kana
/ˈkɑnɑ/
In Finnish, the word for chicken is kana.
kana refers to the bird itself. When you are talking about chicken as a food substance or meat, you will often use the form kanaa. For example, you can use the word to describe specific parts of the animal or related items, such as Kananrinta (chicken breast), Kanankoipi (chicken leg), Kanansiipi (chicken wing) or Kananmuna (chicken egg).
Meaning: bird (noun)
Which one should you use?
Use kana when referring to the animal or the bird. In a culinary context, use the partitive form kanaa when referring to the meat as a food item.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word changes depending on its role in a sentence. The plural form is kanat. The genitive form kanan is used to show possession or to build compound words, such as in Kananmuna (chicken egg). The partitive form kanaa is used when referring to chicken as an uncountable food substance, like when saying 'I eat chicken'. The allative form kanalle is used to indicate direction toward the chicken.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈkɑnɑ/
Did you know?
- The word kana for chicken is actually a linguistic relative of the English word 'cock' or 'rooster', having traveled from Proto-Germanic roots into Finnish.
- Because kana is also the word for the Japanese phonetic scripts, a Finnish speaker might find it confusing if they see the word used in a text about linguistics.
- While kana refers to the bird, the word for a rooster is specifically kukko, which is a distinct noun in Finnish.
Examples in context
- Tomi ei pidä kanasta.Tom doesn't like chicken.This sentence shows how to express a dislike for the word kana.Tatoeba #9968689 by Johannes_S, translation #9966653 by CK
- Minä syön usein kanaa.I often eat chicken.This sentence demonstrates the use of the partitive kanaa when talking about eating chicken.Tatoeba #6633126 by Orava, translation #1830585 by CK
- Kumpi tuli ensin, kana vai muna?Which came first, the chicken or the egg?This sentence uses the word kana in a classic riddle about chickens and eggs.Tatoeba #2750953 by Kalle63, translation #623300 by darinmex
- Rakastan kanaaI love chicken
- Hei, haluaisitko maistaa kanaa?Hey, would you like to taste some chicken?
- 25 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mikko and Emma are looking at farm animals.
- MikkoKatso, tuo kana on oikein iso!Look, that chicken is really big!
- EmmaOn se, mutta se on vain kanoista suurin.It is, but it's just the biggest of the chickens.
- MikkoMistä tuo kana tuli?Where did that chicken come from?
- EmmaSe tuli tuolta kanalasta.It came from that chicken coop.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “chicken” translations and entries kana, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries kana, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
