorite in a race.
• In others, it feels more like He/She is a favorite, one among several.

If Finns want to be explicit, they add other words:

• Hän on selvä suosikki. – He/She is the clear favorite.
• Hän on yksi suosikeista. – He/She is one of the favorites.

Why is suosikki in its basic form (nominative) and not some other case?

After the verb olla (to be), Finnish normally uses the nominative for a predicative noun that classifies or identifies the subject:

• Hän on suosikki. – He/She is a favorite.
• Hän on lääkäri. – He/She is a doctor.
• Hän on voittaja. – He/She is the winner.

You would change the case of suosikki if you wanted to express a different relation, for example:

• yleisön suosikki – the audience’s favorite (genitive + noun)
• suosikkina – as a favorite (essive case)
• suosikiksi – to become a favorite, into a favorite (translative case)

But in the simple identifying sentence Hän on suosikki, nominative is the normal choice.

Does Hän on suosikki mean He/She is my favorite or just a/the favorite (in general)?

By itself, Hän on suosikki usually means He/She is (a/the) favorite in some context, not necessarily my favorite. For example, a sports commentator might mean the betting favorite, the audience favorite, etc.

If you want to say He/She is my favorite, you normally add a possessive:

• Hän on suosikkini. – He/She is my favorite.
• Hän on minun suosikkini. – same meaning, slightly more emphatic/explicit.

Colloquial alternatives:

• Hän on mun suosikki.
• Hän on mun lemppari. (very informal)

Can suosikki refer both to people and things?

Yes. Suosikki is a general favorite noun and can refer to:

• a person: Hän on opettajan suosikki. – He/She is the teacher’s favorite.
• a thing: Tämä kirja on suosikkini. – This book is my favorite.
• an abstract choice: Kesä on suosikkivuodenaikani. – Summer is my favorite season.

So Hän on suosikki clearly refers to a person, because hän is only used for people (or personified beings).

Can I change the word order, like Suosikki hän on?

Yes, Finnish allows flexible word order, but the nuance changes:

• Hän on suosikki. – neutral statement: He/She is a favorite/the favorite.
• Suosikki hän on. – emphasizes suosikki:
  something like A favorite, that’s what he/she is or He/She really is a favorite.

This kind of inversion is more common in spoken Finnish and in expressive or literary language.

How do I make the sentence negative?

To negate Hän on suosikki, use the Finnish negative verb ei and the stem ole:

• Hän ei ole suosikki. – He/She is not a favorite.

Structure:

• Hän – subject
• ei – negative verb (3rd person singular)
• ole – base form of olla used with negation
• suosikki – predicative noun

What are the forms of the verb olla around this sentence?

The verb olla (to be) in the present tense:

• minä olen – I am
• sinä olet – you (sing.) are
• hän on – he/she is
• me olemme – we are
• te olette – you (pl.) are
• he ovat – they are

So on in Hän on suosikki is the 3rd person singular form.

How do you pronounce Hän on suosikki?

Roughly:

• Hän – like haen in English but with a very short ä (as in German Männ‑). Mouth wide, front vowel.
• on – like English on but shorter and more closed, close to own without a diphthong.
• suosikki – suo = swo (but as one smooth diphthong [suo]); sik like sick; ki like key.
  The kk is a long consonant, so you hold the k slightly longer: su-o-SIK-ki.

Stress is always on the first syllable in Finnish: HÄN on SUO-sik-ki (primary stress on Hän and suo parts).