The second link (broken) is not that important. Just enter the first one and click on "A Chance to Speak Finnish" in the left-side column, just under "Other Links".
This is the fouth link (also broken): http://www.uta.fi/~km56049/finnish/ - It's a lot more complex that it seems, I has many examples and explanations in English.
I also have a downloadable one, which I can't find on the web right now. It gives much morphology, but absolutely nothing about the use of the inflected forms that it provides.
And saving the best for last!!!
This is an intermediate-advanced course. It is exclusively in Finnish, no explanation is given in any other language, but Finnish. And all texts are read and recorded by native speakers. You are gonna love it: http://www.edu.fi/oppimateriaalit/ymmarrasuomea/
Also try the entries on grammar.
I hope they work.
Enjoy!
P.S. I have checked the links after posting the message. They work.
Sounds like I'm biased, but the best Finnish coursebooks I've ever seen are those written by my former Finnish teacher, Heikki Kangasniemi: "Suomen kielen tikapuut: kielioppi- ja harjoituskirja". There are four books: alkeistaso1, alkeistaso 2, jatkotaso 1, jatkotaso 2 (10 euros each). It's definitely thanks to these books that I learnt Finnish so quickly.
1. Ole hyvä or Olkaa hyvä?
2. Kuudes päivä joulukuuta. In which case is the noun "joulukuu"?
3. Ever heard of 27 Finnish cases, instead of the classical 15?
4. If "Kiitos" = Thank you, then how would you say "Tank you very much"?
1. Ole hyvä is used in the singular, when you would use the pronoun sinä. Olkaa hyvä is the plural form, used both when you talk to several people (te) or just one person you address using Te.
2. The word joulukuuta is here in partitive singular.
3. There aren't 27 cases in Finnish, where did you find that? The real figure is somewhere between 15 and 20, depending on what you consider being a case.
4. "Thank you very much" = Kiitos paljon or Kiitos oikein paljon. For "thank you", it's as common to say kiitoksia (partitive plural).
didine wrote:3. There aren't 27 cases in Finnish, where did you find that? The real figure is somewhere between 15 and 20, depending on what you consider being a case.
Of which of the following cases have you heard (the endings are in brackets)
Superessiivi (-alla / -ällä)
Delatiivi (-alta / -ältä)
Sublatiivi (-alle / -nne)
Latiivi (-s)
Temporaali (-lloin / -llöin)
Kausatiivi (-ten -ten)
Multiplikatiivi (-sti)
Distributiivi (-ttain / -ttäin -ttain / -ttäin)
T. Distributiivi (-sin)
Prolatiivi (-tse -tse)
Situatiivi (-kkain / -kkäin)
Oppositiivi (-tusten / -tysten)
These are the 12 extra cases (from 15 to 27). I don't mean to contradict you (Heavens forbid!). I just found them on a Finnish Grammar site...
Question: is "kiitoksen" the possessive singular of kiitos?
I found a Finnish webpage according to which those pseudo-cases are officially not considered as cases. And some of those really ARE far-fetched. I can't even think of examples for all of them. The most important ones are those:
- latiivi: existed in old Finnish to express a movement, and is now found only in some adverbs (ylös = up, alas = down, ulos = out...)
- multiplikatiivi: used with numbers to express a frequency (kaksi > kahdesti = twice, kolme > kolmesti = three times, moni > monesti = many times...) and to form adverbs (onnellinen > onnellisesti = happily, surullinen > surullisesti = sadly...)
- distributiivi: used to express a frequency (päivä > päivittäin = daily)
- t. distributiivi (whatever the "t" stands for): used to express a frequency (aamu > aamuisin = on mornings, keskiviikko > keskiviikkoisin = on Wednesdays, arki > arkisin = on weekdays, viikonloppu > viikonloppuisin = at weekends).
- prolatiivi: used to express a means (puhelin > puhelimitse = by phone, kirje > kirjeitse = by letter, sähköposti > sähköpostitse = by email...)
- situatiivi: used to express an oppositive direction (vasta > vastakkain = opposite each other...).
The word kiitos cannot have a possessive. Kiitoksen is the genitive singular of this word.
You have to know only four forms to be able to guess all the others: nominative singular, partitive singular, genitive singular, partitive plural (in the same order below).
