How to Say “Listen” in Finnish
To listen in Finnish is kuunnella. The verb kuunnella means to pay attention to a sound.
About Finnish
Finnish is spoken by about 5.4 million people as a first language, almost all of them in Finland, where it is an official language together with Swedish. It is also an official minority language in Sweden. Finnish is a Uralic language, related to Estonian and more distantly to Hungarian, and not to its Scandinavian neighbours.
Finnish is spelled almost exactly as it sounds, and the stress always falls on the first syllable. Length matters: a doubled vowel or consonant is held longer and can change the meaning, so tuli means fire and tuuli means wind. The letters ä and ö are separate vowels, like the a in "cat" and the ur in "fur" without the r. Finns use the familiar sinä for "you" with most people, and the formal te is kept for very formal situations.
| Family | Uralic, Finnic |
|---|---|
| Native speakers | about 5.4 million (2012) |
| Official in | Finland |
| Script | Latin alphabet |
| Codes | fi (ISO 639-1), fin (ISO 639-3) |
Speaker number: Ethnologue (2012), via Wikidata. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
How to Say “Lamb” in Finnish
The Finnish word for lamb is karitsa. karitsa refers specifically to a young sheep.
How to Say “Grumpy” in Finnish
The Finnish word for grumpy is äreä. The term is used to describe someone who is dissatisfied and irritable.
How to Say “Okay” in Finnish
The Finnish word for okay is selvä. selvä is used as an interjection to acknowledge an instruction or to signal that you have understood something.
How to Say “Pink” in Finnish
The English word pink is vaaleanpunainen in Finnish. Both the adjective and the noun for the color pink can be expressed using these terms.
How to Say “River” in Finnish
The Finnish word for “river” is joki. joki refers to a large stream of water that drains a landmass.
How to Say “Hi” in Finnish
The English phrase ‘hi’ can be said in Finnish as hei. These terms are used as friendly, informal greetings to say hi or hello.
Guide to Saying Welcome to Finland in Finnish
Welcome to Finland! Knowing how to say “welcome” in the local language is a wonderful way to greet someone and
How to Say “Santa” in Finnish
The English phrase “santa” is translated into Finnish as Joulupukki.
How to Say “Moon” in Finnish
The Finnish word for moon is Kuu. Kuu refers to the natural satellite of planet Earth.