Finnish for busy people

Finnish Winter Vocabulary – Talvi

Winter is coming! Talvi on tulossa! Learn some Finnish winter vocabulary to be prepared to talk about it.

1. Easy Winter Words

Let’s start off with some easy Finnish winter vocabulary words; the ones you’re most likely to need at beginner levels.

Finnish English
talvi winter
vuodenaika season
kylmä cold
pakkanen frost
lumi snow
jää ice
pipo winter hat
kaulaliina scarf
lapaset mittens
käsineet gloves
huopatossut felt boots
villasukat wool socks
talvikengät winter boots
Finnish English
pulkka sled (kids)
kelkka sled, sledge
sukset skis
luistimet iceskates
latu ski trail
moottorikelkka snowmobile
lumiukko snowman
lumipallo snowball
lumisota snowball fight
talvirenkaat winter tires
nastarenkaat studded tires
jääraappa ice scraper

2. Weather and Snow Words

Next, you can find a mix of hard and easy Finnish winter weather words, many of which are related to snow. The easiest words are marked in green. You might also want to check out our basic page on weather vocabulary.

 

Finnish English
avanto hole in the ice
ensilumi first snow
hanki blanket of snow
hankikanto see below (read more here)
huurre rime
ikirouta permafrost
jää ice
jäähelmi ice pearl
jääkide ice crystal
jääkukka flower-like pattern of frost on glass, arctic mesh
jääpuikko icicle
kelirikko frost heave (read more here)
kelkkakeli great weather for sledding
kuura frost in the early morning
loska slush, half-melted snow/ice
loskakeli slushy road conditions
lumi snow
lumihiutale snowflake
lumikide snow crystal
lumikinos piled up snow, snowdrift
lumivaippa thick layer of snow
lumivyöry snow avalanche
lumimyrsky snow storm
musta jää black ice
nietos piled up snow, snowdrift
nuoska wet, sticky snow, good for snowmen
pakkanen below zero, freezing
pakkassää frosty weather
pyry heavy snowfall
pälvi snow-free ground area in spring
pääkallokeli dangerously slippery weather
raekuuro short but heavy hail storm
railo a long crack in the ice
revontulet northern lights
routa frozen ground surface
räntä sleet, wet snowfall
sohjo slush, wet snow
sohjokeli slushy road conditions
suojasää deep winter weather above freezing
tuisku high wind heavy snowfall
tykkilumi artificial snow on ski slopes
tykkylumi heavy snow that accumulates on branches
umpihanki thick, unbroken blanket of snow
vitilumi thin, freshly fallen snow
puuterilumi thin, fresh snow
umpijää ice thick enough to walk on

3. Winter Verbs

The verbs in this list are both things the weather does and things that people do. It’s by no means a complete list. If you want, you could learn the verbs for wintersports as well. The easiest verbs are marked in green.

Finnish English
sataa lunta to snow
pyryttää to snow heavily
jäätyä to freeze (water, road)
huurtua to frost over (windows)
sulaa to melt
kiristyä to get even colder (frost)
lauhtua to get less cold (weather)
hellittää to ease off (weather)
routia to freeze (roads)
nietostua to be blown into a pile
kinostua to be blown into a pile
kimmeltää to glisten, twinkle
liukastua to slip and fall (on ice)
aurata lunta to plow the snow
rämpiä to slosh around (in snow)
paleltua to freeze (plants, skin)
paleltaa to feel cold (person)
hytistä to tremble (from cold)
talvehtia to overwinter somewhere
horrostaa to hibernate
talvettaa to prepare for winter (plants)
narskua to crunch (snow under feet)
narista to creak (ice under feet)

4. Winter – Talvi Compound Words

Finnish English
alkutalvi early winter
keskitalvi midwinter
lopputalvi latewinter
sydäntalvi the depth of winter
talvihorros winter torpor
talviuni hibernation
talvikalastus winter fishing
talviloma winter holiday
talvimatkailu winter tourism
talviolympialaiset winter olympics
talvirengas winter tire
talvitakki winter coat

5. Frost – Pakkanen Compound words

The word pakkanen can be translated as “frost”. It’s used in many compound words. In its plural form, pakkaset means “freezing temperatures”.

When talking about the temperature in Finnish, it’s common to use the word pakkanen instead of miinus when expressing sub-zero temperatures. As such, we will say On 30 astetta pakkasta “It’s 30 degrees below zero”. Learn more about how to talk about the weather in general.

Finnish English
pakkasaamu frosty morning
pakkaspäivä cold winter day
pakkasyö frosty night
pakkasilma frosty weather
pakkassää frosty weather
pakkasaste degrees below zero
pakkasenarka frost-sensitive
pakkasenpurema frostbite
pakkasherra mister freeze
pakkasukko grandfather frost
pakkasneste antifreeze
pakkasvaroitus warning of upcoming frost
pakkasvaurio frost damage to plants, buildings
pakkasvoide protective cream for skis

6. Snow – Lumi Compound Words

No Finnish winter vocabulary list would be complete without snow related words! For compound words related to snow, I felt it was necessary for many of these to link to other sources so you can understand the words. If you’re not a native English speaker, or live in a country where it doesn’t snow, just the English name wouldn’t help you much at all.