4) ovi type: i > e in partitive and genitive
ovi, ove/a, ove/n, ov/i/a
talvi, talve/a, talve/n, talv/i/a
sormi, sorme/a, sorme/n, sorm/i/a
joki, joke/a, joe/n, jok/i/a
5) kieli type: i > nothing in partitive and i > e in genitive
kieli, kiel/tä, kiele/n, kiel/i/ä
uni, un/ta, une/n, un/i/a
hiiri, hiir/tä, hiire/n, hiir/i/ä
kuusi (the tree), kuus/ta, kuuse/n, kuus/i/a
lohi, loh/ta, lohe/n, loh/i/a
6) käsi type: si > t in partitive and si > de in genitive
käsi, kät/tä, käde/n, käs/i/ä
vesi, vet/tä, vede/n, ves/i/ä
kuusi (6), kuut/ta, kuude/n, kuus/i/a
2. Words ending in e or a consonant
7) huone type: e > ee in genitive
huone, huone/tta, huonee/n, huone/i/ta
vene, vene/ttä, venee/n, vene/i/tä
pyyhe, pyyhe/ttä, pyhkee/n, pyyhke/i/tä
8) nainen type: nen > s in partitive, nen > se in genitive
nainen, nais/ta, naise/n, nais/i/a
ihminen, ihmis/tä, ihmise/n, ihmis/i/ä
hevonen, hevos/ta, hevose/n, hevos/i/a
9) sairas type: s > a in genitive
sairas, sairas/ta, sairaa/n, saira/i/ta
taivas, taivas/ta, taivaa/n, taiva/i/ta
rikas, rikas/ta, rikkaa/n, rikka/i/ta
10) salaisuus type: s > t in partitive and s > de in genitive
salaisuus, salaisuut/ta, salaisuude/n, salaisuuks/i/a
nuoruus, nuoruut/ta, nuoruude/n, nuoruuks/i/a
11) vastaus type: s > kse in genitive
vastaus, vastaus/ta, vastaukse/n, vastauks/i/a
kysymys, kysymys/tä, kysymykse/n, kysymyks/i/ä
laitos, laitos/ta, laitokse/n, laitoks/i/a
12) avain type: n > me in genitive
avain, avain/ta, avaime/n, avaim/i/a
eläin, eläin/tä, eläime/n, eläim/i/ä
keitin, keitin/tä, keittime/n, keittim/i/ä
Strong form in nominative singular (takki), parititive singular and plural (takki/a, takke/j/a), illative singular and plural (takki/in, takke/i/hin), essive singular and plural (takki/na, takke/i/na), gentitive plural (takk/i/en) and comitative (takke/i/ne/en). Weak form for the rest, including the comparative (helpo/mpi) and superlative (helpo/in).
2. Words ending in e or a consonant
k > kk: rakas > rakkaa/n
p > pp: opas > oppaa/n
t > tt: jäte > jättee/n
- > k: aie > aikee/n
ng > nk: rengas > renkaa/n
v > p: varvas > varpaa/n
mm > mp: lammas > lampaa/n
Weak form only in nominative singular (lääke, opas) and partitive singular (lääke/ttä, opas/ta). Strong form for the rest, including the comparative (rikkaa/mpi) and superlative (rikka/in).
Two more tiny questions:
1. Can "hyvin" mean "very"? I found this in the Finnish Course by the University of Helsinki: "Sauna on hyvin tärkeä asia Suomessa".
2. How reliable is the Freelang Finnish-English Dictionary? It is kind of large anyway.
There are four main types and seven subgroups of verbs. You will recognise them thanks to their ending. Here I'll also give you the present of the first person singular. I'll give you the other tenses later if you want.
- Type 1: ending = da/dä: saada
- Type 2: ending = a/ä: puhua
- Type 3a: ending = la/lä: tulla, ra/rä: surra, na/nä: panna
- Type 3b: ending = ta/tä after an s: nousta
- Type 4a: ending = ta/tä after a vowel (other than e or i): haluta
- Type 4b: ending = ta/tä after an i: tarvita
- Type 4c: ending = ta/tä after an e: vanheta
In types 1 and 2, the infinitive stem is used as a based for the conjugations, but it's a different base for types 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b and 4c.
1) saa/da: saa + n = saa/n
2) puhu/a: puhu + n = puhu/n
3a) tul/la: tul + e > tule + n = tule/n
3b) nous/ta: nous +e > nouse + n = nouse/n
4a) halu/ta: halu + a > halua + n = halua/n
4b) tarvi/ta: tarvi + tse > tarvitse + n = tarvitse/n
4c) vanheta: vanhe + ne > vanhene + n = vanhene/n
Some verbs in e and i belong to type 4a (kiive/tä > kiipeä/n, katke/ta > katkea/n, tode/ta > totea/n, levi/tä > leviä/n). Verbs formed from adjectives belong to type 4c even though they might end in e (huono/ta > huonone/n, para/ta > parane/n).
The verbs olla, juosta, nähdä and tehdä are partly irregular.
Weak form in the active forms of the indicative present and imperfect in the 1st and 2nd persons, in both singular and plural (nuku/n, nuku/t, nuku/mme, nuku/tte, nuku/i/n, nuku/i/t, nuku/i/mm, nuku/i/tte), in the negative form of the verb and the postive and negative forms of the impertative, 2nd person singular ((en) nuku, nuku, (älä) nuku), as well as in all the passive forms (nuku/ta/an, nuku/tti/in, nuku/tta/i/sin, nuku/tta/koon, nuku/tta/ne/en, nuku/tta/va, nuku/ttu). Strong form for the rest.
2. Types 3a, 4a and 4c
k > kk: paka/ta > pakkaa/n
p > pp: siepa/ta > sieppaa/n
t > tt: mita/ta > mittaa/n
v > p: tava/ta > tapaa/n
mm > mp: kamma/ta > kampaa/n
d > t: kado/ta > katoa/n
ll > lt: vallata > valtaa/n
rr > rt: verra/ta > vertaa/n
nn > nt: rynnä/tä > ryntään
Weak form in the 1st infivitive (paka/ta), the 2nd infinitive (paka/te/ssa), the positive and negative forms of the imperative 2nd person plural (paka/tkaa, (älkää) paka/tko), 2nd active participle (paka/nnut), potentiel (paka/nne/n) and all passive forms (paka/ta/an, paka/tti/in), paka/tta/isi/n, paka/tta/koon, paka/tta/ne/en, paka/tta/va, paka/ttu). Strong form for the rest.
In type 3a, there's no consonant gradation before diphthongs: rukoil/la > ruokiile/n.
