JA SEKÄ YNNÄ - Conjunctions of Addition

In this article, you can find some more information about the conjunctions JA, SEKÄ and YNNÄ, which all mean “and”. To get the full picture, we need to look at both their appearance in lists, and as a connector between sentences.

Table of Contents

JA and SEKÄ used in lists
1. JA is more neutral
2. SEKÄ adds emphasis
3. One sentence can have both JA and SEKÄ
JA and SEKÄ used to connect clauses
SEKÄ-ETTÄ
YNNÄ

1. JA and SEKÄ used in lists

When listing multiple items in a row, you can add ja or sekä right before the last item in the list, just like you would add “and” in English.

1.1. JA is more neutral

Of the two, ja is the regular, neutral “and”. You can use this in any type of list. If unsure, use ja rather than sekä because it doesn’t have any special connotation attached to it. When in a list, you typically won’t use a comma in front of ja.

Finnish	English
Syön suklaata, kakkua ja hedelmiä.	I eat chocolate, cake and fruit.
Ari puhuu suomea ja ruotsia.	Ari speaks Finnish and Swedish.
Haluan tanssia ja laulaa juhlissa.	I want to sing and dance at the party.

1.2. SEKÄ adds emphasis

The meaning of sekä is also “and”, but sekä is often used to put emphasis on the “and”. In English, I would probably opt to translate sekä as “and also”. The longer your list is, the more commonly used sekä becomes.

Finnish	English
Syön suklaata, kakkua sekä hedelmiä.	I eat chocolate, cake and (also) fruit.
Syön suklaata, kakkua, keksejä, leivoksia, karkkeja sekä hedelmiä.	I eat chocolate, cake, cookies, pastries, candies and (also) fruit.
Ruokalajissa oli chiliä, wasabia sekä tuoretta korianteria.	The dish contained chili, wasabi and fresh coriander.

For situations were your list only has two elements, the conjunction sekä is used to emphasize that the addition is in some way different from the previous thing listed. In these cases, the function of sekä is to put a focus on both elements rather than just listing them.

Finnish	English
Söin aamulla jogurttia ja marjoja.	I ate yoghurt and berries in the morning (together).
Söin aamulla jogurttia sekä omenan.	I ate yoghurt and an apple in the morning (separately).

1.3. One sentence can have both JA and SEKÄ

You also have situations where ja and sekä can be used in the same list. This makes sense in some situations where you would otherwise be repeating ja. In the examples below, I’ve translated sekä as “as well as” in English.

Finnish	English
Juhlissa oli tarjolla olutta ja viiniä sekä mahtavaa musiikkia.	At the party beer and wine were available, as well as great music.
Muistan konsonantit h, k, l, s ja t sekä joitakin vokaaleja.	I remember the consonants h, k, l, s and t as well as some vowels.
Opiskelin kemiaa, fysiikkaa sekä luonnon- ja yhteiskuntatiedettä.	I studied chemistry, physics, as well as natural and social sciences.
Apurahaa voivat hakea kääntäjät, kuvittajat, graafikot sekä yhdistykset ja järjestöt.	Translators, illustrators, graphic designers, as well as associations and organizations can apply for the grant.
Susia on eri puolilla Italiaa sekä Saksassa, Sveitsissä ja Bulgariassa.	There are wolves throughout Italy, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, and Bulgaria.
Tarjoamme tietoa ja tukea sekä neuvontaa ja ohjausta harvinaissairaille.	We offer information and support, as well as advice and guidance for people with rare diseases.
Ari on julkaissut neljä romaania ja kaksi novellikokoelmaa sekä yhden lastenromaanin.	Ari has published four novels and two collections of short stories, as well as one children’s novel.

In conclusion, remember that – while you can often use ja and sekä as synonyms – ja is the neutral conclusion of a list, while sekä often emphasizes the element after it as somehow either special, or separate in some way.

2. JA and SEKÄ used to connect clauses

We can also use ja to connect clauses inside a sentence. You will add a comma when both clauses have their own subject. If they have the same subject, you won’t add a comma. I will (try to remember to) add a link to the article about the comma rules when it’s been published.

