Finnish phrasebook
Photo: Zakuragi, User:Aaker, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Finnish (suomen kieli, suomi) is spoken in Finland and by Finns elsewhere, predominantly in Scandinavia. Whether travellers to Finland need to learn Finnish is doubtful, since most Finns — including virtually all under 60 — speak at least some English. However, since so few people make the effort, you'll get delighted reactions if you try.
UnderstandFinnish is a Finno-Ugric language and hence completely unrelated to most other languages. In particular, Finnish has grammatically nothing at all in common with the Nordic languages, English or Russian.
PronunciationThe Finnish language is fairly easy to pronounce: it has one of the most phonetic writing systems in the world, with only a small number of simple consonants and relatively few vowel sounds.
GrammarFinnish grammar is radically different from English (or any Indo-European language, for that matter), making Finnish a rather difficult language to master, and Finns love to regale foreigners with horror stories of…
Phrase listPhrases in the following phrase list use the informal singular (sinuttelu), which is by far the most common form in modern Finnish and appropriate for almost all situations a traveller might encounter.
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Finnish phrasebook" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Zakuragi, User:Aaker, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons