Learn Finnish by my way

Learn Finnish by my way Helping beginners with basics Finnish~~

30/09/2026

Learn Puhekieli from Real Finnish 🇫🇮
1️⃣ Siekää et tiiä perkele —
Puhekieli
siekää = sinäkään (you don't either) — sie is an Eastern Finnish dialect form of sinä; kää = kään (either, in negatives)

et tiiä = et tiedä (you don't know)

perkele = a Finnish swear word, used here as an intensifier ("damn it" / "for crying out loud")

English
You don't know either, damn it —

2️⃣ ommaa puhelinnumeroa.
Puhekieli
ommaa = omaa (own, partitive) — puhekieli form of omaa

puhelinnumeroa = phone number (partitive)

English
…your own phone number.

3️⃣ Aina annat minun puhelinnumeron — En tosiaan tiiä.
Puhekieli
aina annat = you always give

minun puhelinnumeron = my phone number

en tosiaan tiiä = en tosiaan tiedä (I really don't know)

tosiaan = really / honestly

English
You always give my number instead. — I honestly don't know it.

4️⃣ ja ne on, että "no nyt ne on tullu ne pelletit tänne."
Puhekieli
ne on = ne ovat (they are)

no nyt = well now

ne on tullu = ne ovat tulleet (they have arrived)

ne pelletit = the pellets (wood pellets for heating)

tänne = here

English
…and they say "well, the pellets have arrived here now."

5️⃣ Joo.
Puhekieli
joo = yes / yeah — very casual, more common in speech than kyllä

English
Yeah.

6️⃣ Nii, ja mie en oo tilannu mittää.
Puhekieli
nii = niin (yeah / so)

mie = minä (I) — Eastern Finnish dialect

en oo = en ole (I haven't)

tilannu = tilannut (ordered)

mittää = mitään (anything) — Eastern Finnish dialect form

English
Yeah, and I haven't ordered anything.

7️⃣ Miten sie sen muistat?!
Puhekieli
miten = how

sie = sinä (you) — Eastern Finnish dialect

sen muistat = muistat sen (you remember it)

English
How do you even remember it?!
•A note on dialect: This clip mixes regular puhekieli with Eastern Finnish dialect (Savonian). The key differences: sie instead of sä (you), mie instead of mä (I), mittää instead of mitään (anything). You don't need to speak this way, but you'll hear it from people from the Savo or Karelia regions.

•Context: He doesn't know his own phone number — so he always gives his wife's instead. She gets a call saying the pellets have arrived, except she never ordered any. He remembers her number better than his own number . 😂

23/09/2026

Learn Puhekieli from Real Finnish 🇫🇮

Tuli pieni pilkkuvirhe

1️⃣ Toi on niinku se mun kuivakakku.
Puhekieli
toi = tuo (that)

niinku = niin kuin (like / kind of)

se mun = se minun (that thing of mine)

kuivakakku = dry cake

English
That's kind of my thing — the dry cake.

2️⃣ Mm. — Tuli pieni —
Puhekieli
mm = uh-huh / yeah

tuli pieni = there was a small…

English
Mm. — There was a small —

3️⃣ pilkkuvirhe. — Nii.
Puhekieli
pilkkuvirhe = a decimal point mistake

nii = niin (yeah)

English
…decimal point mistake. — Yeah.

4️⃣ Kaks desiä maitoo.
Puhekieli
kaks = kaksi (two)

desiä = desilitraa (decilitres, partitive)

maitoo = maitoa (milk, partitive)

English
Two decilitres of milk.

5️⃣ Arvaa paljon mä laitoin? — Nii?
Puhekieli
arvaa = guess

paljon = how much

mä laitoin = minä laitoin (I put in)

nii? = niin? (yeah? / really?)

English
Guess how much I put in? — Yeah?

6️⃣ Kaks litraa! — Tä! Älä ny saatana.
Puhekieli
kaks litraa = kaksi litraa (two litres)

tä = exclamation of shock (what?! / no way!)

älä ny = älä nyt (come on / don't)

saatana = damn / bloody hell (swear word used as intensifier)

English
Two litres! — What! No way, damn it.

💡 Context: The recipe said 2 dl of milk. She misread the decimal and poured in 2 full litres. The result: a kuivakakku (dry cake) that was somehow way too wet. The clip caption — "Astetta vetisempi kuivakakku" (a slightly wetter dry cake) — is peak Finnish humour. 😂

05/08/2026

Learn Puhekieli from Real Finnish 🇫🇮

1️⃣ Muistatsä semmosen ohjelman —

Puhekieli

• muistatsä = muistatko sinä (do you remember)
• semmosen = sellaisen (such a / that kind of)
• ohjelman = program (partitive)

English
Do you remember that show —

2️⃣ joku voitti…

Puhekieli

• joku = someone / somebody
• voitti = won

English
…where someone won…

3️⃣ Sen et pääsee Rennyn kaa sinne bileisiin sinne Hollywoodiin.

Puhekieli

• sen et = sen että (the prize of getting to)
• pääsee = pääsee / pääsi (gets to go)
• Rennyn kaa = Rennyn kanssa (with Renny) — kaa = kanssa
• sinne bileisiin = sinne juhliin (to those parties)
• sinne Hollywoodiin = to Hollywood

English
…the prize of getting to go to parties in Hollywood with Renny.

4️⃣ Ja mä olin ihan s******n kateellinen.

Puhekieli

• mä olin = minä olin (I was)
• ihan = completely / totally
• s******n = saatanan (a Finnish swear word used as intensifier, like “damn” / “bloody”)
• kateellinen = jealous / envious

English
And I was absolutely bloody jealous.

5️⃣ Ihan oikeesti.

Puhekieli

• ihan oikeesti = ihan oikeasti (honestly / for real)

English
Honestly, for real.

6️⃣ Mä niinku, et ihan oikein fantasioin siitä et —

Puhekieli

• mä niinku = minä niin kuin (I like / I mean)
• ihan oikein = properly / actually
• fantasioin = I fantasised
• siitä et = siitä että (about the fact that)

English
I like, actually properly fantasised about the fact that —

7️⃣ jos mä oisin voittanu ton ja mä oisin tuolla et —

Puhekieli

• oisin voittanu = olisin voittanut (I had won) — conditional perfect
• ton = tuon (that)
• oisin tuolla = olisin siellä (I would be there)

English
if I had won that and I would be there —

8️⃣ oisko mul joskus onni kääntyny.

Puhekieli

• oisko = olisiko (would it be / would it have)
• mul = minulla (for me)
• joskus = sometime / at last
• onni kääntyny = onni kääntynyt (luck turned)

English
…maybe my luck would have finally turned.

9️⃣ Mut eihän se käänny.

Puhekieli

• mut = m***a (but)
• eihän = ei — hän is an emphatic particle (it just doesn’t / obviously it doesn’t)
• käänny = käänny (turn)

English
But it just doesn’t turn, does it.

🔟 Mihin se nyt kääntyis?

Puhekieli

• mihin = where / which way
• kääntyis = kääntyisi (would it turn) — conditional

English
Which way would it even turn now?

1️⃣1️⃣ Mut haitsä siihen ohjelmaan ees?

Puhekieli

• haitsä = haitko sinä (did you apply / did you enter)
• siihen ohjelmaan = to that show
• ees = edes (even)

English
But did you even apply to that show?

1️⃣2️⃣ En!

Puhekieli

• en = no / I didn’t (short negative answer)

English
No! (said while laughing — the whole fantasy was for nothing)

For a long time, reading Finnish felt like this: open the book, find ten words I don’t know, look them up, lose the thre...
05/08/2026

For a long time, reading Finnish felt like this: open the book, find ten words I don’t know, look them up, lose the thread, give up.

The problem wasn’t the books. It was the approach.

Reading in a foreign language doesn’t mean understanding every word — it means understanding enough to follow the story and keep going. Once I stopped treating every unknown word as something that needed to be solved immediately, reading became something I actually wanted to do.

In this post I share what changed for me: how I choose books I’ll actually finish, why I highlight sentences instead of words, and how the same “read first, analyze later” principle behind Reverse Analysis works just as well with Finnish novels.

Link here👇

https://learnfinnishbymyway.com/2026/08/05/how-i-finally-started-reading-finnish-books-without-looking-up-every-word/

Finnish nouns don’t just take endings — they change shape first.kana becomes kanaa. joki becomes joen. nainen becomes na...
30/07/2026

Finnish nouns don’t just take endings — they change shape first.

kana becomes kanaa. joki becomes joen. nainen becomes naista. And adjectives follow the exact same rules, which means every time you learn a noun type, you’re also learning how to handle a whole group of adjectives.

This is sanatyypit — the system behind how Finnish words change. Once you understand it, those unexpected stem changes stop feeling random and start feeling logical.

Part 1 of a four-part series on the blog: the core noun types you’ll meet every single day, with tables, examples, and free practice exercises. 🇫🇮



Link 👇
https://learnfinnishbymyway.com/2026/07/01/kielioppi-finnish-noun-types-sanatyypit-part-1-the-core-types-you-must-know/

21/07/2026

Learn Puhekieli from Real Finnish 🇫🇮
1️⃣ Patella on kohta synttärit.

