hyvää joulua
Merry Christmas in Finnish is hyvää joulua. Wiktionary also lists hauskaa joulua.
Meaning: good wishes at Christmas time (phrase)
Ways to say it
| Finnish |
|---|
| hyvää joulua |
| hauskaa joulua |
The phrase is used to offer good wishes during the Christmas season. In Finnish, it is common to use the phrase as a standalone exclamation by itself.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase hyvää joulua literally means 'good Christmas'.
Which one should you use?
hyvää joulua is the standard way to say 'Merry Christmas', whereas hauskaa joulua literally means 'have a fun Christmas'.
How does it change in a sentence?
In the phrase hyvää joulua, both words are in the partitive case, which is the case used for expressing wishes or greetings.
Did you know?
- While hyvää joulua is the greeting, Finns often celebrate the 'Christmas Peace' joulurauha, a tradition rooted in an ancient law that forbade all violence and fighting during the holiday season.
- The Finnish word for Christmas joulu is an old loanword from the Proto-Germanic word for 'Yule', which originally referred to the winter solstice rather than the birth of Christ.
- In Finland, the most important meal of the season is often the Christmas Eve feast, meaning hyvää joulua is most frequently exchanged on December 24th rather than December 25th.
Examples in context
- Hyvää huomenta, herra! Hyvää joulua teille!Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!This sentence shows how to use hyvää joulua when addressing someone formally.Tatoeba #3715720 by Silja, translation #3714190 by Hybrid
- Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta kaikille.Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to everyone.This sentence shows how to combine hyvää joulua with wishes for the New Year.Tatoeba #2951210 by Silja, translation #683475 by Shishir
- Toivotan teille kaikille hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta.I wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year.This sentence demonstrates wishing everyone hyvää joulua along with a happy new year.Tatoeba #2951206 by Silja, translation #32251 by mailohilohi
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Laura and Juho meet in the hallway before the holiday break.
- LauraHyvää joulua, Juho!Merry Christmas, Juho!
- JuhoKiitos, hyvää joulua myös sinulle!Thanks, merry Christmas to you too!
- LauraNähdään tammikuussa.See you in January.
- JuhoNähdään, hei hei!See you, bye bye!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “merry Christmas” translations and entries hyvää joulua, hauskaa joulua, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
