In a previous blog post, we covered Finnish vocabulary for beginners. Now, it’s time to build on that foundation and expand your vocabulary with intermediate Finnish words! We’ll cover large numbers, a lot of useful nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and even some common adverbs. Are you ready to make your conversations in Finnish richer and more meaningful? Of course you are!
- We can help you memorize all of these new words faster, too. Did you know that you can create your own vocabulary flashcards on FinnishPod101.com? Take them with you anywhere by downloading the app on your mobile device!
- If you’re looking for intermediate Finnish grammar lessons, hop over to our Curated Lesson Pathway for Level 3 Finnish.
- If you’re not sure whether you’re ready to move from beginner-level Finnish to the intermediate level, we have listed five handy tips on how to reach the intermediate level faster.
Expanding your vocabulary opens up new opportunities to chat in Finnish.
Table of Contents
- Large Numbers
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Bonus Vocabulary for Intermediate Learners: Finnish “False Friends”
- Lopuksi
1. Large Numbers
At the beginner level, you started with the numbers from one to ten—but the time has come to get more ambitious. Learning larger numbers is essential for navigating many common life situations, such as talking about dates and handling money with confidence.
1 – From 11 to 21
- 11 yksitoista
- 12 kaksitoista
- 13 kolmetoista
- 14 neljätoista
- 15 viisitoista
- 16 kuusitoista
- 17 seitsemäntoista
- 18 kahdeksantoista
- 19 yhdeksäntoista
- 20 kaksikymmentä
- 21 kaksikymmentäyksi
Are you confused about the difference between yksitoista (11) and kaksikymmentäyksi (21)? Our in-depth guide to Finnish numbers will demystify everything.
2 – Counting Up to 100
- 30 kolmekymmentä
- 40 neljäkymmentä
- 50 viisikymmentä
- 60 kuusikymmentä
- 70 seitsemänkymmentä
- 80 kahdeksankymmentä
- 90 yhdeksänkymmentä
- 100 sata
3 – To 1000 and Beyond
- 200 kaksisataa
- 300 kolmesataa
- (…)
- 900 yhdeksänsataa
- 1,000 tuhat
- 10,000 kymmenentuhatta
- 100,000 satatuhatta
- 1,000,000 miljoona
What about numbers like “four thousand four hundred and forty”? How would that look and sound in Finnish? You can find out by visiting our Finnish Numbers vocabulary list!
Aika oppia isoja numeroita! (“Time to learn big numbers!”)
2. Nouns
Get those flashcards ready! We’re about to cover a lot of essential intermediate Finnish vocabulary for talking about people, clothes, food, city living, and more.
1 – People
- sukulainen (“relative”)
- veli (“brother”)
- sisko (“sister”)
- isoäiti (“grandmother”)
- isoisä (“grandfather”)
- lapsenlapsi (“grandchild”)
- vauva (“baby”)
- serkku (“cousin”)
- täti (“aunt”)
- setä (“uncle,” father’s brother)
- eno (“uncle,” mother’s brother)
- tyttöystävä (“girlfriend”)
- poikaystävä (“boyfriend”)
2 – Countries
- Suomi (“Finland”)
- Ruotsi (“Sweden”)
- Norja (“Norway”)
- Tanska (“Denmark”)
- Islanti (“Iceland”)
- Venäjä (“Russia”)
- Viro (“Estonia”)
- Ranska (“France”)
- Saksa (“Germany”)
- Espanja (“Spain”)
- Italia (“Italy”)
- Portugali (“Portugal”)
- Kreikka (“Greece”)
- Puola (“Poland”)
- Yhdysvallat (“United States”)
- Kanada (“Canada”)
- Yhdistynyt Kuningaskunta (“United Kingdom”)
- Australia (“Australia”)
- Uusi Seelanti (“New Zealand”)
Is your home country not included above? Look for it on our World Countries vocabulary list, and then learn how to say what your nationality is by visiting our Nationalities vocabulary list. (As a rule of thumb, you typically add -lainen to the name of your country to get the nationality.)
Kuka tietää, mikä maa tämä on? (“Who knows which country this is?”)
3 – Body Parts
- otsa (“forehead”)
- poski (“cheek”)
- leuka (“chin”)
- kaula (“neck”)
- olkapää (“shoulder”)
- kyynärpää (“elbow”)
- rinta (“chest”)
- selkä (“back”)
- vatsa / maha (“stomach”)
- takapuoli (“backside”)
- reisi (“thigh”)
- polvi (“knee”)
- sormi (“finger”)
- varvas (“toe”)
- kantapää (“heel”)
- jalkapohja (“sole”)
For more words and pronunciation help, visit our Body Parts in Finnish vocabulary list.
