Finnish Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Finnish grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Finnish and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Finnish and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Finnish.

Prepositions - Finnish
and ja
above yllä
under alle
before ennen
after jälkeen
in front of edessä
behind takana
far from kaukana
near lähellä
in - ssa; -ssä
inside sisällä
outside ulkona
with kanssa
without ilman
about noin
between välillä
but mutta
for varten
from alkaen
to -aan, -ään

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Finnish
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] syön ilman veistä
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] hän asuu lähellä kirkkoa
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] hän on pidempi kuin hän
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] hän tuli pienen koiransa kanssa
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] voitko tulla kanssani?

Negation in Finnish

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Finnish
I understand you [affirmative form] ymmärrän sinua
I don't understand you [negation + verb] en ymmärrä sinua
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] tämä ei ole oikea sana
don't leave me [imperative negation] älä jätä minua
no problem [negation + noun] ei ongelmaa

Negative Sentences - Finnish
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] en puhu ranskaa
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] hän ei käynyt saksassa
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] hän ei voi nähdä meitä
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] eikö hän osaa pelata shakkia?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] me emme tule myöhässä

Questions in Finnish

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Finnish
how? miten?
what? mitä?
who? kuka?
why? miksi?
where? missä?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Finnish
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] missä asut?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] puhuuko hän kiinaa?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] kuinka paljon tämä on?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] voinko auttaa?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] mikä on nimesi?

Adverbs in Finnish

It's time to learn the adverbs in Finnish. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Finnish
now nyt
yesterday eilen
today tänään
tonight tänä iltana
tomorrow huomenna
soon pian
quickly nopeasti
slowly hitaasti
together yhdessä
very oikein/hyvin
almost melkein
always aina
usually yleensä
sometimes joskus
rarely harvoin
never ei koskaan

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Finnish
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] ymmärrätkö nyt?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] tarvitsen apua välittömästi
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] hän on erittäin älykäs
I will always love you [verb + adverb] tulen aina rakastamaan sinua
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] voimmeko opiskella yhdessä saksaa?

Pronouns in Finnish

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Finnish. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Finnish
I minä
you sinä, te
he hän
she hän
we me
they he

Object Pronouns - Finnish
me minut/minua
you sinut, teidät/sinua, teitä
him hänet/häntä
her hänet/häntä
us meidät/meitä
them heidät/heitä

Possessive Pronouns - Finnish
my minun
your sinun, teidän
his hänen
her hänen
our meidän
their heidän

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Finnish
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] olen ystäväsi
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] puhutte hyvin nopeasti
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] hänellä on kolme koiraa
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] hän osaa puhua saksaa
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] me emme tule myöhään
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] he ostivat maitoa ja leipää

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Finnish
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] voitko kertoa minulle nimesi?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] annan rahaa
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] hän kirjoitti hänelle kirjeen
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] he kävivät hänellä eilen
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] voiko hän auttaa meitä?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] hän antoi heille ruokaa

Possessive Pronouns - Finnish
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] nimeni on maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] veljesi asuu täällä
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] äiti laittaa meille ruokaa
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] hänen harrastuksensa on kirjojen lukeminen
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] unelmamme on käydä pariisissa
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] heidän talonsa ei ole kaukana

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Finnish
this is my house tämä on minun taloni
that restaurant is far tuo ravintola on kaukana
these apples are delicious nämä omenat ovat herkullisia
those stars are shiny nuo tähdet hohtavat

I hope you learned a lot about the Finnish grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!