“If you’re happy and you know it” in Finnish
If you like music and want to learn some easy songs, this children’s song might be interesting to you! We’re taking a look at Jos sull lysti on, which is the Finnish translation of “If you’re happy and you know it”.
You can listen to one version here: Siina & Taikaradio -Orkesteri
1. Song Lyrics
I have included three verses below but near the end of the article, you can find more verses.
| ♬ Finnish song lyrics ♬ | English lyrics |
|---|---|
| Jos sull lysti on, niin kätes yhteen lyö Jos sull lysti on, niin kätes yhteen lyö Jos sull lysti on, ja tiedät sen, niin varmaan myöskin näytät sen. Jos sull lysti on, niin kätes yhteen lyö. |
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin tömistele näin Jos sull lysti on, niin tömistele näin Jos sull lysti on, ja tiedät sen, niin varmaan myöskin näytät sen. Jos sull lysti on, niin tömistele näin. Töms! Töms! |
If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you’re happy and you know it, stomp your feet Stomp! Stomp! |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin sano: Totta kai! Jos sull lysti on, niin sano: Totta kai! Jos sull lysti on, ja tiedät sen, niin varmaan myöskin näytät sen. Jos sull lysti on, niin sano: Totta kai! |
If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it If you’re happy and you know it, shout “Hurray!” |
2. Glossary
The following grammar terms have been abbreviated.
- sg2: second person singular
- sg3: third person singular
I have marked different elements of the analysis using the following symbols.
- in italics: base word
- (in brackets): translation
- <symbol: derived from
3. Jos sull lysti on – Finnish Song Analyzed
Because this is a translation of a song, the vocabulary has been adjusted so it fits the same number of syllables as the original song. This means the song isn’t a direct word-for-word translation.
| Jos sull lysti on | |
|---|---|
| Jos | if (conjunction) |
| sull | <sinulla (spoken language) you (minulla on -construction) |
| lysti | fun, joy |
| on | olla (to be), here: have (part of the minulla on -construction) |
| Literally: If you’re having fun | |
| Original: If you’re happy | |
In English, the song says “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”. In the Finnish translation, the middle part has been left out in order to let this part of the song have the correct number of syllables. It’s included further into the song.
The word lysti is a noun, which means the Finnish song says “if you’re having fun” rather than “if you’re happy”. The word lysti is used in this song but isn’t particularly common in everyday speech. It’s also important to realize that “I’m happy” and “I’m having fun” generally don’t contain the word lysti. For “I’m happy”, use the sentences “Minä olen iloinen” (if you mean cheerful) and “Minä olen onnellinen” (if you mean long-lasting happiness). For “I’m having fun” use the phrase “Minulla on hauskaa“.
The word sinulla has been made significantly shorter in this song in order to make it fit with the rhythm. This is common in spoken language: “Sinulla on auto” is often “Sulla on auto” and “Sullon auto” in spoken Finnish.
| niin kätes yhteen lyö | |
|---|---|
| niin | then |
| kätes | <kätesi, käsi (hand) in the plural kädet + sg2 possessive suffix “your hands” |
| yhteen | together (mihin-form of yhdessä) |
| lyö | lyödä (to hit), singular imperative “hit!” |
| Literally: then hit your hands together | |
| Original: clap your hands | |
The word kätesi consists of the word käsi “hand” and the possessive suffix -si “your”. In this sentence, the possessive suffix is actually glued to the plural of the word käsi: kädet, “your hands” rather than “your hand”. By adding -si to the end of the word, the T-plural’s -t disappears. The word kätesi could in fact be three different cases:
- Käsi (the basic form) > kätesi
Käsi on märkä – “The hand is wet”
Kätesi on märkä – “Your hand is wet” - Kädet (the T-plural) > kätesi
Kädet ovat märät – “The hands are wet”
Kätesi ovat märät – “Your hands are wet” - Käden (the genitive case) > kätesi
Käden kynnet ovat pitkät – “The hand’s nails are long”
Kätesi kynnet ovat pitkät -“Your hand’s nails are long”
While the song uses the phrase “hit your hands together”, Finnish does have a verb for clapping your hands: taputtaa käsiä.
