Language/Finnish/Grammar/The-Finnish-Alphabet

Finnish Grammar → Introduction to Finnish → The Finnish Alphabet

Learning a new language can be both exciting and challenging. Starting with the alphabet is often the first step and it is no different for learning Finnish. However, the Finnish alphabet has some unique characters that may be unfamiliar to learners who are used to the Latin alphabet. In this lesson, we will learn the Finnish alphabet and its unique characters.

The Finnish Alphabet

The Finnish alphabet has 29 letters, similar to the English alphabet. However, there are some unique characters that do not exist in English or other Latin-based languages. These characters are:

• Ä/ä (ärrä) - pronounced as "a" in "cat"
• Ö/ö (öö) - pronounced as "e" in "her"

These characters may look daunting, but they are actually quite easy to learn and pronounce correctly with practice.

Here is the Finnish alphabet with its corresponding pronunciation:

Finnish	Pronunciation	English
A, a	a	a
B, b	bee	b
C, c	cee	c
D, d	dee	d
E, e	e	e
F, f	effe	f
G, g	gee	g
H, h	hoo	h
I, i	ee	i
J, j	yee	j
K, k	koo	k
L, l	elle	l
M, m	emme	m
N, n	enne	n
O, o	oh	o
P, p	pee	p
Q, q	ku	q
R, r	erre	r
S, s	esse	s
T, t	tee	t
U, u	oo	u
V, v	vee	v
W, w	kaksois-vee	w (foreign word)
X, x	iks	x (foreign word)
Y, y	yy	y
Z, z	tsetta	z (foreign word)
Ä, ä	ämmä	a (like "a" in "cat")
Ö, ö	öö	e (like "e" in "her")

Note that the pronunciation listed here is just a guideline and that there are slight regional variations in pronunciation.

Now that we have learned the Finnish alphabet and its unique characters, we can move on to learning basic Finnish phonetics and pronunciation in the next lesson.

Practice

Practice writing and pronouncing the Finnish alphabet. Try to memorize the pronunciation of each letter and its corresponding English translation.

Sources

• Finnish language - Wikipedia
• Finnish Grammar Beginner's Guide (even if you hate grammar)
• Finnish Language Information - Finnish alphabet, Finnish grammar ...
• Learn Finnish - Grammar and Vocabulary

Table of Contents - Finnish Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

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Introduction to Finnish

• Alphabet and Pronunciation
• Basic Sentence Structure

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Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

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Nouns and Adjectives

• Noun Cases
• Adjective Agreement

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Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-20
• Telling Time

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Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense

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Daily Activities

• Daily Routine
• Hobbies and Leisure

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Questions and Negation

• Forming Questions
• Negation

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Food and Dining

• Food Vocabulary
• Dining Out

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Prepositions and Postpositions

• Prepositions
• Postpositions

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Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Travel Phrases

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Finnish Culture and Traditions

• Holidays and Celebrations
• Finnish Sauna

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Weather and Seasons

• Weather Vocabulary
• Seasons

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Conjunctions and Subordinate Clauses

• Conjunctions
• Subordinate Clauses

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Family and Relationships

• Family Members
• Relationships

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Finnish Literature and Music

• Finnish Literature
• Finnish Music

Related Lessons

• Basic Finnish Phonetics
• Questions
• Past Participle in Finnish
• Past Tense
• Finnish Cases
• How to Use Be
• Negation
• Asking Directions in Finnish
• Nouns