Puhekieli

• Patella = Patella (nickname + adessive case — “Pate has”)
• on kohta = is soon / is coming up
• synttärit = syntymäpäivä (birthday) — synttärit is extremely common spoken Finnish, always used instead of the full word

English
Pate’s birthday is coming up soon.

2️⃣ Ja me mennään Paten kanssa agilityyn.

Puhekieli

• me mennään = me menemme (we’re going) — passive used as “we”
• Paten kanssa = with Pate
• agilityyn = to agility (dog agility course)

English
And we’re going to agility with Pate.

3️⃣ Otetaaks me sun pallotki sinne?

Puhekieli

• otetaaks = otetaanko (shall we take) — -ks is a very common spoken question marker replacing -ko/-kö
• me = we
• sun = sinun (your)
• pallotki = pallotkin (your balls too) — ki = kin (too/also)
• sinne = there

English
Should we bring your balls along too?

4️⃣ Ja me lähetään…

Puhekieli

• me lähetään = me lähdetään (we’re leaving / we’ll go) — passive as “we”
• lähetään = lähdetään (let’s go / we go)

English
And we’re heading out…

5️⃣ Vaikka koirapuistoonkin jos haluat?

Puhekieli

• vaikka = even / or maybe even
• koirapuistoonkin = koirapuistoonkin (to the dog park too)
• jos haluat = if you want

English
Even to the dog park if you want?

6️⃣ Älä kiusaa nytte.

Puhekieli

• älä kiusaa = don’t tease
• nytte = nyt (now) — nytte is a very common puhekieli form, slightly more emphatic

English
Don’t tease him ( the dog) now.

7️⃣ No mun pitää laittaa vähän jännitystä.

Puhekieli

• no = well
• mun pitää = minun täytyy (I have to / I need to)
• laittaa = put / add
• vähän = a little
• jännitystä = excitement / suspense (partitive)

English
Well, I need to add a little suspense.

8️⃣ Enää viikko!

Puhekieli

• enää = only / anymore
• viikko = a week

English
Only one week to go!

At 89, Seela Sella received a cancer diagnosis. Seven weeks later, she beat it — and is already planning to return to th...
19/07/2026

At 89, Seela Sella received a cancer diagnosis. Seven weeks later, she beat it — and is already planning to return to the stage in August.

This is Reverse Analysis #9, built around a real Helsingin Sanomat article about one of Finland’s most beloved actresses. The text is with health and medical vocabulary that’s worth knowing — useful for anyone preparing for YKI.

You’ll also pick up two patterns worth adding to your toolkit: one for expressing that you had to do something unwillingly, and one simple expression Finns use constantly to say something is over and done with.

Read it here: 👇

https://learnfinnishbymyway.com/2026/07/19/reverse-analysis-9-89-year-old-seela-sella-beat-cancer-and-is-going-back-to-work/

18/07/2026

Learn Puhekieli from Real Finnish 🇫🇮

1️⃣ Siis mähän en päässy mun ekasta inssistä läpi —

Puhekieli

• siis = so / I mean
• mähän = minähän (emphatic “I” — implies “as it turns out” or mild surprise)
• en päässy = en päässyt (didn’t pass)
• ekasta = ensimmäisestä (first)
• inssistä = ajokokeesta (driving test) — inssi is very common spoken Finnish slang
• läpi = through / past

English
So I didn’t pass my first driving test —

2️⃣ ku se opettaja otti ratista kii ja paino jarruu.

Puhekieli

• ku = kun (when/because)
• se opettaja = the instructor
• otti ratista kii = tarttui rattiin kiinni (grabbed the steering wheel)
• paino jarruu = painoi jarrua (hit the brakes)
• jarruu = jarrua (partitive, spoken form)

English
…because the instructor grabbed the steering wheel and hit the brakes.

3️⃣ Mä ajoin myös ylinopeutta koko sen ajan.

Puhekieli

• mä = minä (I)
• ajoin ylinopeutta = was speeding
• koko sen ajan = the whole time

English
I was also speeding the entire time.

4 Ja en pysähtyny stop-merkkiin.

Puhekieli

• en pysähtyny = en pysähtynyt (didn’t stop)
• stop-merkkiin = at the stop sign

English
And I didn’t stop at the stop sign.

5️⃣ Ja sit mä silti luulin, et mä pääsin läpi.