The word “together” in Finnish is often used in the missä (yhdessä) and mihin (yhteen) forms. In the song, we have lyödä kädet yhteen. The mihin form is used here: to hit your hands together expresses a movement of the hands towards each other.
| Jos sull lysti on ja tiedät sen | |
|---|---|
| Jos | if (conjunction) |
| sull | <sinulla (spoken language) you (minulla on -construction) |
| lysti | fun, joy |
| on | olla (to be), here: have (part of the minulla on -construction) |
| ja | and (conjunction) |
| tiedät | tietää (to know), sg2 present tense “you know” |
| sen | se (it), genitive case, because total object of tietää |
| Literally: If you’re having fun and you know it | |
| Original: If you’re happy and you know it | |
The first part of this sentence has been explained already in this article.
The object of the verb tietää is “se” in the genitive case. The genitive is used for total objects: you know the whole thing, so you use the genitive case.
| niin varmaan myöskin näytät sen. | |
|---|---|
| niin | then |
| varmaan | surely, probably |
| myöskin | also, myös + -kin |
| näytät | näyttää (to show), sg2 present tense “you show” |
| sen | se (it), genitive case, because total object of näyttää |
| Literally: then surely you also show it | |
| Original: your face will surely show it | |
Varmaan can both express likelihood and certainty. You can read more about this word here.
The word myös means “also”, and so does the suffix -kin. “You also show it” could be translated as “Näytät sen myös“. Adding -kin to myös is somewhat redundant, but not unusual.
4. Repetitions with different actions
What makes this song special is that it can have as many parts as you want. Different actions can be added. In the following table you can find the most commonly used parts of this song.
| ♬ Finnish song lyrics ♬ | Literal translation |
|---|---|
| Jos sull lysti on, niin kätes yhteen lyö |
If you’re having fun then hit your hands together |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin tömistele näin |
If you’re happy then stomp like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin sano “Totta kai” |
If you’re happy then say “Of course” |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin napsuttele näin |
If you’re happy then snap your fingers like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin taputtele näin |
If you’re happy then pat (e.g. your head) like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin läpsyttele näin |
If you’re happy then slap (e.g. your leg) like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin suhistele näin |
If you’re happy then make a swishy sound like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin hyppää ylöspäin |
If you’re happy then jump in the air |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin tanssahtele näin |
If you’re happy then dance like this |
| Jos sull lysti on, niin kaikki tämä tee |
If you’re happy then do all of them |
Nearly all the verbs in these verses end in -lla: they describe a repetitive action:
- Tömistellä: stomping your feet repeatedly (tömistää)
- Napsutella: snapping your fingers repeatedly (napsuttaa)
- Taputella: to pat repeatedly (taputtaa)
- Läpsytellä: to slap repeatedly (läpsyttää)
- Tanssahdella: to dance (tanssia)
The very last verse usually is “Jos sull lysti on, niin kaikki tämä tee“. This is the verse where you do all the actions of the previous verses in order. The word order is reversed in the song: “Tee tämä kaikki” ie. “Do all this”.
As always with these songs I post, do let me know in the comments if you have a song suggestion for me to tackle next!
Is sull spelt with one or two l? I’ve seen both spellings. It seems that words with a double consonant at the end are rare in Finnish. However, since the original word is sinulla, it makes sense to spell it sull. Does the double consonant in such position actually change the pronunciation?
“Sinulla” can indeed be spelled as “sul” as well as “sull”. I didn’t put much thought behind my choice to be honest! Both “sul” and “sull” are used in the name and lyrics of the song when you google them.
The double consonant does NOT make a difference in this song because the next word starts with an L as well! There’s no difference in how “sul lysti” and “sull lysti” would be sung. It’s a “long” L in both cases. There could have been difference in pronunciation had the word order been different: “jos sull on lysti” and “jos sul on lysti”.