Including some extra word forms for practice
Nouns: nominative (nominative plural, genitive, partitive singular/plural)
Verbs: infinitive (first person singular present/past/perfect)
Earlier I posted about the Finnish FEL App and shared some early ideas about how things work. Now that I’m revising I’m re-reading my old posts and practising with the app once again. So I thought to do a post about additional ideas based on what I’ve learnt in the meantime. I might not have a comment to each phrase but I’ll write them down anyway as practice.
Corrections welcome! (in case you feel like reading a very long post)
Basic phrases
Hei! - Hi!
you can say this to anyone really, unless you want to be very formal
Näkemiin! - Goodbye!
It literally means something like “see each other again” which is much easier to say in Hungarian, a bit less in English, something like “see you” I guess.
Mitä kuuluu? - How are you?
kuulua has lots of uses, one of them is to ask how someone is. The answer can be:
Kiitos, hyvää. - Fine, thanks.
Note hyvää is in the partitive.
Hyvää päivänjatkoa! - Have a nice day!
Literally something like “have a good rest of the day”, again something we say in Hungarian. Hyvää is in the partitive again, similarly to other “wishing” phrases.
Kiitos, samoin. - Thanks, same to you.
Onnea! - Good luck!
partitive of onni - luck
Voitko puhua hitaammin? - Could you speak more slowly?
An example of the question ending -ko/-kö and a comparative adjective.
Puhun romaniaa. - I speak Romanian.
Language names are not capitalized, but they are in the partitive when talking about speaking or learning them.
Miksi tätä kutsutaan? - What is this called?
tätä is the partitive form of tämä (this). If we translate as “What do you call this”, then “this” is the object of the sentence so it’s easier to see why it’s in the partitive.
Ymmärrätkö saksaa? - Do you understand German?
Kyllä, mutta en puhu sitä. - Yes, but I don’t speak it.
sitä - partitive of se (it)
Olkaa hyvä / Ole hyvä - You’re welcome (formal / informal)
It can also mean “Here you are” and “Please” (closest to the literal translation - ‘be good’)
Kiitos paljon - thank you very much
Eipä kestä / ei kestä - No problem, It’s all right
the -pä ending is a sort of spoken thing as far as I remember
Anteeksi! - Excuse me, Sorry
Ei se mitään - No problem
Olen pahoillani - I’m sorry
Mikä? - What?
Missä? - Where?
Milloin? - When?
Kuka? - Who?
Olen väsynyt - I’m tired
Olen nälkäinen - I’m hungry
Olen onnellinen - I’m happy
Olen surullinen - I’m sad
Mennään! - Let’s go!
Pidä kiirettä! - Hurry up!
kiirettä is the partitive form of kiire (hurry), so it means something like “take hurry”... anyway. :D
Rauhoitu! - Calm down!
from rauha - peace
Ole hiljaa! - Shut up!
note the partitive form here as well
Apua! - Help!
again partitive form of apu (help), or verb
Tulipalo! - Fire!
Soittakaa ambulanssi / poliisi - Call an ambulance / the police
Ole kiltti - Please (Again ‘be nice / good’)
Onneksi olkoon! - Congratulations!
Hyvää joulua! - Merry Christmas!
Onnellista uutta vuotta! - Happy new year!
A bit trickier partitive forms:
onnellinen - onnellista
uusi - uutta
vuosi - vuotta
Hyvää syntymäpäivää! - Happy birthday!
Making friends
Tässä on poikaystäväni. - This is my boyfriend.
tässä - here
-ni possessive ending, although this form is more like the written option (but the app does teach you to write, so... :D)
Mikä sinun nimesi on? - What is your name?
Okay, this form is a bit closest, though “sinun nimi” would be enough in spoken form and “nimesi” in written. But this works too, maybe a bit more emphasized.
Nimeni on Diana. - My name is Diana.
Kenen kanssa olet? - Who are you with?
kenen - genitive form of kuka, used with kanssa (with someone). This is an interesting difference from Hungarian as it is not expressed with a different case like other things.
Olen ystävän kanssa. - I’m with a friend.