Finnish English
lumiaita snow fence
lumiaura snowplow
lumihanki snow crust
lumihiutale snowflake
lumikello snowdrop (flower)
lumikengät snowshoes
lumikerros layer of snow
lumiketju snow chain for tire
lumikinos snowdrift
lumikola snow shovel
lumilapio snow shovel
lumilauta snowboard
lumilinko snow blower
lumilyhty snow lantern
lumimaja igloo
lumimarja snowberry
lumimies yeti
lumimyrsky snowstorm
lumipallo snowball
lumipeite blanket of snow
lumipuku snowsuit
lumisokeus snow blindness
lumisota snowbal fight
lumiukko snowman
lumiveistos snow sculpture
ensilumi first snow
irtolumi loose snow
tekolumi artificial snow

7. Winter Weather Adjectives

Finnish English
kova pakkanen heavy frost
ankara pakkanen severe frost
kylmä cold
jäätävä tuuli icy, freezing
hyinen tuuli icy, freezing
tiheä pyry dense snowfall
kova pyry heavy snowfall
sakea pyry thick snowfall
voimakas strong (wind, storm)
lauha mild (weather, winter, wind)
lauhkea mild (weather, winter, wind)
liukas slippery (road, street, yard)
jäinen icy (road, street, yard)
kuurainen frosty (road, street, yard)
loskainen slushy (road, street, snow)
sohjoinen slushy (road, street, snow)
märkä wet (snow, weather)
nuoskainen close to zero degrees (weather, snow)

8. Easy Winter Phrases

Knowing some winter weather words is good of course, but let’s add some phrases to the mix! The following phrases are fairly easy.

Finnish English
Rakennetaan lumiukko! Let’s build a snowman!
Pihalla on 40 senttiä lunta. There 40 cm of snow on the yard.
Onko joulu valkea? Will it snow at Christmas?
Pysyykö lumi maassa? Does the snow stay on the ground?
Tiet ovat liukkaita. The roads are slippery.
Tiellä on mustaa jäätä. There is black ice on the road.
Lumet oli aurattu. The snow had been plowed.
Katua ei ollut aurattu. The street hadn’t been plowed.
Alue oli hiekoitettu. The area has been sanded.
Silta on jäässä. The bridge is frozen.
Jää kimmeltää. The ice glitters.
Kovilla pakkasilla jään kotiin. When it’s super cold I stay home.
Ajan sohjoisella tiellä. I drive on the slushy road.
Myös koirat palelevat talvella. Dogs are also cold in winter.
Pakkaslumi narskuu kenkien alla. The frozen snow crunches under the shoes.

9. More Advanced Winter Phrases

Below, you can find some winter phrases that are a tad more difficult. None of these are, however, super difficult. They’re likely enough to impress your favorite Finn though!

Finnish English
Pakkanen kiristyy. It starts freezing even more.
Pakkaset paukkuu. It’s extremely cold.
Pakkanen lauhtuu. It starts freezing a bit less.
Pakkanen hellittää. The frost eases up a little.
Luvassa kovat pakkaset! Heavy frost is coming!
Luvassa on yöpakkasia. Frost nights are coming.
Vuoden ensimmäiset pakkasyöt. The year’s first frost nights.
Taitaa tulla suojasää. I think it’s going to thaw.
Nurmikko on kuurassa. The lawn is covered in rime.
On kuurainen aamu. It’s a frosty morning.
Katonreunasta riippuu jääpuikkoja. Icicles hang from the roof edge.
Tuiskutuuli vinkuu nurkissa. The winter wind whines in the corners.
Lumisade yltyi tuiskuksi. The snow turned into a snow storm.
Ikkunasta tuiskutti lunta sisään. Snow got blown inside through the window.
Tykky aiheuttaa puustolle tuhoja. Dense wet snow causes damage to trees.
Pyry tuiskutti tien umpeen. Heavy snowfall has cut off the road.
Tykkylumi aiheutti sähkökatkoksia. The thick snow caused power outages.
Nuoskalla tehtiin lumiukkoja. We made snowmen with good snow.
Maa on nietosten peitossa. The land is covered in piles of snow.
Tuuli kasaa lunta nietoksiksi. The wind gathers the snow into piles.
Tiellä on hiekansekaista sohjoa. There’s sandy snow on the road.
Latu on pyryttynyt umpeen. The ski track has snowed over.
Pelloilla oli jo pälviä. There were already snow-free spots in the fields.
Lämpötilat jäävät pakkasen puolelle. Temperatures remain below freezing.
Sää pysyttelee nollan tuntumassa. The weather stays close to zero degrees.
Loskaiset tiet jäätyvät. The slushy roads will freeze.

Read more elsewhere

Here are some links to authentic Finnish sources where you could soak up some new Finnish winter vocabulary as well, if you’re at that point of your studies!

 

And that’s it for Finnish winter vocabulary! I hope you learned something useful! If you’re still interested in more winter things, I have a separate article with more in-depth explanations of the wintery weather things!

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Ingmar

In 3. Winter Verbs the words nietostua and kinostua have the same meaning ‘to be blown into a pile’. Are those words synonyms or is that a typo?

Last edited 1 month ago by Ingmar
Jukka_K

I would say that their basic words nietos and kinos have originally meant the same: a snow drift made by wind. But nowadays you can call lumikinos also about a human-made little hill or stack of snow. And lumikasa is always human-made. So:
nietos – wind-made
(lumi)kinos – wind- or human-made
lumikasa – human-made

Ingmar

Thanks!