Everything Everyone – Kaikki on Kaikki ovat
The word kaikki can mean both “everything” and “everyone” in English. This can be confusing to new learners. The main difference between the two is this:
- Everything will always be used in the singular and its verb will appear in the singular third person form (kaikki on kunnossa “everything is okay”, muistan kaiken “I remember everything”).
- Everyone will always be plural, with its verb appearing in the plural third person form (kaikki ovat kunnossa “everyone is okay”, muistan kaikki “I remember everyone”).
If you’re a beginner, the above should be all you need to understand for now about “everything” and “everyone”. More advanced learners, can benefit from the different cases (e.g. kaikessa, kaikissa, kaiken, kaikkien) as well. The tricky part with those is that they require knowledge of among other things location case rections, and the object.
1. Everything
1.1. Everything: The Basic Usage
Below, you can find how kaikki is inflected in the most common cases. For the genitive and the partitive, you might want to read about the Finnish object. Some of the examples also have rections: tottua (+mihin), suojella (+lta), and kiitos (+sta).
| Case | Kaikki | Finnish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | kaikki | Kaikki on turhaa. | Everything is useless. |
| Genitive | kaiken | Muistan kaiken. | I remember everything. |
| Partitive | kaikkea | En muista kaikkea. | I don’t remember everything. |
| Missä | kaikessa | Kaikessa on hyvät puolensa. | Everything has its advantages. |
| Mistä | kaikesta | Kiitos kaikesta! | Thanks for everything! |
| Mihin | kaikkeen | Kaikkeen tottuu. | You get used to everything. |
| Millä | kaikella | Kaikella on tarkoitus. | Everything has a meaning. |
| Miltä | kaikelta | Suojelen sinua kaikelta. | I protect you from everything. |
| Mille | kaikelle | Löysin kaikelle paikan. | I found a place for everything. |
1.2. Everything: Usage with nouns
In the table below, the word kaikki is used as a noun meaning “everything”. However, kaikki can also be connected to a noun, and thus be used as a pronoun meaning “all”.
In these sentences, kaikki will appear in the plural, because it will inflect in the same case as the noun its attached to. The verb will also appear in the plural in these sentences.
| Case | Kaikki | Finnish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | kaikki | [Kaikki tavarat] ovat turhia. | [All the things] are useless. |
| Genitive | kaikki | Muistan [kaikki laulut]. | I remember [all the songs]. |
| Partitive | kaikkia | En muista [kaikkia lauluja]. | I don’t remember [all the songs]. |
| Missä | kaikissa | [Kaikissa autoissa] on lappu. | There’s a note in [all the cars]. |
| Mistä | kaikista | Kiitos [kaikista lahjoista]! | Thanks for [all the presents]! |
| Mihin | kaikkiin | [Kaikkiin muutoksiin] tottuu. | You get used to [all changes]. |
| Millä | kaikilla | [Kaikilla asioilla] on tarkoitus. | [All things] have a meaning. |
| Miltä | kaikilta | Suojelen sinua [kaikilta vaaroilta]. | I protect you from [all dangers]. |
| Mille | kaikille | Löysin [kaikille esineille] paikan. | I found a place for [all the items]. |
2. Everyone
When kaikki is used to mean “everyone”, you will use the plural form of it, as well as the plural form (third person) of the verb (e.g. kaikki tulevat “everyone is coming”).
