Real spoken Finnish for Yes, No and the Verb Answer, with the written form (kirjakieli) beside every line, word-by-word notes and audio on every sentence. Free to read.
Answering: hand the verb back
Finnish rarely answers a yes/no question with a bare 'yes'. You hand the verb back: 'Onks täs vapaata?' - 'On.' 'Tuutsä?' - 'Tuun.' For no, use the not-verb: 'En.' / 'Ei oo.' And 'joo' is the everyday yes in speech; 'kyllä' sounds stiffer.
Tuutsä mukaan? Tuun. = Are you coming along? I am.
Onks sul aikaa? Ei oo. = Do you have time? No.
Onks tää paikka vapaana? On, istu vaan.
Is this seat free? Yes - go ahead and sit.
Written Finnish: Onko tämä paikka vapaana? On, istu vain.
onks
is it - spoken 'onko': -ko becomes -ks
tää
this - spoken 'tämä'
paikka
seat, place
vapaana
free, vacant
on
it is - the verb handed back as 'yes'
istu
sit - command
vaan
just, go ahead - spoken 'vain'
Tuutsä mukaan? Tuun.
Are you coming along? I am.
Written Finnish: Tuletko sinä mukaan? Tulen.
tuutsä
are you coming - spoken 'tuletko sinä'
mukaan
along, with
tuun
I'm coming - spoken 'tulen': the answer is just the verb
Ootsä nähny mun avaimet? En oo.
Have you seen my keys? No, I haven't.
Written Finnish: Oletko nähnyt minun avaimeni? En ole.
ootsä
have you - spoken 'oletko sinä'
nähny
seen - spoken 'nähnyt': the final -t drops
mun
my - spoken 'minun'; the -ni ending of 'avaimeni' drops
avaimet
keys
en
I don't - the 'not' verb for 'I'
oo
have - spoken 'ole'; 'en oo' = I haven't
Haluutsä kahvia? Joo, kiitos.
Do you want coffee? Yeah, thanks.
Written Finnish: Haluatko kahvia? Kyllä, kiitos.
haluutsä
do you want - spoken 'haluatko sinä'
kahvia
coffee - partitive of 'kahvi'
joo
yes - the everyday spoken 'kyllä'
kiitos
thanks
Onks sul aikaa? Ei oo, sori.
Do you have time? No, sorry.
Written Finnish: Onko sinulla aikaa? Ei ole, anteeksi.
onks
is there - spoken 'onko'
sul
at you, you have - spoken 'sinulla'
aikaa
time - partitive of 'aika'
ei
no, not
oo
is - spoken 'ole'
sori
sorry - casual; the written word is 'anteeksi'
Tykkäätsä kahvista? Tykkään.
Do you like coffee? I do.
Written Finnish: Pidätkö sinä kahvista? Pidän.
tykkäätsä
do you like - 'tykätä' is the everyday verb where writing uses 'pitää'
kahvista
of coffee - 'kahvi' + -sta, the ending 'like' needs
tykkään
I like - the verb handed back as the answer
Onks toi totta? Joo, ihan totta.
Is that true? Yeah, totally true.
Written Finnish: Onko tuo totta? Kyllä, ihan totta.
onks
is it - spoken 'onko'
toi
that - spoken 'tuo'
totta
true, a fact - partitive of 'tosi'
joo
yes - the everyday spoken 'kyllä'
ihan
totally, quite
Sataaks siel? Joo, aika kovaa.
Is it raining there? Yeah, quite hard.
Written Finnish: Sataako siellä? Kyllä, melko kovaa.