4 – Substances
- vesi (“water”)
- lumi (“snow”)
- hiekka (“sand”)
- veri (“blood”)
- lika (“dirt”)
- rasva (“grease”)
- ruoste (“rust”)
- maali (“paint”)
- pesuaine (“detergent”)
- polttoaine (“fuel”)
- muste (“ink”)
- terva (“tar”)
- liima (“glue”)
- lima (“slime”)
5 – Food and Drink
- alkupala (“appetizer” / “starter”)
- välipala (“snack”)
- pääruoka (“main dish”)
- aamupala (“breakfast”)
- lounas (“lunch”)
- päivällinen / illallinen (“dinner”)
- jälkiruoka (“dessert”)
- ateria (“meal”)
- riisi (“rice”)
- pasta (“pasta”)
- peruna (“potato”)
- puuro (“porridge”)
- salaatti (“salad”)
- voileipä (“sandwich”)
- jäätelö (“ice-cream”)
- viini (“wine”)
- olut / kalja (“beer”)
- kahvi (“coffee”)
- tee (“tea”)
- maito (“milk”)
- (tuore)mehu (“juice”)
- juoma (“drink”)
- alkoholi (“alcohol”)
Lounas ystävien kanssa (“Lunch with friends”)
6 – Rooms
- keittiö (“kitchen”)
- olohuone (“living room”)
- makuuhuone (“bedroom”)
- kylpyhuone (“bathroom”)
- vessa / WC (“toilet”)
- eteinen (“hallway”)
- käytävä (“corridor”)
- hotellihuone (“hotel room”)
7 – Nature
- laakso (“valley”)
- kukkula (“hill”)
- tunturi (“fell”)
- aavikko (“desert”)
- suo (“bog” / “swamp”)
- lähde (“spring”)
- lampi (“pond” / “pool”)
- ranta (“beach” / “shore”)
- saari (“island”)
- saaristo (“archipelago”)
- puro (“stream”)
- vesiputous (“waterfall”)
- valtameri (“ocean”)
Pieni puro lumisessa metsässä (“A small stream in a snowy forest”)
8 – City Life
- keskusta (“city center”)
- kaupunginosa (“district” / “neighborhood”)
- lähiö (“suburb”)
- katu (“street”)
- kuja (“alley”)
- risteys (“crossing” / “junction”)
- suojatie (“crosswalk” / “zebra crossing”)
- liikennemerkki (“traffic sign”)
- liikenneympyrä (“traffic circle” / “roundabout”)
- kerrostalo (“high rise” / “apartment building”)
- omakotitalo (“detached house” / “single-family home”)
- puisto (“park”)
- satama (“harbor”)
- silta (“bridge”)
- patsas (“statue”)
- ostoskeskus (“shopping center” / “mall”)
9 – Clothes
- paita (“shirt”)
- t-paita (“T-shirt”)
- villapaita / neulepaita (“sweater” / “jumper”)
- huppari (“hoodie”)
- sukkahousut (“tights”)
- sukka (“sock”)
- alushousut (“underpants”)
- housut (“pants” / “trousers”)
- puku (“suit” / “costume”)
- iltapuku (“evening gown”)
- mekko (“dress”)
- sortsit / shortsit (“shorts”)
- takki (“jacket”)
- hattu (“hat”)
- pipo (“beanie” / “knit cap”)
- käsine (“glove”)
- kenkä (“shoe”)
- sandaali (“sandal”)
- yöpaita (“nightshirt” / “nightgown”)
- pyjama (“pajamas”)
- kravatti (“tie”)
Vaateostoksilla (“Clothes shopping”)
3. Verbs
In our guide to beginner vocabulary, we listed 50 essential Finnish verbs. Get ready to learn over 50 more!
