In spring I wrote an article 100 most common words in spoken Finnish, whose popularity surprised me! Now I want to dive deeper into verbs in spoken language, because verbs are one of the most important and challenging aspects of language.
In Finnish there are many verbs borrowed from English. For this reason, I have divided these spoken Finnish verbs into three different groups: borrowed from English, borrowed from elsewhere and special verbs. I used the Wiktionary pageas a source when making the list. In the page you can find beside the word in brackets the information: is it colloquial, spoken language or slang.
Let’s start!
Verbs that are borrowed from English
1. Tsekata / Tarkistaa, Katsoa / to check, to watch, to look
2. Skipata / Jättää väliin / to skip, to pass
3. Fiksata / Korjata / to fix
4. Koodata / Ohjelmoida / to code, to program
5. Kokata / Laittaa ruokaa / to cook
6. Treenata / Harjoitella, kuntoilla / to train, to exercise
7. Hengata / Oleskella / to hang around, to hang out
8. Chillata / Rentoutua / to chill out
English is the language of the internet. Many phrases and words used on the internet culture are verbatim incorporated in the Finnish spoken language. For example, the words stalkata, follata, bannata, ghostata, etc... If these words don't ring a bell, don't worry about it! Most probably you are older than 20 hence you don't need to know about these words.
Verbs that are derived from elsewhere
9. Rempata / Remontoida / to renovate
10. Ryypätä, Dokata / Juopotella, Juoda alkoholia / to drink alcohol (to get drunk)
11. Bilettää / Juhlia / to party
12. Jeesata / Auttaa / to help
13. Duunata / Tehdä / to do
14. Hiffata / Ymmärtää / to understand
15. Pölliä / Varastaa / to steal
16. Venata / Odottaa / to wait
17. Mokata / Tehdä virhe / to make a mistake
18. Moikata / Tervehtiä / to greet, to say hello
19. Tsiigata / Katsoa / to watch
20. Meinata / Aikoa, tarkoittaa / Intend to do, mean, mean to do
21. Safkata / Syödä / to eat
22. Kelata, funtsia / Ajatella, miettiä / to think
23. Roudata / Kantaa tavaroita paikasta toiseen / to carry items from one place to another
24. Hommata / Tehdä, hankkia / to do, to work on, to acquire
25. Hoksata / Arvata , huomata, keksiä / to guess, to notice, to find an answer
26. Treffata / Tavata / to meet
27. Koisata / Nukkua / to sleep
28. Skeitata / Rullalautailla / to skateboard
29. Bongata / Nähdä, huomata / to see, to notice, to observe
30. Delata / Kuolla / to die
Some of these verbs have been borrowed from Swedish language: träffa -> treffata (to meet), mena -> meinata (to mean), vänta -> venata (to wait)
Special verbs
These verbs are not necessarily very commonly used, but they are useful to know.
+1. Bludata / Kastella jalkansa vahingossa esim. astumalla lätäkköön / getting your feet accidentally wet for example by stepping into a puddle
+2. Pummia / Kerjätä, pyytää ilmaiseksi jotain / to beg, to ask for something without giving anything in return
+3. Matkustaa pummilla / Matkustaa maksamatta ilman lippua / To travel without paying for a ticket to ride
+4. Lintsata / Jäädä luvatta pois esim. koulusta / to skip school class
Sentences
Want to learn how to remember words? Incorporate them in a sentence!
Here are a few sentences as an example, where I have utilized commonly used verbs in the Finnish spoken language:
Spoken language / Written language / English language
Mä en oikein hiffaa, mitä sä meinaat? / Minä en oikein ymmärrä, mitä sinä tarkoitat? / I don’t quite understand, what do you mean?
Voitsä fiksaa jääkaapin? / Voitko korjata jääkaapin? / Can you fix the fridge?
Kelaa sitä / Ajattele sitä / Think about that
Matkustaa pummilla Tallinnaan / Matkustaa maksamatta lipusta Tallinnaan / To travel to Tallinn without paying for the ticket
Voitais treffata Stokkan kellon alla / Voisimme tavata Stockmannin kellon alla / We could meet underneath the clock of Stockmann
Venaa vähän, mä käyn pummii tuolt yhden röökin / Odota vähän, minä käyn pyytämässä tuolta yhden tupakan / Wait a bit, I’ll go and ask for one cigarette from there.
Mä tykkään duunaa musaa / Minä tykkään tehdä musiikkia / I like to make music
Ehitsä jeesaa hetken? / Ehditkö auttamaan hetken? / Can you help me for a moment?
Meen tänään treenaa salille ja illalla kokkaan kavereille italialaista safkaa / Menen tänään harjoittelemaan kuntosalille ja illalla laitan italialaista ruokaa kavereilleni / Today I go to train at the gym and in the night I cook Italian food for my friends
Tsekkaa tää! / Katso tämä! / Check this out!
Hopefully you have learned new verbs! If I missed common verbs used in Finnish spoken language, Tell us about it in social media!
You should also have a look at our very popular article 100 most common words in spoken Finnish
