How to Say "Good Evening" in Finnish

hyvää iltaa

/ˈhyʋæː ˈiltɑː/

good evening in Finnish is hyvää iltaa. Wiktionary also lists iltaa.

Meaning: greeting said in the evening (intj)

Ways to say it

“good evening” in Finnish
Finnish	IPA
hyvää iltaa	/ˈhyʋæː ˈiltɑː/
iltaa	/ˈiltɑː/

hyvää iltaa is a greeting said in the evening.

The phrase is composed of hyvää (good) and iltaa (evening in the partitive case).

Iltaa is a shorter and less formal alternative to Hyvää iltaa.

Hyvää iltaa is a common formal way to say good evening. You can use the shorter iltaa for a more casual tone, or moi iltaa as an informal greeting.

Both words in hyvää iltaa are in the partitive case, which is the standard way to express greetings like good [time of day] in Finnish.

/ˈhyʋæː ˈiltɑː/

The word ilta (evening) is closely related to iltapäivä (afternoon), which literally translates to 'evening-day'.
If you are heading to bed for the night, you would not use hyvää iltaa, but instead say hyvää yötä, which specifically refers to the sleep period.
In many Finnish contexts, such as entering a small cafe, saying nothing at all can be seen as rude, making a quick iltaa a vital tool for social lubrication.

Iltaa.
Good evening.
This sentence shows the shortened, casual use of iltaa.
Tatoeba #3796312 by Silja, translation #333156 by Aurix
Hyvää iltaa!
Good evening!
Tatoeba #7837579 by Thanuir, translation #2265983 by _undertoad
Hyvää iltaa, Tom.
Good evening, Tom.
This sentence shows how to use hyvää iltaa when addressing someone by name.
Tatoeba #7425770 by Thanuir, translation #7118028 by CK
2 more sentences on Tatoeba

Anna and Antti meet at a restaurant in the evening.

Sources

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