ikä
/ˈikæ/
The English word "age" is translated into Finnish as ikä.
ikä refers to the amount of time since the birth of a being or the beginning of a thing. When asking how old a person is, the common construction is Minkä ikäinen…, which literally translates to "Of what age is…?"
Meaning: amount of time since the birth of a being or the beginning of a thing (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun ikä is often used in the form ikäinen to function as an adjective meaning "aged" or "of a certain age" when describing people. The genitive form of the noun is iän, which is used in phrases such as iän puolesta (for one's age).
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈikæ/
What mistakes should you avoid?
While kuinka vanha (how old) is grammatically possible, it is much more common and natural in spoken Finnish to use the Minkä ikäinen construction to ask a person's age.
Did you know?
- The Finnish word ikä is a distant relative of the Hungarian word for 'year' év. Both descend from a prehistoric root used by the Uralic peoples thousands of years ago.
- In Finland, it is common to use the phrase ikäkaista to describe an 'age group'. The word kaista literally means 'lane' or 'strip', as if people of a certain age are standing in a physical lane.
- The word ikä shares an ancient root with the Northern Sami word jahki.
Examples in context
- Ikä on vain numero.Age is just a number.This sentence shows the use of ikä.Tatoeba #10183042 by Johannes_S, translation #5753569 by CM
- Minkä ikäinen hän on?What is his age?This sentence is useful for asking a person's age using the ikä construction.Tatoeba #2755705 by sni, translation #287285 by CM
- Minkä ikäinen sinä olet?What is your age?Tatoeba #3583932 by Silja, translation #389935 by blay_paul
- Ei ole pahaa ikääntymisessäThere is nothing wrong with aging
- Kuinka vanha olette?How old are you?
- 65 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mikko and Laura are filling out forms at a clinic.
- MikkoKirjoita tähän sinun ikä.Write your age here.
- LauraOkei, mutta missä on ikä-kohta?Okay, but where is the age section?
- MikkoSe on tuossa oikealla, Laura.It is there on the right, Laura.
- LauraLöysin sen, kiitos Mikko.I found it, thanks Mikko.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “age” translations and entries ikä, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ikä, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
