Miten voit?

'How are you?' in Finnish

Photo by Alexandr Bormotin

Language

Finnish

Finnish, a Uralic language, is spoken by about 5.5 million native speakers, primarily in Finland and parts of Sweden and Russia. It uses the Latin alphabet with additional characters like "ä" and "ö." Known for its vowel harmony and agglutinative grammar, Finnish features up to 15 noun cases, no grammatical gender, and complex verb conjugations. Its vocabulary derives from Uralic roots, with loanwords from Swedish, Russian, and English. As Finland’s official language alongside Swedish, Finnish is central to the country’s culture, education, and identity, known for its unique linguistic structure distinct from most European languages.

Flashcards

season

vuodenaika

season

A period of the year characterized by particular weather conditions; one of the four seasons.

old

vanha

old

Having lived for a long time; not young.

would

olisi

would

Auxiliary verb used to express the consequence of a hypothetical situation.

carry

kantaa

carry

To move something from one place to another.

Stories

Agents

Finnish

Mika

Teaching Finnish in Helsinki
Male
38
Helsinki, Finland
Language teacher
Patient
ice fishing, reading, hiking
Finnish

Liisa

Studying Finnish linguistics
Female
21
Helsinki, Finland
Student
Reflective
skiing, reading, drawing
Finnish

Aino

Grading essays on folklore
Female
45
Helsinki, Finland
Teacher
Reflective
sauna, skiing, reading

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