Finnish	English
Ari soitti kitaraa, ja minä yritin laulaa.	Ari played the guitar, and I tried to sing.
Ari soitti kitaraa ja lauloi kuin Frank Sinatra.	Ari played the guitar and sang like Frank Sinatra.
Me leikimme pihalla, ja äitimme keskustelivat penkillä.	We played in the yard, and our mothers chatted on a bench.
Me leikimme pihalla ja nauroimme iloisesti.	We played in the yard and laughed happily.

The conjunction sekä is very rarely (and usually incorrectly) used to connect two clauses. Just like in lists, sekä works best when you already have a ja in the sentence. It is usually preferable to just create two sentences.

Finnish	English
Kurssilla oppilas tutustuu suomenkieliseen kulttuuriin ja kirjallisuuteen sekä lukee ja analysoi kaunokirjallisuutta.	In the course, students will learn about Finnish-language culture and literature as well as read and analyze fiction.
Koirani osaa tulla pyynnöstä luokseni ja istua, sekä menee maahan pyynnöstä.	My dog knows to come to me and sit on request, and also lies down on request.

3. SEKÄ-ETTÄ

In section 1 I mentioned that sekä often has the function of emphasizing that the last part of the list is in some way special or separate from the rest of the list. In addition to that, we can use sekä in combination with että to express that both parts of a pair are equally important. The sekä-että pair can be translated as both-and. You won’t place a comma in this type of list.

I have written about this before on the page on double conjunctions, but here are some more examples:

Finnish	English
Ari oli sekä kapitalisti että kommunisti.	Ari was both a capitalist and a communist.
Missä maassa sekä presidentti että pääministeri ovat naisia?	In what country are both the president and prime minister women?
Tätä kokeiltiin sekä Suomessa että Yhdysvalloissa.	This was tried in both Finland and the United States.
Asiakkaalle kerrotaan tästä sekä suomeksi että ruotsiksi.	The customer will be informed about this in both Finnish and Swedish.

4. YNNÄ

The conjunction ynnä is a dated conjunction that will be mostly used in expressions rather than in everyday sentences to mean “and”. It used to be common in basic mathematics: Yksi ynnä yksi on kaksi (One plus one is two). The loanword plus is more common these days.

The commonly used expressions with the word ynnä are “ynnä muuta” and “ynnä muuta sellaista“, which can be abbreviated to ym. and yms. Abbreviating them is useful because the “muuta (sellaista)” will be inflected in the cases in speech.

Finnish	English
ynnä muuta (ym.)	et cetera
ynnä muuta sellaista (yms.)	and the like, among other things

Below, you can find some examples. I have added two pairs of brackets in each. The first brackets are around the beginning of the list, with the case used for each item bolded. The second brackets contain the “ynnä muuta (sellaista)” phrase, once again with the case endings bolded.

Finnish	English
Tapasin [kansanedustajia, puheenjohtajia, ministereitä] [ynnä muita merkkihenkilöitä].	I met [MPs, presidents, ministers] [and other important people].
[Siivoojien, keittäjien] [ynnä muiden pienipalkkaisten ihmisten] työssäkäynti on raskasta.	The work of [cleaners, cooks] [and other low-wage workers] is hard.
Ne myydään isoimmissa osavaltioissa, kuten [Texasissa, Kaliforniassa, Illinoisissa] [ynnä muissa].	They are sold in the largest states, such as [Texas, California, Illinois] [and others].
Näin mennään meillä [kesähäihin, rippijuhliin] [ynnä muihin sellaisiin].	This is how we go [to summer weddings, confirmation parties] [and other such events].
Se on [myrkkyjen, maanviljelijöiden, ilmastonmuutoksen] [ynnä muiden] aiheuttama ongelma.	It’s a problem caused by [poisons, farmers, climate change] [and others].
Rakennusten ikä synnyttää kysymyksiä [kunnosta, rakentamistavasta, remonteista] [ynnä muusta].	The age of buildings raises questions about [the condition, construction method, renovations] [among other things].

I will perhaps publish another article some day with examples for each of the cases, but for now, these examples hopefully help you understand the idea.