Puhekieli

• sit = sitten (then / and then)
• silti = still / yet
• luulin = I thought / I assumed
• et = että (that)
• pääsin läpi = I passed

English
And then I still thought I had passed.

6️⃣ Tavallaan mä oon ihan hyvä ajaa tiiätsä eteenpäin.

Puhekieli

• tavallaan = in a way / kind of
• mä oon = minä olen (I am)
• ihan hyvä = pretty good
• tiiätsä = tiedätkö (you know)
• eteenpäin = forward / straight ahead

English
In a way I’m actually pretty good at driving forward, you know.

7️⃣ Et mun niinku ongelmat tuli siinä, kun piti —

Puhekieli

• et = että (that / the thing is)
• mun = minun (my)
• niinku = niin kuin (like / kind of)
• ongelmat tuli = ongelmat tulivat (problems came up)
• siinä, kun piti = when it came to having to

English
The thing is, my problems came up when I had to —

8️⃣ Peruuttaa. — Kääntyä?

Puhekieli

• peruuttaa = to reverse / back up
• kääntyä = to turn

English
Reverse. — Turn?

9️⃣ Meiän iskä opetti mua. — Aa.

Puhekieli

• meiän = meidän (our)
• iskä = isä (dad) — very common spoken Finnish
• opetti mua = opetti minua (taught me)
• aa = ah / I see

English
Our dad taught me. — Ah, I see.

🔟 Nii sit se ei voi tiiätsä valittaa, —

Puhekieli

• nii = niin (so / well)
• sit = sitten (then)
• se ei voi = he can’t
• tiiätsä = tiedätkö (you know)
• valittaa = complain

English
So he can’t really complain, you know —

1️⃣1️⃣ et mä vähän kolaroin sitä autoo.

Puhekieli

• et = että (that)
• kolaroin = I crashed / bumped
• sitä autoo = sitä autoa (that car, partitive)
• autoo = autoa (spoken form)

English
…that I kind of crashed his car.

12️⃣ Ku se on niinku hänen työn jälki.

Puhekieli

• ku = kun (because)
• niinku = niin kuin (like / kind of)
• hänen työn jälki = his handiwork / the result of his work

English
Because it’s kind of his own handiwork.

1️⃣3️⃣ Se oli siel inssissä takapenkillä.

Puhekieli

• se = he/she
• siel = siellä (there)
• inssissä = ajokokeessa (at the driving test)
• takapenkillä = in the back seat

English
He was there in the back seat during the test.

1️⃣4️⃣ Se sano et se ei oo ikinä hävenny niin paljoa.

Puhekieli

• se sano = hän sanoi (he/she said)
• et = että (that)
• ei oo = ei ole (has not)
• ikinä = koskaan (ever)
• hävenny = hävennyt (been so embarrassed)
• niin paljoa = niin paljon (so much)

English
He said he’s never been so embarrassed in his life.

Finnish grammar has a reputation for being complicated. But a lot of what feels “random” is actually one rule showing up...
16/07/2026

Finnish grammar has a reputation for being complicated. But a lot of what feels “random” is actually one rule showing up in different places.

Take these three verbs:

ottaa → minä otan
pitää → minä pidän
nukkua → minä nukun

The verb changes shape every time — but it’s always the same pattern: the consonants k, p, and t weaken or strengthen depending on where they sit in the word. Finnish learners call it KPT, and once it clicks, a huge chunk of conjugation suddenly makes sense.

The tricky part? KPT doesn’t always go the same direction. Most verbs weaken when you conjugate them — but some verbs do the opposite. Knowing which group a verb belongs to is what separates guessing from actually understanding.

New grammar post on the blog breaks it all down with tables, examples, and practice exercises. 🇫🇮

https://learnfinnishbymyway.com/2026/06/28/kielioppi-consonant-gradation-in-finnish-verbs-kpt/

Most Finnish learners are searching for the perfect textbook, the perfect app, the perfect course.But some of the best F...
14/07/2026

Most Finnish learners are searching for the perfect textbook, the perfect app, the perfect course.

But some of the best Finnish I’ve ever learned came from scrolling Threads and reading ordinary people talk about ordinary life.

Real language has something no learning material can fully replicate — emotion, context, and the kind of expressions Finns actually use with each other. When you read a post about someone’s bad day or a frustrating situation at work, the vocabulary sticks in a way that textbook examples never do.

In this post I share exactly how I use Threads as a learning tool: how I pick posts, how I look up what I don’t understand, and the simple note-taking method that turns passive scrolling into active learning.

Read it here👇

https://learnfinnishbymyway.com/2026/07/13/how-i-learn-finnish-through-threads/

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