Finnish spoken language has a lot of vocabulary that sets it apart from written Finnish. This article gives you an overview of the types of spoken language words you will come across in Finland.

“Spoken language” is a pretty general term, which can refer to different types of Finnish. In its widest sense, it just means any Finnish that is produced orally. In this article, I’m focusing on general spoken language: the type of Finnish words that every Finn should be able to understand regardless of where they live or what age they are.

This means I’m leaving out slang that’s specific to a region, age group or community in these lists of Finnish spoken language vocabulary. The words in these lists should be useful to you no matter where in Finland you go. They are used in everyday communication and often even in situations that are a little more formal.

1. Loanwords Borrowed Straight from Other Languages

First, spoken language words are sometimes barely changed at all when they’re adopted into spoken Finnish. At most, they will get a vowel added to their end.

2. Shortened Standard Language Words

It’s also common to make a word from standard Finnish shorter in spoken language. When doing so, it’s fairly common to have these words end in an –a. Below, you can find some examples.

3. Spoken language words ending in –Ari

I have a separate article on words ending in –Ari . The table below gives you some examples of words from this derivation type! These words can be created both based on a loanword and on a Finnish word that’s long.

4. Spoken language words ending in –is

I also have a separate article on spoken language words ending in –is. You can find some example words in the table below. These words can be created both based on a loanword and on a Finnish word that’s long.

5. Spoken language words ending in –kkA/-skA

I don’t have a separate article on this group, but there are also many spoken language words that end in –kkA, or sometimes –skA. These words are usually based on a longer Finnish word.

6. Spoken language words ending in –kku/-tsuku/-tsu

There is another large group of spoken language words ending in –u, with certain subgroups, such as –kku, -tsku and -tsu. These words are usually based on a longer Finnish word.

7. More Random Spoken Language Words

These are some other spoken language words. They don’t really go under any of the previous categories but I did want to include them.

Read more elsewhere

• Suomisujuu: Suomen puhekielen 100 yleisintä sanaa
• Book: Oikeeta suomee – suomen puhekielen sanakirja

That’s all for Finnish spoken language vocabulary right now. My list is relatively short. Learning spoken language vocabulary is best done “in real life”. Good luck!

Related posts:

Words Ending in -is – Kallis Kaunis Futis Roskis Spoken Language Words ending in -is – Puhekieli Sanasto Elefantti or Norsu? Loanwords vs Finnish Words Baltic and Germanic Loanwords in Finnish Etymology