Language/Finnish/Grammar/Finnish-Sentence-Structure

Finnish → Grammar → Finnish Sentence Structure

As a Finnish language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I can tell you that learning sentence structure is crucial for understanding the Finnish language. In this lesson, you will learn how to form more complex sentences and the concept of word order.

Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: Adjective Agreement & Definite Articles in Finnish.

Word order

Finnish has a flexible word order, which means that the order of the words in a sentence can vary. However, the basic word order is subject-verb-object (SVO), which is similar to English.

For example, "Minä juon kahvia" means "I drink coffee". In this sentence, "minä" is the subject, "juon" is the verb, and "kahvia" is the object.

In Finnish, it is possible to change the word order for emphasis or to indicate a question. For instance, "Kahvia minä juon" means "Coffee I drink" and emphasizes that the drinker is having coffee. Similarly, "Juonko minä kahvia?" means "Do I drink coffee?" and is a question.

Participles

Participles are verb forms that are used to form more complex sentences in Finnish. There are two types of participles in Finnish: the present participle and the past participle.

The present participle is used to describe an ongoing action in relation to another action. It is formed by adding "va" or "vä" to the stem of the verb. For example, the present participle of the verb "juoda" (to drink) is "juova".

The past participle, on the other hand, is used to describe a completed or finished action. It is formed by adding "nut" or "nyt" to the stem of the verb. For example, the past participle of the verb "juoda" is "juonut".

Participles can be used in a variety of ways to form sentences in Finnish. For example:

• As a descriptive adjective: "Laulava lintu" means "The singing bird". In this sentence, "laulava" is the present participle of the verb "laulaa" (to sing).

• To form relative clauses: "Mies, joka puhuu suomea" means "The man who speaks Finnish". In this sentence, "puhuu" is the indicative form of the verb "puhua" (to speak), and "puhuu" is used in a relative clause to describe the man.

• To form compound tenses: "Olen juonut kahvia" means "I have drunk coffee". In this sentence, "olen juonut" is the compound tense of the verb "juoda". "Olen" is the present tense form of "olla" (to be), and "juonut" is the past participle of "juoda".

Complex sentences

Finnish allows for complex sentences to be formed by using conjunctions, such as "ja" (and), "tai" (or), and "mutta" (but), and relative pronouns, such as "joka" (who/which/that) and "mikä" (what/which/that).

For example, "Minä syön leipää ja juon kahvia" means "I eat bread and drink coffee". In this sentence, "ja" is used to combine two independent clauses.

Relative pronouns are used to connect two clauses together. For example, "Nainen, joka asuu Helsingissä, on suomalainen" means "The woman who lives in Helsinki is Finnish". In this sentence, "joka" is the relative pronoun connecting the two clauses.

It is important to note that the word order may change in complex sentences depending on the emphasis or the type of sentence. For example, in a question, the verb comes first, which changes the basic word order.

Examples

Here are some examples of sentences using the concepts discussed above:

Finnish	Pronunciation	English
Minä juon kahvia	Min-ah yoo-on kah-vi-a	I drink coffee
Kahvia minä juon	Kah-vi-a min-ah yoo-on	Coffee I drink
Juonko minä kahvia?	Yoo-on-ko min-ah kah-vi-a?	Do I drink coffee?
Laulava lintu	Lau-lah-va lin-tu	The singing bird
Mies, joka puhuu suomea	Mies, yo-ka pu-huu suo-mea	The man who speaks Finnish
Olen juonut kahvia	Oh-len yoo-on-ut kah-vi-a	I have drunk coffee
Minä syön leipää ja juon kahvia	Min-ah sy-on lei-pa-a ja yoo-on kah-vi-a	I eat bread and drink coffee
Nainen, joka asuu Helsingissä, on suomalainen	Nai-nen, yo-ka a-su-u Hel-sing-is-sa, ohn suo-ma-lai-nen	The woman who lives in Helsinki is Finnish

Conclusion

By understanding the concept of word order and how to use participles and relative clauses, you can form more complex sentences in Finnish. Practice using these concepts in your language studies, and you'll be well on your way to achieving fluency in Finnish.

Sources

• Finnish grammar - Wikipedia
• Finnish Sentence Types - ielanguages.com
• A Beginner's Guide to Basic Finnish Grammar
• Finnish Grammar Beginner's Guide (even if you hate grammar)

Congratulations on finishing this lesson! Explore these related pages to keep learning: Prepositions & Present Tense.

Other Lessons

• Negation
• How to Use Have
• Nouns
• Questions
• Future Tense
• How to Use Be
• Imperative Mood
• Finnish Adjectives and Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Past Participle in Finnish