The Finnish language, or “suomi,” is one of the most fascinating and distinct languages in Europe. Unlike most European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Finnish is part of the Finno-Ugric branch of the Uralic language family.
Finnish is like no other language you’ve heard before. Seriously, it has words so long they look like they fell asleep on the keyboard. It has 15 grammatical cases, meaning one word can have more versions than a Pokémon evolution.
Fun Finnish Facts:
- No word for “please” – Finns just are polite (or very direct).
- “Joo” means yes, but so does “noh”, “niin”, and just a silent nod.
- “Hyppytyynytyydytys” means “bouncy cushion satisfaction” (yes, really).
- The longest palindrome in everyday use is “saippuakivikauppias” (soapstone vendor).
- There’s no future tense – Finns just know what’s going to happen, or grammatical gender. The same pronoun “hän” is used for both “he” and “she,” making it a naturally gender-neutral language.
- The word “kalsarikännit” means “getting drunk at home in your underwear.” They even made an emoji for it.
Pronunciation is actually easy – you just say everything exactly how it’s written. But good luck with words like “lentokonesuihkuturbiinimoottoriapumekaanikkoaliupseerioppilas” (an actual job title), it refers to a “airplane jet turbine engine auxiliary mechanic non-commissioned officer student”. Basically, it’s a ridiculously specific job title from the military, and it’s one of the longest words in Finnish.
If you ever visit Finland, just learn “Moi” (hello), “Kiitos” (thanks), and “Sauna” (because, trust me, you’ll need one). That’s enough to impress a Finn – or at least make them raise an eyebrow in approval.
And if you’re up for a linguistic adventure, Finnish is a rewarding language to explore. Hyvää matkaa kielen oppimiseen! (Have a great journey in learning the language!)
Zdravo, sem Samuel Lavrič in obiskujem program Strojni tehnik. V okviru projekta Erasmus+ sem na štiritedenski mobilnosti v mestu Tampere na Finskem.
