100 Essential Finnish Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Finnish	Type
hello	hei	interjection
goodbye	näkemiin	interjection
yes	kyllä	interjection
no	ei	interjection
please	ole hyvä	interjection
thank you	kiitos	interjection
sorry	olen pahoillani	interjection
and	ja	conjunction
but	mutta	conjunction
or	tai	conjunction
because	koska	conjunction
here	täällä	adverb
there	siellä	adverb
always	aina	adverb
never	ei koskaan	adverb
together	yhdessä	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Finnish	Type
man	mies	noun
woman	nainen	noun
boy	poika	noun
girl	tyttö	noun
friend	ystävä	noun
mother	äiti	noun
father	isä	noun
brother	veli	noun
sister	sisko	noun
daughter	tytär	noun
child	lapsi	noun
husband	aviomies	noun
wife	vaimo	noun
parent	vanhempi	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Finnish	Type
to be	olla	verb
to have	omistaa	verb
to do	tehdä	verb
to go	mennä	verb
to come	tulla	verb
to eat	syödä	verb
to drink	juoda	verb
to want	haluta	verb
to need	tarvita	verb
to know	tietää	verb
to speak	puhua	verb
to read	lukea	verb
to write	kirjoittaa	verb
to listen	kuunnella	verb
to work	työskennellä	verb
to buy	ostaa	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Finnish	Type
good	hyvä	adjective
bad	paha	adjective
new	uusi	adjective
old	vanha	adjective
young	nuori	adjective
tall	pitkä	adjective
short	lyhyt	adjective
nice	mukava	adjective
kind	kiltti	adjective
shy	ujo	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Finnish	Type
red	punainen	adjective
blue	sininen	adjective
green	vihreä	adjective
yellow	keltainen	adjective
black	musta	adjective
white	valkoinen	adjective
orange	oranssi	adjective
purple	violetti	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Finnish	Type
one	yksi	number
two	kaksi	number
three	kolme	number
four	neljä	number
five	viisi	number
six	kuusi	number
seven	seitsemän	number
eight	kahdeksan	number
nine	yhdeksän	number
ten	kymmenen	number
zero	nolla	number
twenty	kaksikymmentä	number

Time

10 words

English	Finnish	Type
today	tänään	adverb
tomorrow	huomenna	adverb
yesterday	eilen	adverb
morning	aamu	noun
afternoon	iltapäivä	noun
evening	ilta	noun
night	yö	noun
day	päivä	noun
week	viikko	noun
month	kuukausi	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Finnish	Type
water	vesi	noun
coffee	kahvi	noun
tea	tee	noun
milk	maito	noun
bread	leipä	noun
cheese	juusto	noun
fruit	hedelmä	noun
apple	omena	noun
egg	muna	noun
rice	riisi	noun

Home

4 words

English	Finnish	Type
house	talo	noun
door	ovi	noun
window	ikkuna	noun
bed	sänky	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Finnish words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Finnish words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Finnish

Finnish vocabulary testFind your level How long does Finnish take to learn?A realistic plan

Finnish for beginners questions

What are the first Finnish words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Finnish that means words like hei (hello), kiitos (thank you), vesi (water) and syödä (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Finnish written?

Finnish uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 30 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Finnish?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Finnish words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.