Who's Who: I Am, We Are, They Are in spoken Finnish
Real spoken Finnish for Who's Who: I Am, We Are, They Are, with the written form (kirjakieli) beside every line, word-by-word notes and audio on every sentence. Free to read.
Olla in speech: mä oon, me ollaan, ne on
'To be' shrinks to oon, oot, on - and two forms trip up beginners. 'Me' takes ollaan (the same form that means 'one is'), and 'ne' (they) takes the plain singular 'on'. The whole set: mä oon, sä oot, se on, me ollaan, te ootte, ne on.
Me ollaan kotona. = We're at home.
Ne on töissä. = They're at work.
Mä oon vähän väsyny.
I'm a bit tired.
Written Finnish: Minä olen vähän väsynyt.
mä
I - spoken 'minä'
oon
I am - spoken 'olen'
vähän
a little
väsyny
tired - spoken 'väsynyt': the final -t drops
Sä oot tosi kiltti.
You're really kind.
Written Finnish: Sinä olet todella kiltti.
sä
you - spoken 'sinä'
oot
you are - spoken 'olet'
tosi
really - spoken 'todella'
kiltti
kind, well-behaved
Se on mun työkaveri.
He/she is my coworker.
Written Finnish: Hän on minun työkaverini.
se
he/she - spoken 'hän': in speech 'se' covers people too
on
is
mun
my - spoken 'minun'; the -ni ending of 'työkaverini' drops
työkaveri
coworker - 'työ' (work) + 'kaveri' (mate)
Me ollaan kotona.
We're at home.
Written Finnish: Me olemme kotona.
me
we
ollaan
we are - spoken 'olemme': speech borrows the passive form for 'we'
kotona
at home
Te ootte tosi ystävällisiä.
You (all) are really friendly.
Written Finnish: Te olette todella ystävällisiä.
te
you (plural, or polite)
ootte
you are - spoken 'olette'
tosi
really - spoken 'todella'
ystävällisiä
friendly - plural partitive of 'ystävällinen'
Ne on töissä.
They're at work.
Written Finnish: He ovat töissä.
ne
they - spoken 'he': speech uses 'ne' for people too
on
are - spoken 'ovat': 'ne' takes the singular verb
töissä
at work - 'työ' in the plural, 'in jobs'
Ootsä kotona?
Are you at home?
Written Finnish: Oletko sinä kotona?
ootsä
are you - spoken 'oletko sinä': the question ending and 'sä' glue onto the verb