30 Common Finnish Phrases for Beginners (with Pronunciation)
By Miracle Team ·
The fastest way to feel like you’re actually learning Finnish is to speak it on day one — and you don’t need any grammar to do that. Memorize a handful of ready-made phrases, use them out loud, and you’ll get real reactions from real people. Because Finnish is read exactly as it’s written, the pronunciation hints below are simple: just say every letter, and stress the first syllable. Here are 30 phrases worth knowing first.
Greetings
- Hei (hay) — Hi / Hello
- Moi (moy) — Hi (casual)
- Terve (TER-veh) — Hello (friendly)
- Hyvää huomenta (HÜ-vaa HUO-men-ta) — Good morning
- Hyvää päivää (HÜ-vaa PAI-vaa) — Good day (polite)
- Hyvää iltaa (HÜ-vaa IL-taa) — Good evening
The polite essentials
- Kiitos (KEE-tos) — Thank you
- Kiitos paljon (KEE-tos PAL-yon) — Thank you very much
- Ole hyvä (O-le HÜ-va) — You’re welcome / here you go
- Anteeksi (AN-tehk-si) — Excuse me / sorry
- Ei se mitään (ay se MI-taan) — It’s nothing / no worries
- Kyllä (KÜL-la) — Yes · Ei (ay) — No
Getting by when you’re stuck
English is widely spoken in Finland, but these rescue lines are gold:
- Puhutko englantia? (PU-hut-ko ENG-lan-ti-a) — Do you speak English?
- En puhu suomea (en PU-hu SUO-me-a) — I don’t speak Finnish
- En ymmärrä (en ÜM-mar-ra) — I don’t understand
- Anteeksi, missä on…? (AN-tehk-si, MIS-sa on) — Excuse me, where is…?
- Paljonko tämä maksaa? (PAL-yon-ko TA-ma MAK-saa) — How much does this cost?
- Voitko auttaa? (VOIT-ko OUT-taa) — Can you help?
A little small talk
- Mitä kuuluu? (MI-ta KOO-loo) — How are you?
- Hyvää, kiitos (HÜ-vaa, KEE-tos) — Good, thanks
- Hauska tavata (HOUS-ka TA-va-ta) — Nice to meet you
- Mikä sinun nimesi on? (MI-ka SI-nun NI-me-si on) — What’s your name?
- Nimeni on… (NI-me-ni on) — My name is…
- Minä olen… (MI-na O-len) — I am…
Goodbyes (and a toast)
- Näkemiin (NA-ke-meen) — Goodbye (polite)
- Nähdään (NAH-daan) — See you
- Moi moi (moy moy) — Bye-bye (casual)
- Hei hei (hay hay) — Bye
- Hyvää yötä (HÜ-vaa Ü-ö-ta) — Good night
- Kippis! (KIP-pis) — Cheers!
Make the phrases stick
Reading a phrase once won’t do it — you need to say it, ideally copying a native speaker, until it comes out without thinking. A few tips:
- Practise out loud, in short daily bursts.
- Learn the words inside the phrase too — browse the 100 most common Finnish words.
- Nail the sounds with the Finnish pronunciation guide, then follow the full plan in how to learn Finnish for beginners.
Hear every phrase the right way
The hardest part of a phrasebook is knowing how it sounds. Learn Finnish For Beginners pairs greetings, numbers and everyday phrases with native-speaker audio and clear pictures, then locks them in with quick mini games — and it all works offline, so you can rehearse on the bus or the plane.
Download Learn Finnish For Beginners free on Google Play and say your first Finnish sentence today.