Finnish Vocabulary

Here are some quick tips for you to speak with Finnish people:

First, the pronunciation. Tonic accents in Finnish are very marked, always on the first syllable.

- ‘A’ is more like the French ‘A’ pronunciation

- ‘E’ is pronounced as a long E

- ‘H’ is more like an expired ‘H’

- ‘U’ is more like on the word FULL (‘OU’ pronunciation in French)

- ‘Y’ is pronounced as the French letter ‘U’

- ‘Ä’ is more like in HAT

- ‘Ö’ is more like the French ‘EU’ that we can find on words like ‘Oeufs’

Did you succeed? Very Good! You are a real Finn now! But you’re not done yet. Now to the second part: you require some essential words to speak! 😊

So, let’s begin:

English -> Finnish

Finland -> Suomi

Finnish -> Suomalainen

Hello -> Päivää or Hyää päivää

Hi -> Hei!

Good night -> Hyvää yötä

Be careful -> Huom! Yes -> Joo No -> Ei Thanks -> Kiitos Excuse me -> Anteksi Right -> Oikealte Left -> Vasemmale Where -> Missä Fish -> Kalastus Lake -> Järvi

With these couple of words, you will be able to speak like a true Finn!

- Nicolas