Do you have Finnish ancestors who emigrated to another country once upon a time, and now you want to learn a few words in Finnish? Keep reading!
Miten sanotaan suomeksi “I am from…”?
How do you say “I am from…” in Finnish?
How do you say “I am from” in Finnish?
Yhdysvallat = the United States
- Olen kotoisin Yhdysvalloista. = I am from the United States.
Ruotsi = Sweden
- Olen kotoisin Ruotsista. = I am from Sweden.
Kanada = Canada
- Olen kotoisin Kanadasta. = I am from Canada.
Venäjä = Russia
- Olen kotoisin Venäjältä. = I am from Russia.
“Venäjä” is one of the (rare) country names that take the ending –lta when you want to say “from Russia” in Finnish.
Suomalaiset sukujuuret – Finnish roots
Äitini on / oli suomalainen. = My mother is / was Finnish.
Minun vanhempani ovat / olivat suomalaisia. = My parents are / were Finnish.
Minun isovanhempani ovat / olivat suomalaisia. = My grandparents are / were Finnish.
How do you say “my family is Finnish”?
Minun perheeni on suomalainen. = My family is Finnish. (This is the better option if you’re talking about close family members, whatever that means to you.)
Minulla on suomalaisia sukulaisia. = I have Finnish relatives. (Choose this if you’re talking about relatives who are perhaps not your immediate family.)
How do you say “I’d like to learn Finnish” in Finnish?
Haluaisin oppia suomea. = I would like to learn Finnish.
Notice how suomea is not capitalized? Not a typo! Languages are not capitalized in Finnish. The same with suomalainen, which can be an adjective (e.g. suomalainen äiti = Finnish mother) or a noun (ujo suomalainen = a shy Finn).
I hope that you get to use these sentences with your Finnish loved ones. If you’d like to learn more about this topic, I have a whole lesson about having Finnish roots in my online Finnish course for beginners. It’s a text about a lady whose grandparents were Finns who moved to the United States. The text is available both in standard and in (one variety of) spoken Finnish, and there are vocabulary exercises, explanation videos and PDFs. Sign up today!
