Learn how to ask practical questions about business hours
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to FinnishPod101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 23 - Asking About Business Hours in Finnish. Michael here. |
| Nico: Hei. I'm Nico. |
| Michael: In this lesson you’ll learn how to express the time, both numerically and verbally. The conversation takes place at a flower shop. |
| Nico: It's between Vilja and a flower shop sales assistant. |
| Michael: The speakers are in a customer service situation, so they’ll be using formal Finnish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Vilja: Iltaa! Ehtisinkö vielä valita kukkakimpun? |
| Sales Assistant: Iltaa! Pahoittelen, mutta olemme itseasiassa juuri sulkemassa. |
| Vilja: Mihin aikaan suljette näin arkisin? |
| Sales Assistant: Kello kahdeksalta. |
| Vilja: Oi, olen tosiaan hiukan myöhässä, pahoittelen. Mihin aikaan avaatte? |
| Salest Assistant: Kello viideltä. |
| Vilja: Siis, vasta kello seitsemäntoista? |
| Salest Assistant: Ei, vaan aamu viideltä. Meille tuodaan kukkatoimituksia jo siihen aikaan, joten pidämme myös kaupan auki. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Vilja: Iltaa! Ehtisinkö vielä valita kukkakimpun? |
| Sales Assistant: Iltaa! Pahoittelen, mutta olemme itseasiassa juuri sulkemassa. |
| Vilja: Mihin aikaan suljette näin arkisin? |
| Sales Assistant: Kello kahdeksalta. |
| Vilja: Oi, olen tosiaan hiukan myöhässä, pahoittelen. Mihin aikaan avaatte? |
| Salest Assistant: Kello viideltä. |
| Vilja: Siis, vasta kello seitsemäntoista? |
| Salest Assistant: Ei, vaan aamu viideltä. Meille tuodaan kukkatoimituksia jo siihen aikaan, joten pidämme myös kaupan auki. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Vilja: Good evening! Do I still have time to choose a bouquet? |
| Sales Assistant: Good evening! I am sorry, but we’re actually just about to close. |
| Vilja: What time do you close on weekdays? |
| Sales Assistant: At eight o'clock. |
| Vilja: Oh, I really am a little bit late aren't I, I'm sorry. What time do you open? |
| Sales Assistant: At five o'clock. |
| Vilja: So, not until five p.m.? |
| Sales Assistant: No, I mean five a.m. Flower deliveries are already being brought to us at that time, so we also keep the shop open. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Nico, what are the usual business hours in Finland? |
| Nico: The opening hours for shops are still quite strictly controlled in Finland, and shops can't choose their business hours completely on their own. |
| Michael: In recent years, the operating hours for shops have expanded quite a lot though - for example, nowadays some smaller shops stay open even on Sundays. Aren’t there special periods during which shop owners can choose their opening hours? |
| Nico: Yes, for example during the Christmas season and on pre-set dates, all shops can do this. But on Saturdays, most shops must be closed by six p.m. |
| Michael: That must catch quite a few tourists by surprise! What’s the Finnish word for “operating hours”? |
| Nico: aukioloaika |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: ehtiä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to make it, to have the time |
| Nico: ehtiä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: ehtiä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: sulkea [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to close |
| Nico: sulkea[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: sulkea [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: mihin aikaan [natural native speed] |
| Michael: what time |
| Nico: mihin aikaan[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: mihin aikaan [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: arki [natural native speed] |
| Michael: weekday |
| Nico: arki[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: arki [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: kello kahdeksan [natural native speed] |
| Michael: at eight o'clock |
| Nico: kello kahdeksan[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: kello kahdeksan [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: olla myöhässä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to be late |
| Nico: olla myöhässä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: olla myöhässä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: avata [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to open |
| Nico: avata[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: avata [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: kello seitsemäntoista [natural native speed] |
| Michael: at five o'clock |