The example sentences below have several rection verbs: rakastaa (+partitive), tykätä (+sta), luottaa (+mihin), saada (+lta), and antaa (+lle).
| Case | Kaikki | Finnish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | kaikki | Kaikki saapuvat ajoissa. | Everyone arrives on time. |
| Genitive | kaikkien | Kaikkien kirja on kiinni. | Everyone’s book is closed. |
| Partitive | kaikkia | Rakastan kaikkia. | I love everyone. |
| Missä | kaikissa | Kaikissa on potentiaalia. | There is potential in everyone. |
| Mistä | kaikista | Tykkään kaikista. | I like everyone. |
| Mihin | kaikkiin | Luotan kaikkiin. | I trust everyone. |
| Millä | kaikilla | Kaikilla on hauskaa. | Everyone is having fun. |
| Miltä | kaikilta | Sain lahjan kaikilta. | I got a present from everyone. |
| Mille | kaikille | Annan kaikille suukon. | I give everyone a kiss. |
3. Some Comparative Phrases
These phrases are meant to show you the difference of the both meanings of kaikki in sentence pairs that you can compare.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Tiedän kaiken. | I know everything. |
| Tunnen kaikki. | I know everyone. |
| Ymmärrän kaiken. | I understand everything. |
| Ymmärrän kaikki vaatimukset. | I understand all the requirements. |
| Kaikki muuttuu. | Everything changes. |
| Kaikki muuttuvat. | Everyone changes. |
| Hän rakasti kaikkea kaunista. | He loved everything that was beautiful. |
| Hän rakasti kaikkia naisia. | He loved all women. |
| Vihaan kaikkea. | I hate everything. |
| Vihaan kaikkia. | I hate everyone. |
| Vihaan kaikkia kieliä. | I hate all languages. |
| Vihaan kaikkia naisia. | I hate all women. |
4. Sayings with kaikki
There are a couple of sayings that include the word kaikki.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Kaikki mikä kiiltää ei ole kultaa. | Everything that shines isn’t gold. |
| Kaikki tiet vievät Roomaan. | All road lead to Rome. |
| Sodassa ja rakkaudessa kaikki on sallittua. | All’s fair in love and war. |
| Kaikki säännöt on luotu rikottavaksi. | All rules are made to be broken. |
| Oppia ikä kaikki. | Live and learn. |
| Loppu hyvin, kaikki hyvin. | All’s well that ends well. |
| Kaikki taivaan ja maan väliltä. | Absolutely everything. |
5. Phrases with kaikki
The following phrases are not quite sayings, but they are widely used and might be worth getting acquainted with. In addition or “everything” and “everyone”, the kaikki in these phrases are often just translated as “all”
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Hän teki kaikkensa. | He did all he could. |
| Hän antoi kaikkensa. | He gave all he had. |
| Kaikki tai ei mitään. | All or nothing. |
| Huhu oli kaikkien huulilla. | The rumor was on everyone’s lips. |
| Hän puhui kaikkien puolesta. | He spoke on behalf of all. |
| Eikä siinä vielä kaikki. | And that’s not all. |
| Kaiken kukkuraksi… | On top of all of that… |
| Siinä kaikki! | So there you have it! |
| Hän on minulle [kaikki kaikessa]. | He means [everything] to me. |
| Kyllä kaikki järjestyy. | Everything is going to be alright. |
| Kaikkea hyvää! | Best wishes! Farewell! |
| Kaikki miehet kannelle! | All men on deck! |
| Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään. | All rights reserved. |
| Haluan [ennen kaikkea] kiittää teitä. | [Above all], I want to thank you. |
| Meillä oli [kaiken kaikkiaan] 3 tuntia. | [All in all] we had 3 hours. |
| Hän taisteli [kaikin voimin]. | She fought [with all her strength]. |
| [Kaikeksi onneksi] vauva selvisi. | [Luckily] the baby survived. |
| Saat toipua [kaikessa rauhassa]. | You can recover [in peace and quiet]. |
| Hankin [kaiken varalta] konjakkia. | I bought cognac [just in case]. |
| Tämä on [kaiken A ja O]. | This is [the very core of it]. |
| Hän on [kaikin puolin] ihana. | She’s wonderful [in every way]. |
Just a numbering paragraphs issue
After “2 Everyone”, the following “2 Some Comparative Phrases” should be “3” or “2.1” and the following ones accordingly.
Thank you! 🙂
Typo:
Haluan ennen kaikkea kiittää teitä: think=thank
Kiitos!