1 – Communication Verbs
Are you bored of using the verbs sanoa (“to say”) and puhua (“to speak”)? Lucky for you, there are countless alternatives to choose from! Try one of these next time:
- kertoa (“to tell”)
- ehdottaa (“to suggest”)
- väittää (“to claim”)
- inttää (“to insist” / “to argue”)
- tunnustaa (“to confess”)
- myöntää (“to admit”)
- kieltää (“to deny” / “to forbid”)
- lisätä (“to add”)
- vahvistaa (“to confirm”)
- kommentoida (“to comment” / “to remark”)
- neuvoa (“to advise”)
- selittää (“to explain”)
- keskeyttää (“to interrupt”)
- vakuuttaa (“to assert” / “to convince”)
- olettaa (“to assume”)
- toistaa (“to repeat”)
- raportoida (“to report”)
- spekuloida (“to speculate”)
- vahvistaa (“to verify”)
- vitsailla (“to joke”)
- vannoa (“to swear” / “to vow”)
- kiroilla (“to swear” / “to curse”)
- rukoilla (“to beg” / “to pray”)
- rohkaista (“to encourage”)
- kehottaa (“to recommend” / “to urge”)
- ohjeistaa (“to instruct”)
- painottaa (“to stress” / “to emphasize”)
- syyttää (“to accuse”)
- komentaa (“to command”)
- kehua (“to praise” / “to brag”)
- loukata (“to insult” / “to offend”)
- valehdella (“to lie”)
- nalkuttaa (“to nag”)
- provosoida (“to provoke”)
- ilmoittaa (“to declare” / “to announce”)
- vihjata (“to hint”)
- valittaa (“to complain”)
- varoittaa (“to caution”)
- arvata (“to guess”)
- jaaritella (“to ramble”)
- paasata (“to rant”)
- moittia (“to scold”)
- uhkailla (“to threaten”)
- varoittaa (“to warn”)
- pilkata (“to mock”)
- onnitella (“to congratulate”)
- hurrata (“to cheer”)
- toivoa (“to wish”)
- lohduttaa (“to console”)
- möläyttää (“to blurt”)
- ihmetellä (“to marvel”)
- puhutella (“to address”)
- kerskailla (“to boast”)
- kuvailla (“to describe”)
- muistuttaa (“to remind”)
- epäillä (“to doubt”)
- huutaa (“to shout”)
- kirkua (“to scream”)
- kuiskata (“to whisper”)
- mumista (“to mutter”)
- änkyttää (“to stutter”)
2 – Auxiliary Verbs
You’ve already learned the most important Finnish auxiliary verb: olla (“to be”). There are a handful of other verbs that can also take on the role of an auxiliary. These are some of the most usable ones:
- yrittää (“to try” / “to attempt”)
- alkaa (“to start”)
- aikoa (“to intend”)
- uskaltaa (“to dare”)
- ehtiä (“to make it” / “to have time to”)
- jaksaa (“to manage” / “to have enough strength”)
- päättää (“to decide”)
See the full list of Finnish auxiliary verbs on Wiktionary.
3 – Other Useful Finnish Verbs
- rakastaa (“to love”)
- jatkaa (“to continue”)
- lähettää (“to send”)
- esitellä (“to introduce” / “to present”)
- hyväksyä (“to accept” / “to approve”)
- kieltäytyä (“to refuse” / “to decline”)
- toimia (“to act”)
- pelata (“to play,” for example: games and sports)
- leikkiä (“to play,” refers to play-acting and playing with toys)
- valita (“to choose” / “to select”)
- koskettaa (“to touch”)
- voittaa (“to win”)
- hävitä (“to lose” / “to disappear”)
- ansaita (“to deserve” / “to earn”)
- onnistua (“to succeed” / “to manage”)
- muuttua (“to change”)
- estää (“to prevent”)
- pysähtyä (“to stop”)
- tavata (“to meet”)
- tuoda (“to bring”)
- saavuttaa (“to reach” / “to achieve”)
- valmistaa (“to prepare” / “to make”)
- harkita (“to consider”)
- tutkia (“to examine” / “to study”)
- imitoida (“to imitate” / “to mimic”)
- työntää (“to push”)
- vetää (“to pull”)
- pyöräillä (“to cycle”)
- purjehtia (“to sail”)
- lentää (“to fly”)
- ohjata (“to steer”)
- uida (“to swim”)
- sukeltaa (“to dive”)
- hypätä (“to jump”)
4. Adjectives
Learning lots of adjectives is something that students at the beginner level can put off. However, intermediate learners will definitely want to enrich their conversations with these descriptive words.
As a friendly reminder, Finnish adjectives must agree in number and case with the nouns they modify!
1 – Describing Objects
- sileä (“smooth”)
- karhea (“rough”)
- pehmeä (“soft”)
- kova (“hard”)
- pyöreä (“round”)
- litteä (“flat”)
- leveä (“wide”)
- kapea (“narrow”)
- kuuma (“hot”)
- lämmin (“warm”)
- kylmä (“cold”)
- viileä (“cool”)
- värikäs (“colorful”)
- herkullinen (“delicious”)
- makea (“sweet” / “sugary”)
- suolainen (“savory” / “salty”)
- mausteinen (“spicy”)
- tyhjä (“empty”)
- täysi (“full”)
Onko tämä lasi puoliksi tyhjä vai puoliksi täysi? (“Is this glass half empty or half full?”)