| Nico: kello seitsemäntoista[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: kello seitsemäntoista [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Nico: aamu viideltä [natural native speed] |
| Michael: at five a.m. |
| Nico: aamu viideltä[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nico: aamu viideltä [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nico: kukkakimppu |
| Michael: meaning "bouquet." |
| Nico: As with many other words we’ve already seen, this one is also a compound of kukka, meaning "flower," and kimppu, meaning "bundle." |
| Michael: So it literally means “a bundle of flowers.” Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Keräsin niityltä kauniin kukkakimpun. |
| Michael: ..which means "I picked a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the meadow." Can we use this to talk about any bunch of flowers? |
| Nico: When you’re referring to a rather large decorative flower arrangement that is not meant to be kept in a vase, the word kukkavihko, meaning “an ornamental flower arrangement,” is usually used. This goes especially for funeral flowers, a case in which the word suruvihko, meaning “mourning bouquet,” is also used. |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nico: itseasiassa |
| Michael: meaning "as a matter of fact." |
| Nico: itseasiassa is made up of itse referring to "self" and asia meaning "fact." |
| Michael: So literally the expression would be "in the fact itself." Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nico: Sure. For example, you can say.. Hän on itseasiassa siskoni. |
| Michael: .. which means "As a matter of fact, she's my sister." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you will learn how to inquire about a business' operating hours. You will master time expressions while inquiring about business hours. |
| Nico: Let’s start by saying that in Finnish the abbreviations for a.m. and p.m. don’t exist, and the time is defined by either stating the time of the day with the number, or by just saying the number. |
| Michael: For example, how can we say “six o’clock”? |
| Nico: We can say kello kuudelta, which can mean both “six a.m.” and “six p.m.” Kello is the word for “clock.” |
| Michael: So how can you distinguish between them? Do you use something like “at eighteen hours”? |
| Nico: Yes, that would be kello kahdeksantoista, which clearly means “six p.m.” |
| Michael: Could you give us other examples? |
| Nico: kello seitsemäntoista, |
| Michael: literally “at seventeen hours,” |
| Nico: kello viideltä |
| Michael: literally “five o’clock” and it can mean both “at five a.m.” or “at five p.m.” |
| Nico: If you need to clarify, you can add the time of the day just before saying the number. For example,“morning” is [slowly] aamu so aamu viideltä can be translated as “at five a.m.” Or you can also say aamu viisi, meaning “five a.m.” |
| Michael: What’s the word for “evening”? |
| Nico: That is [slowly] ilta, so you can say, for example, Syön aina ilta kuudelta. |
| Michael: Which means “I always eat at six p.m.” If you are meeting someone, it’s very important to be sure you know the time. |
| Nico: Let’s hear another example - puoli kymmeneltä |
| Michael: which means “half past nine,” or literally “half to ten.” |
| Nico: It can be also expressed as yhdeksän kolmekymmentä |
| Michael: meaning “nine thirty a.m.” Let’s look at the ways to say “six p.m.” |
| Nico: You have three options. You can say kuudelta, meaning just “at six o’clock”, ilta kuudelta meaning “at six p.m.”, and kello kahdeksantoista “at eighteen hours.” |
| Michael: You can find more examples in the lesson notes. Now let’s give some other expressions related to time and opening hours. How can we say “When do you open?” |
| Nico:You can say Milloin avaatte?, [little pause] Milloin on its own means “when,” so similarly “When do you close?” is Milloin suljette? |
| Michael: Could we ask the same thing in a different way? |
| Nico: Yes, you can also say Mihin aikaan avaatte? |
| Michael: which means “What time do you open?” |
| Nico: Mihin aikaan? on its own means “What time?” so similarly “What time do you close?” is Mihin aikaan suljette? |
| Michael: To wrap up this lesson, let’s give a couple of examples that show how to use time expressions. |
| Nico: Sure! Nähdään huomenna yhdeksältä. |
| Michael: "Let's meet up tomorrow at nine o'clock." |
| Nico: Tarkoititko kello kuusi vai kahdeksantoista? |
| Michael: "Did you mean at six a.m. or at six p.m.?" |
| Nico: Tasan kahdelta. |
| Michael: “At exactly two o’clock.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nico: Hei hei. |
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