Real spoken Finnish for Maybe, Probably, I Guess, with the written form (kirjakieli) beside every line, word-by-word notes and audio on every sentence. Free to read.
Hedging: varmaan, kai, tais
Finns rarely commit fully to a claim. 'Varmaan' (probably), 'kai' (I guess), 'ehkä' (maybe) soften statements, and 'tais' (spoken 'taisi', from 'taitaa') means 'I think that happened': Bussi tais mennä = I think the bus left.
Se on varmaan kotona. = They're probably home.
Bussi tais just mennä. = I think the bus just left.
Nii kai sit. = I suppose so, then.
Se on varmaan jo kotona.
They're probably home already.
Written Finnish: Hän on varmaan jo kotona.
se
they / he / she - spoken Finnish uses 'se' for people
on
is
varmaan
probably - hedge #1 in Finnish
jo
already
kotona
at home
Emmä kyl usko.
I don't really think so.
Written Finnish: En minä kyllä usko.
emmä
I don't - 'en' + 'mä' fused
kyl
really / for sure - spoken 'kyllä'
usko
believe - from 'uskoa'
Kai se onnistuu.
I guess it'll work out.
Written Finnish: Kai se onnistuu.
kai
I guess / presumably
se
it
onnistuu
succeeds / works out - from 'onnistua'
Bussi tais just mennä.
I think the bus just left.
Written Finnish: Bussi taisi juuri mennä.
bussi
bus
tais
I think / apparently (past) - spoken 'taisi', from 'taitaa'
just
just - spoken 'juuri'
mennä
to go
Ehkä me tullaan myöhemmin.
Maybe we'll come later.
Written Finnish: Ehkä me tulemme myöhemmin.
ehkä
maybe
me
we
tullaan
we come - the spoken we-form
myöhemmin
later
Mä luulin, et se on tänään.
I thought it was today.
Written Finnish: Minä luulin, että se on tänään.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
luulin
I thought - 'luulla' implies the belief turned out wrong