2 – Describing People
- vakava (“serious”)
- ystävällinen (“friendly”)
- töykeä (“rude”)
- kohtelias (“polite”)
- ylpeä (“proud”)
- ujo (“shy”)
- itsevarma (“confident”)
- itsepäinen (“stubborn”)
- omahyväinen (“smug” / “self-satisfied”)
- utelias (“curious”)
- antelias (“generous”)
- itsekäs (“selfish”)
- turhamainen (“vain”)
- rohkea (“brave”)
- uskalias (“daring” / “bold”)
- äänekäs (“loud”)
- hiljainen (“quiet”)
- ilkeä (“mean”)
- tuhma (“naughty”)
- kiltti (“kind”)
- heikko (“weak”)
- kalpea (“pale”)
- ruskettunut (“tanned”)
3 – Other Useful Adjectives
- hyvä (“good”)
- huono (“bad” / “worthless”)
- paha (“bad” / “evil”)
- outo / kummallinen (“strange” / “odd”)
- kamala (“awful” / “terrible”)
- ihana (“lovely” / “wonderful”)
- hauska (“funny”)
- mukava (“comfortable” / “nice”)
- monimutkainen (“complicated”)
- yksinkertainen (“simple”)
- valoisa (“bright” / “light”)
- pimeä (“dark”)
- ainutlaatuinen (“unique”)
- vaarallinen (“dangerous”)
- turvallinen (“safe”)
- ärsyttävä (“annoying”)
- tylsä (“boring” / “dull”)
- korkea (“high”)
- matala (“low”)
Our lesson Using Finnish Adjectives will explain how to apply grammatical cases (and more) to Finnish adjectives if you need a refresher on the topic.
5. Adverbs
Adverbs are another group of words that you can mostly ignore at the absolute beginner level, but you should definitely start paying attention to them once you reach the intermediate Finnish level.
1 – Time Adverbs (When and How Often?)
- nyt (“now”)
- joskus (“sometimes”)
- harvoin (“rarely”)
- aina (“always”)
- yleensä (“usually”)
- jatkuvasti (“continuously”)
- jo (“already”)
- kauan (“a long time”)
- uudelleen (“again”)
- lopulta (“at last”)
- ajoissa (“on time”)
- myöhässä (“late”)
- etuajassa (“early”)
Hienoa, juna on etuajassa. (“Excellent, the train is early.”)
2 – Positional Adverbs (Where?)
- jossain / jossakin (“somewhere”)
- ei missään (“nowhere”)
- muualla (“elsewhere”)
- ylhäällä (“up” / “above”)
- alhaalla (“down” / “below”)
- päällä (“on top of”)
- alla (“under” / “below”)
- kaukana (“far”)
- lähellä (“close”)
3 – Mode Adverbs (How?)
- hyvin (“well”)
- huonosti (“badly”)
- nopeasti (“quickly”)
- hitaasti (“slowly”)
- helposti (“easily”)
- vaikeasti (“with difficulty”)
- hiljaa (“quietly”)
- rauhallisesti (“calmly”)
4 – Quantity Adverbs (How Much?)
- paljon (“a lot”)
- vähän (“a little”)
- tarpeeksi / riittävästi (“enough”)
- lähes / melkein (“almost”)
- noin (“about” / “approximately”)
If you need more Finnish adverbs in your life, you can head over to FinnishPod101.com and sample our vocabulary lists Must-Know Adverbs and Phrases for Connecting Thoughts and Essential Adverbs of Frequency and Time.
6. Bonus Vocabulary for Intermediate Learners: Finnish “False Friends”
As you probably know, there are many English loanwords in the Finnish language, and these are really helpful for language learners! When you see the words video (“video”) and internetti (“internet”), for example, you’ll instantly know what they mean without having to look them up in our Finnish dictionary.
However, you should stay vigilant for väärät ystävät (“false friends”). These are words that look like loanwords but actually have different meanings in English and Finnish. Keep your eye out for the following:
- kaniini looks like “canine” but means “rabbit”
- kumina looks like “cumin” but means “caraway”
- greippi looks like “grape” but means “grapefruit”
- harmonikka looks like “harmonica” but means “accordion”
- home looks like “home” but means “mold” or “mildew”
- motoristi looks like “motorist” but means “motorcyclist”
- novelli looks like “novel” but means “short story”
- undulaatti looks like “undulate” but means “budgerigar” or “budgie”
- happi looks like “happy” but means “oxygen”
- mappi looks like “map” but means “binder”
You’ll find more Finnish “false friends” on Jukka Korpela’s helpful list.
Varo vääriä ystäviä! (“Beware of false friends!”)
Lopuksi
In this guide, we covered a lot of ground and listed over 350 Finnish words suitable for intermediate learners, including dozens of conversation verbs and a wide range of nouns. Were there any gaps in our selection that you’d like to see included in the future? If so, leave us a comment below—we appreciate your feedback!
If you’re still hungry for more intermediate vocabulary, visit our YouTube channel to learn how to expand your Finnish vocabulary with reading, or watch our Intermediate Finnish words and phrases video to practice your listening comprehension skills. Or come and visit us at FinnishPod101.com. From free vocabulary lists to the 1-on-1 MyTeacher program, we have plenty of resources to help you take your next steps toward fluency in Finnish.
Happy learning with FinnishPod101!
