Real spoken Finnish for When Words Change Shape, with the written form (kirjakieli) beside every line, word-by-word notes and audio on every sentence. Free to read.
Consonant gradation: kauppa → kaupas, katu → kadul
Finnish rewrites its own middles when an ending arrives: kauppa → kaupassa, katu → kadulla, Helsinki → Helsingissä, leipä → leivän. The k, p or t weakens, which is why a word you know can be unrecognisable with a case on it. For everyday words like these, the plain form and the partitive are strong, while -n, -ssa and -lla pull the weak grade. A smaller group runs in reverse: -e, -as and -in words are weak plain and strengthen instead (osoite → osoitteen, opas → oppaan).
Mä oon kaupas. = I'm at the shop. (kauppa → kaupas)
Se asuu Helsingis. = They live in Helsinki. (Helsinki → Helsingis)
Mä ostin leivän. = I bought the bread. (leipä → leivän)
Mun jalka on kipee.
My leg hurts.
Written Finnish: Minun jalkani on kipeä.
mun
my
jalka
leg / foot - strong grade here, in the plain word
on
is
kipee
sore - spoken 'kipeä'
Mua sattuu jalkaan.
My leg hurts (it's hurting me).
Written Finnish: Minua sattuu jalkaan.
mua
me - partitive
sattuu
hurts
jalkaan
into/at the leg - the -an ending keeps the strong grade, so the k stays
Mä satutin jalan eilen.
I hurt my leg yesterday.
Written Finnish: Minä satutin jalkani eilen.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
satutin
hurt (past)
jalan
the leg - and here the k vanishes completely: jalka → jalan. Same word as two sentences ago
eilen
yesterday
Me mentiin illal rannalle.
We went to the beach in the evening.
Written Finnish: Me menimme illalla rannalle.
me
we
mentiin
went - the spoken we-form
illal
in the evening - ilta → illalla, lt becomes ll
rannalle
to the beach - ranta → rannalle, nt becomes nn
Sen tytön nimi on Aino.
That girl's name is Aino.
Written Finnish: Sen tytön nimi on Aino.
sen
that / their
tytön
girl's - tyttö → tytön, the double tt thins to t
nimi
name
on
is
aino
Aino - a girl's name
Mä ostin leipää ja pari omenaa.
I bought bread and a couple of apples.
Written Finnish: Minä ostin leipää ja pari omenaa.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
ostin
bought
leipää
bread - partitive, and the partitive keeps the STRONG grade, so it's p here and not the v of leivän
ja
and
pari
a couple of
omenaa
apple - partitive singular after a quantity word
Mä unohdin leivän kauppaan.
I left the bread at the shop.
Written Finnish: Minä unohdin leivän kauppaan.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
unohdin
forgot / left behind
leivän
the bread - and now it's weak: leipä → leivän, p becomes v
kauppaan
to the shop - going TO restores the strong grade, so kauppa keeps its pp
Pankki on kadun toisel puolel.
The bank is on the other side of the street.
Written Finnish: Pankki on kadun toisella puolella.
pankki
bank - strong in the plain word
on
is
kadun
of the street - katu → kadun, t becomes d
toisel
on the other - spoken 'toisella'
puolel
side - spoken 'puolella'
Mä käyn pankis huomenna.
I'll go to the bank tomorrow.
Written Finnish: Minä käyn pankissa huomenna.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
käyn
go / visit
pankis
at the bank - pankki → pankissa, kk thins to k, then -ssa clips to -s in speech
huomenna
tomorrow
Toi kenkä on rikki, kengän pohja irtos.
That shoe is broken, the sole came off.
Written Finnish: Tuo kenkä on rikki, kengän pohja irtosi.
toi
that - spoken 'tuo'
kenkä
shoe - strong grade
on
is
rikki
broken
kengän
the shoe's - kenkä → kengän, nk becomes ng. Same sound change as Helsinki → Helsingissä