Once you’ve learned how to say hello, mastering how to say goodbye in Finnish should be really high up on your list of essential language skills to pick up. Knowing a few key parting phrases will help you navigate formal and informal social situations with finesse, and using the right expressions is guaranteed to leave a favorable impression.

We’ll start off with the most important Finnish words for goodbye, and then walk you through a number of other expressions that Finns use when parting in different contexts. These include phrases that emphasize your desire to see someone again and phrases that you can use to wish someone well. Once you’ve learned a couple of your favorites, it will be easy to mix and match them to get your message across!

• If you’ve forgotten how to begin a conversation, be sure to review our list of common ways to say hello in Finnish, read our in-depth look at Finnish greetings on our blog, and watch our video on introducing yourself like a native Finn.

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Table of Contents

1. The Most Common Ways to Say Goodbye in Finnish
2. Specific Ways to Say Goodbye
3. Goodbye Gestures in Finland
4. Lopuksi

1. The Most Common Ways to Say Goodbye in Finnish

If you’re just after a quick translation for the word goodbye in Finnish, look no further. We’ll cover the most common formal and informal ways to say goodbye before moving on to other useful expressions. However, we really recommend sticking around until the end—there are numerous phrases to learn that are guaranteed to come in handy!

1 – Goodbye

When saying goodbye, there’s one word that you can safely use in almost any situation:

• Näkemiin. (“Goodbye.”)

This expression is derived from the word nähdä (“to see”), and its literal meaning is “until seeing.” It’s a polite way to say goodbye, so you can use it whenever you’re talking to older people or those you don’t know very well.

The equivalent expression to use when ending a phone call is:

• Kuulemiin. (“Goodbye.”)

 This one is derived from the word kuulla (“to hear”) and literally means “until hearing.”

2 – Bye

Now that we’ve covered the formal way to say goodbye, let’s see how to say a more informal “bye.” Actually,  the words in this section embody how to say hello and goodbye in Finnish—they can be used for both purposes! 

• Hei (“Hi” / “Bye”)
• Moi (“Hi” / “Bye”)

However, the words above can sound a little abrupt when parting, and it’s more common to use these longer variants when taking leave:

• Hei hei (“Bye-bye”)
• Moi moi (“Bye-bye”)

These Finnish phrases for goodbye are neutral expressions and are very common in Finland. They can be used in a variety of situations, from business meetings to coffee dates with friends.

And finally, these two words are more casual versions of hei and moi:

• Heippa (“Hi” / “Bye”)
• Moikka (“Hi” / “Bye”)

Hei hei, nähdään koulun jälkeen. (“Bye-bye, see you after school.”)

2. Specific Ways to Say Goodbye

Now you know the most essential expressions, but let’s not leave it there! Now we’re going to learn a number of phrases that will take your goodbyes to the next level.

1 – See you!

The Finnish equivalent to the casual expression “see you” is the verb nähdä (“to see”) in its passive form:

• Nähdään! (“See you!”)
• Nähdään taas. (“See you again.”)

You can use this expression with people you know well, and whom you expect to see again sometime. Here are a few different variations you can use in case you want to be a bit more specific about when you plan to see them again:

• Nähdään pian. (“See you soon.”)
• Nähdään myöhemmin. (“See you later.”)
• Nähdään huomenna. (“See you tomorrow.”)
• Nähdään ensi viikolla. (“See you next week.”)
• Nähdään maanantaina. (“See you on Monday.”)

You can customize that final phrase by using any other day of the week—just add the ending -na to the name of the weekday. In case you need a refresher on how to say the days of the week in Finnish, you’ll find them all on this vocabulary list.

Other verbs can also be used in a similar way. Take, for example, the humorous phrase below, using the verb törmäillä (“to repeatedly bump into something”) in the passive form:

Törmäillään! (“See you!”)

Learn more about the passive voice in Finnish on Wikipedia.

It’s a date!

2 – Until next time!

Here are some more examples of how to say goodbye in Finland when you expect to meet someone again. In these expressions, the noun is in the illative case.

• Ensi kertaan! (“Until next time!”)
• Seuraavaan kertaan! (“Until next time!”)

Note that the word ensi can mean either “the first” or “the next,” depending on the context. For example, ensi-ilta refers to the premiere or opening (i.e. the first) night of a film or theater production. In contrast, seuraava always means “the next.”

Using the same form, you can also refer to meeting someone the next day, for example:

• Huomiseen! (“Until tomorrow!”)
• Ensi viikkoon! (“Until next week!”)

3 – Keep well.

It’s nice to wish somebody well when saying goodbye! Let’s take a look at a couple of ways to do just that.