Kuinka vanha olet? - How old are you?
Olen (age) vuotta vanha. - I’m (…) years old.
As we already saw, this is the partitive form of vuosi (year) - used with numbers
Milloin olet syntynyt? - When were you born?
Olen syntynyt vuonna… - I was born in (year)
vuonna - in the year
Mistä olet kotoisin? - Where are you from?
literally “where are you from originally?”
Olen Moldovasta. - I’m from Moldova.
more examples of various cases/endings
Minkä maan kansalainen olet? - What is your nationality?
“which country’s citizen are you?”
kansalainen resembles kanssa, and there’s probably some connection, since both words suggest you belong somewhere
Olen albanialainen. - I’m Albanian.
adjective made from the country name for nationality (again not capitalized)
Kenen kanssa asut? - Who do you live with?
Asun vaimoni kanssa. - I live with my wife.
Missä asut? - Where do you live?
Asun Belgiassa. - I live in Belgium.
Oletko naimisissa? - Are you married?
En, olen naimaton. - No, I’m single.
Onko sinulla lapsia? - Have you got children?
lapsi (child) is a bit of a tricky word again.
lapsia - partitive plural form (do you have (multiple) children)
plus the “minulla on” phrase for possessions
Kyllä, minulla on kolme lasta. - Yes, I’ve got three kids.
and here it’s the singular partitive form: lasta
Pidän ruoanlaitosta. - I like cooking.
this ending needs to be used with the verb pitää (to like doing sth) Here it’s a little more complicated because the object is technically a noun (I like to cook / I like cooking), with the -sta ending.
Pidätkö television katselusta? - Do you like watching TV?
En, pidän lukemisesta. - No, I like reading.
lukeminen - reading
the -nen ending becomes -se in other cases so it’s lukemisesta
(this took me a long time and I’m still not sure I’m using it right all the time)
Onko sinulla lemmikkejä? - Have you got any pets?
again partitive plural form
Kyllä, minulla on koira. - Yes, I’ve got a dog.
Todellakin inhoan pitsaa. - I really hate pizza.
Inhoan solmion käyttämistä. - I hate wearing a tie.
Mitä mieltä olet kirjasta? - What’s your opinion of the book?
Olla (partitive) mieltä - to have an opinion, to think sth about sth, and the object gets the -sta ending again (elative case, I’ll never learn these names lol)
Pelkäänpä, että en pidä tästä kirjasta. - I’m afraid I don’t like this book.
everything needs the same ending so tämä becomes tästä here
Hän käyttää silmälaseja. - He wears glasses.
silma (eye) + lasi (glass) = eyeglass :D
Olet erittäin mukava. - You’re very nice.
Millainen Emma on? - What is Emma like?
Hän on erittäin ujo. - She is very shy.
Voinko saattaa sinut kotiin? - Can I walk you home?
Haluaisitko tanssia? - Would you like to dance?
Mielelläni. - I’d love to.
I feel like this has to do with mieli as well. -ni is the possessive ending, it’s probably not something that could be exactly translated, but I kinda feel what it means :D
Voinko liittyä seuraanne? - Can I join you?
Kyllä, toki. - Yes, sure.
Voinko halata sinua? - Can I hug you?
Voinko suudella sinua? - Can I kiss you?
Conversation
Kuuma ilma, eikö? - Hot weather, right?
this was probably said a lot this summer
Mahtavat juhlat, eikö? - Great party, isn’t it?
I recently read that post about things that are usually in the plural, and I think juhla belongs there, though not quite sure why. Anyway, it has to be the nominative plural form with the -t ending, so the same with mahtava.
Saavuin juuri. - I’ve just got here.
Miten töissä menee? - How’s work going?
“How’s it going at work?”
Oli kiva nähdä sinua. - It was good seeing you.
En voi puhua pidempään. - I can’t talk longer.
Puhutaan lisää lounaalla. - Let’s talk more at lunch.
Aion lähteä. - I’m going to leave.
Tule tapaamaan meitä. - Come to see us.
Liity seuraani lounaalle. - Join me for lunch.
