This article focuses on the different ways you can say “I can” in Finnish. There are many verbs for this. In this article, we will be focusing on these three: osata, voida and saada.

Learners of Finnish often wonder WHY there are so many verbs for this. I don’t really have an answer for this. However, I usually like to point out that – in English – it’s really hard to come up with a good infinitive for “I can”. There is no “to can”. There is “to be able to”, “to be allowed to” and “to be capable of”, but no universal verb “to can”. Interesting, right?

Minä osaan versus Minä voin

The verb osata means “to know how to do something”. It involves a skill that you’ve learned (e.g. swimming, driving a car). The verb voida means “to be able to do something”, in the sense that there is nothing obstructing/restricting you from doing it. Possible obstructions could be e.g. a broken leg when trying to ride a bycicle, or lack of a pen when trying to write.

In other words, you could say you know how to do something (minä osaan), but still not be able to do something (en voi).

So, in English, you could be really unclear and tell someone “I can swim but I can’t swim.” Finnish forces you to be more clear: the same sentence could be translated as “Osaan uida mutta en voi uida.” (I know how to swim, but I’m not able to swim).

Minä osaan versus Minä saan

Let’s compare osata and saada next! Again, both of these can be translated as “I can”. As seen above, osata means that you “know how to do something”, you have mastered the skill. The verb saada means that you are “allowed to do so”. In other words, someone gave you permission. This can be formal permission like a driver’s license, or the permission of a parent or other authority figure.

So again, in English, you could be really unclear and tell someone “I can drive but I can’t drive.” Finnish forces you to be more clear: the same sentence could be translated as “Osaan ajaa autoa mutta en saa ajaa autoa.” (I know how to drive a car, but I’m not allowed to drive a car).

Minä osaan versus Minä voin versus Minä saan

Let’s combine both of the comparisons above: osata, saada and voida!

You now know that “I can” can mean three things:

So there you have osata, voida and saada!  Minun nettisivuilla sinä saat ja voit opiskella suomen kieltä. Toivottavasti lopputulos on se, että osaat enemmän suomea! (On my website you’re allowed to and able to study the Finnish language. Hopefully the result is that you master more Finnish!)

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