The verb voida is used to express how someone is feeling or doing. Using the imperative mood, you can use this verb to wish someone well, particularly when you’re not going to see them for a while:

• Voi hyvin. (“Keep well.”)

You can also use the word pärjäillä (“to be fine” / “to do okay”) when you want to wish someone well. These expressions are especially relevant when the other person is going through challenging times (though the first one can also be neutral):

• Pärjäile. (“Hang in there.”)
• Koita pärjätä. (“Try to hang in there.”)

Want to wish them all the best? Say this:

• Kaikkea hyvää. (“All the best.”)

Koita pärjätä. (“Try to hang in there.”)

4 – It was nice to see you.

Here’s how to tell someone that you’ve enjoyed your time with them:

• Oli kiva nähdä. (“It was nice to see you.”)

Note that the Finnish sentence doesn’t actually include the words “it” (se) and “you” (sinä). A literal translation would be: “Was nice to see.”

Here are a couple of similar expressions:

• Oli hauska tutustua. (“It was fun to meet you.”)
• Oli mukava jutella. (“It was lovely to chat with you.”)

Would you like to construct more sentences like those above to suit a specific situation? Look up more verbs in Finnish on our most common verbs list.

5 – Let’s keep in touch.

Have you made a nice Finnish friend and want to chat again? Here are a few Finnish goodbye phrases you can use to say so. Remember nähdään (“see you”)? Again, we’re going to use the passive form of our chosen verb:

• Pidetään yhteyttä. (“Let’s keep in touch.”)
• Palataan asiaan. (“Let’s get back to it.”)
• Palaillaan. (“Let’s get back to it.” – A casual alternative to the phrase above.)
• Soitellaan. (“Let’s keep calling.”)
• Kirjoitellaan. (“Let’s keep writing.”)

Soitellaan. (“Let’s keep calling.”)

6 – Have a nice day.

Here are a few different ways to tell someone to have a nice time as you part ways:

• Hyvää päivän jatkoa. (“Have a nice day onwards.”)
• Hauskaa iltaa. (“Have a fun evening.” – Used especially when the other person has special plans.)
• Hyvää illan jatkoa. (“Have a nice evening onwards.”)
• Hyvää yötä. (“Goodnight.”)
• Hyvää viikonloppua. (“Have a nice weekend.”)
• Hyvää lomaa. (“Have a nice vacation.”)

Note that the word jatko in päivän jatkoa and illan jatkoa refers to a “continuation” of the day or evening. You can use the word jatko by itself, too. This expression is suited for situations when you’re not going to see the other person for a while:

• Hyvää jatkoa. (“All the best in the future.”)

Hyvää yötä! (“Goodnight!”)

7 – Farewell.

Tread carefully! This is an expression that you should only really use if you never expect (or intend) to see someone again:

• Hyvästi. (“Farewell.”)

This word is derived from the word hyvä (“good”), and it’s used as a common way to wish someone well when parting. So why does it have a somewhat negative connotation now? The meaning of the word changed during wartime—because you couldn’t be sure if you would ever see your loved ones again, the expression became associated with a permanent parting of ways. Nowadays, hyvästi is rarely used in Finland, and it sounds fairly formal.

Hyvästi means goodbye forever.

8 – Saying goodbye in an email or letter

What about saying goodbye in writing? Here are a couple of ways to close an email or letter in Finnish:

• Terveisin. (“Best wishes.”)
• Ystävällisin terveisin. (“Kind regards.”)
• Rakkaudella. (“Much love.”)
• Kiittäen. (“Thanks.”)

You can learn more Finnish expressions to use in emails and letters on here.

3. Goodbye Gestures in Finland

So now you’ve learned a lot of goodbye expressions, but what about goodbye gestures?

A simple wave of the hand works in any casual situation, whereas a brief and firm handshake is commonplace when saying goodbye in formal situations. Hugging is common among close friends, family members, and romantic partners, while French-style cheek kisses are not used in Finland.

Want to learn more about Finnish customs and manners? Read more about the topic on This is Finland.

If in doubt, shake hands!

4. Lopuksi

In this article, you’ve learned numerous ways to say goodbye in Finnish, so you’ll never be at a loss for words when taking your leave! If you’re unsure about how to pronounce these expressions, you can find recordings of many of them on our list of the most common ways to say goodbye in Finnish, available for free on FinnishPod101.com.

While on our website, be sure to explore our other vocabulary lists (we frequently add new ones), our convenient three-minute video lessons, and our entertaining audio lessons. You can sign up for a free account to keep track of the lessons you’ve taken, or go for a Premium PLUS account to reach fluency fast with the help of an experienced Finnish teacher.

Which expressions are your favorites? Are there any other ways to say goodbye in Finnish you’ve heard that we didn’t cover? As always, we love to hear from you, so join the discussion by leaving a comment!