Ei kiitos, söin jo. - No thanks, I’ve already eaten.
Minne haluaisit mennä? - Where would you like to go?
Haluaisin mennä elokuviin - I’d like to go to the cinema.
Kyllä, minulle sopii. - Yes, I’m free.
Kuulostaa hyvältä. - Sounds good.
things with senses (sounds, looks, smells...) need the -lta/-ltä ending
Mielihyvin. - With pleasure.
Ei, minulle ei sovi. - No, I am not free.
Minun täytyy opiskella. - I need to study.
another useful phrase “minun täytyy” (+basic form of the verb) - I have to / need to
Minulla ei ole aikaa. - I haven’t got time.
Etkö ole sitä mieltä? - Don’t you think so?
the interesting part is the -kö ending added to et and not the verb. In this case I guess this is because of the negation. Ei oletko... or Oletko ei... maybe wouldn’t be correct. Otherwise you can add the -ko/-kö ending to pretty much anything, though it might change meanings a bit.
Oi, en todellakaan! - Oh, surely not!
Etkö ole samaa mieltä? - Don’t you agree?
Olen täysin samaa mieltä. - I entirely agree.
Kumman valitsisit mieluummin? - Which would you prefer?
kumman is the genitive form of kumpi (which one - of two things)
again a mieli-form, this time it’s an adjective - which one do you like more?
Mitä teet? - What are you doing?
Missä hän on? - Where is he?
Miksi sanoit niin? - Why did you say that?
Se vaikuttaa minusta erittäin oudolta. - It seems very strange to me.
Olen varma, että hän voittaa. - I’m sure that he will win.
En usko. - I don’t think so.
Sinulla on erittäin hieno auto. - You have a very nice car.
Arvostaisin neuvojanne. - I would appreciate your advice.
arvostan - I appreciate
arvostaisin - I WOULD appreciate
Mitä minun pitäisi laittaa päälleni? - What should I wear?
mitä - similarly to mikä, it means “what”, but mostly for actual things, while mikä is more abstract
minun pitäisi - I should (note the -isi phrase again)
laittaa päälleni - to wear, put on (sth like to put on my head :D sounds a bit funny, but a really good expression)
Voitko pitää tätä? - Can you hold this for me?
Voitko auttaa minua? - Can you help me?
Haittaako, jos istun tähän? - Do you mind if I sit here?
tähän - to here
Ei, ei haittaa. - No, I don’t mind.
Mennään uimaan. - Let’s go swimming.
another nice construction that I will get back to
Se on hyvä idea. - That’s a good idea.
Entä tänään? - How about today?
Mietin asiaa. - I’ll think about it.
Well, that was a good session! I continued the app earlier but I haven’t posted about it yet, so will do soon.
This might be a bit of a random vocab list with mostly known words, but I want to continue using/revise what I already learnt with the app.
Body
jalka - leg, foot
pää - head
polvi - knee
kaula - neck
käsi - hand
käsivarsi - arm
nenä - nose
korva - ear
silmä - eye
hiukset - hair
kämmen - palm
peukalo - thumb
ranne - wrist
kynsi - nail
jalkapohja - sole
kantapää - heel
varvas - toe
nilkka - ankle
vatsalihakset - abdominal muscles
rintalihas - pectoral muscles
otsalihas - frontal muscles
hauislihas - biceps
selkäranka - spine
leukaluu - jaw
kylkiluu - rib
luu - bone
kallo - skull
sydän - heart
keuhko - lung
hermo - nerve
kieli - tongue
maksa - liver
mahalaukku - stomach
Family, relationships
nainen - woman
veli - brother
äiti - mother
lapset - children
sisar - sister
isä - father
mies - man
vanhemmat - parents
työtoveri - colleague
ystävä - friend
naapuri - neighbor
tyttöystävä - girlfriend
poikaystävä - boyfriend
syntyä - to be born
naimisiin - to get married
häät - wedding
rakastua - to fall in love
kuolla - to die
syntymäpäivä - birthday
Emotions
iloinen - happy
itkeä - to cry
surullinen - sad
nauraa - to laugh
