Getting around in Finnish
Left, right, the station, one ticket, where is the toilet. Play the ten Finnish words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Finnish phrases in this lesson
- Missä on vessa?MIS-sä ON VES-sa
- Where is the toilet?
- Miten pääsen...?MI-ten PÄÄ-sen
- How do I get to...?
- VasemmalleVA-sem-mal-le
- To the left
- OikealleOI-ke-al-le
- To the right
- Suoraan eteenpäinSUO-raan E-teen-päin
- Straight ahead
- TässäTÄS-sä
- Here
- RautatieasemaRAU-ta-tie-a-se-ma
- Train station
- BussiBUS-si
- Bus
- LentoasemaLEN-to-a-se-ma
- Airport
- Yksi lippu, kiitosÜK-si LIP-pu, KII-tos
- One ticket, please
Vessa is the everyday word for toilet, perfectly natural to use. The more formal word is WC (pronounced "vee-see") and is also widely understood.
Literally "how do I get to...".
The directional form meaning "to the left." If someone just points left, they might say "vasemmalla" (on the left). Listen for both forms.
Means "to the right." Oikealla means "on the right." Finnish uses different grammatical cases to distinguish between location and direction.
The full phrase for going straight. In casual speech people often just say "suoraan" and point forward.
Means "here" in the sense of "right here at this spot." Use it to indicate your current location or to tell a driver to stop.
Railway station, built from rautatie (railway) and asema (station). On signs, asema on its own may be enough in context.
Literally "flight station".
A request for one ticket. Lippu has a short i followed by a held double pp. You may also need to name your destination or travel zone.