At a cafe, lesson 2


Kahvilassa

Finnish language

In this lesson, you will learn how to ask things and the numbers.

Matti ja Antti menevät kahville. He ovat kahvilassa. Matti ostaa kahvia.

Lexicon

Cultural notes

Finns are the world’s top coffee drinkers, consuming around 12 kilograms per person per year — more than any other nation. Traditional Finnish coffee is typically light roast, often much lighter than what you’d find in other countries.

In recent years, other styles like dark roast, espresso, and specialty coffees have also gained popularity, especially among younger people and in urban areas.

Why do Finns love coffee so much? The reasons likely include the cold climate and a strong Protestant work ethic. After all, coffee helps keep you warm and also alert during long workdays.

In fact, coffee breaks (kahvitauko) are such an important part of the work culture that they are legally guaranteed in most Finnish workplaces. It’s not just a caffeine fix — it’s a social ritual and a daily pause that many take seriously.

Personal conjugation of the verbs

Here's how to conjugate the Finnish verbs in person. The endings are always the same.

puhua (to speak, to talk)

present tense conjugation
singular plural
minä puhun (I speak) me puhumme (we speak)
sinä puhut (you speak) te puhutte (you speak)
hän puhuu (he/she speaks) he puhuvät (they speak)

Read more about the conjugation.

Numerot - Numbers

Numbers from 1 to 10
Numbers from 11 to 19

[number]+toista -> yksitoista (11), kaksitoista (12), kolmetoista (13) etc.

Tasaluvut - even tens

[number] + kymmentä -> kaksikymmentä (20), kolmekymmentä (30), neljäkymmentä (40) etc.

Numbers from 20 to 99

[tasaluku] + [number]-> kaksikymmentä yksi (21), kolmekymmentä kolme (33), viisikymmentä kahdeksan (58) etc.

Suuremmat luvut - Greater numbers

More about numbers.

Plural nominative

The plural nominative is formed by adding t after the stem:

päivä - päivät
a day - days
kahvi - kahvit
a coffee - coffees

Remember the consonant gradation:

munkki - munkit
a doughnut - doughnuts
sentti - sentit
a cent - cents

Unlike in many other languages, in Finnish you don't use plural after numerals, but partitive case.

kaksi kahvia
two coffees
viisi munkkia
five doughnuts
seitsemän päivää
seven days
kymmenen senttiä
ten cents

That's why you say: Kahvit maksavat 5 euroa. (The coffees cost 5 euros), but Kaksi kahvia maksaa 5 euroa. (2 coffees cost 5 euros)

Ko-question

"Saanko" is the easiest way to request for things:

Saan -> Saanko?
get -> Can I get? (or rather "may I have")

Yes/no questions are formed by -ko-suffix. You can add the suffix to the noun, pronoun or verb. This is the topic of the sentence, and therefore placed first.

Questions
Onko teillä auto? - Do you have a car?
Teillä on auto? - Are you the one who has the car?
Autoko teillä on? - Is it the car what you have? (not e.g bicycle)

More about questions.

How to say thank you in Finnish

Kiitos!
neutral (thank you!)
Kiitti!
Informal (thanks!)
Kiitoksia! Paljon kiitoksia!
Formal (thank you very much).
Ole hyvä!
You're welcome

In Finnish, you say "Ole hyvä" when handing something to someone or sometimes as a response when someone thanks you — it literally means "be good" or "here you go."

Finnish doesn’t have a direct equivalent for “please” (like bitte in German or s’il vous plaît in French). Instead, Finns often use "kiitos" or "ole hyvä" in situations where other languages might use “please.”

Exercises


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