tervetuloa
The English phrase "welcome to" is translated into Finnish as tervetuloa.
Tervetuloa is the most common and versatile way to say "welcome" in Finnish. It is used as a greeting to receive someone upon their arrival at a place, and it can also be used as a standalone exclamation to greet someone.
What does it mean word for word?
The word tervetuloa is a combination of terve (healthy/well) and tuloa (the arrival of), literally meaning "a healthy arrival".
How does it change in a sentence?
The form tervetuloa is used as a greeting regardless of whether you are welcoming one person or a group of people. When saying "welcome to [a place]", the destination must be in the illative case (the "into" case) rather than the basic form.
Did you know?
- The Finnish concept of 'health' in terve is closely linked to the idea of 'wholeness' and 'soundness', mirroring how 'salut' in French means both 'hi' and 'salvation'.
- Because the second half of the word, tuloa, is in the partitive case, the word itself carries a sense of an ongoing or unfinished action, like 'the process of arriving'.
- The word terve is the root of the Finnish word for 'health', but it also functions as a very informal, one-word greeting similar to 'hi' or 'hey'.
Examples in context
- Hei Tom ja tervetuloa Tatoebaan!Hi Tom, and welcome to Tatoeba!This sentence shows how to use tervetuloa when greeting someone to a specific place.Tatoeba #3985828 by Silja, translation #2760914 by Hybrid
- Tervetuloa isojen pelurien joukkoon.Welcome to the big leagues.This sentence uses tervetuloa to welcome someone to a group or league.Tatoeba #3969005 by Silja, translation #3315116 by CK
- Tervetuloa Tatoebaan, tequilaa, seksiä ja marihuanaa.Welcome to Tatoeba, tequila, sex and marijuana.This sentence uses tervetuloa to welcome someone to a place alongside various other items.Tatoeba #2664071 by Silja, translation #955964 by Spamster
- Tervetuloa SuomeenWelcome to Finland
- Tervetuloa mukaan retkelle!Welcome along to the trip!
- 19 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia welcomes Matti to her new home.
- SofiaHei Matti, tervetuloa kotiini!Hi Matti, welcome to my home!
- MattiKiitos! Täällä on tosi mukava.Thanks! It's really nice here.
- SofiaKiva että pääsit paikalle.Glad you could make it.
- MattiKiitos kutsusta!Thanks for the invitation!
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
