Finnish alphabet, vowel harmony, double letters, special sounds
I can recognize and pronounce Finnish vowels and understand vowel harmony.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Tämä on pöytä.
This is a table.
Auto on iso.
The car is big.
Tuuli on kylmä.
The wind is cold.
Yö on pitkä.
The night is long.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Finnish has 29 letters. The special letters å, ä, ö are separate letters (not variants of a/o). Finnish has 8 vowels divided into groups:
| Back vowels | Front vowels | Neutral |
|---|---|---|
| a, o, u | ä, ö, y | e, i |
A Finnish word can contain EITHER back vowels (a/o/u) OR front vowels (ä/ö/y), never both. Neutral vowels (e/i) can appear with either group. This affects suffixes: talo+ssa (in a house) but pöytä+ssä (on a table).
Length matters! tuli (fire) vs tuuli (wind) vs tulli (customs). Both vowels and consonants can be doubled.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesConfusing ä [æ] with a [ɑ]; treating y as English 'y' instead of [y]; ignoring vowel/consonant length distinctions.
Mixing front and back vowels in one word
Check: does the word have a/o/u OR ä/ö/y? Never both.
Wrong vowel length changing meaning
Practice minimal pairs: tuli/tuuli, tuli/tulli.
Tämä on pöytä.
This is a table.
Front vowels ä and ö appear together (vowel harmony).
Auto on iso.
The car is big.
Back vowels a, o, u appear together in 'auto'.
Tuuli on kylmä.
The wind is cold.
Double vowel 'uu' in tuuli — compare: tuli (fire), tuuli (wind), tulli (customs).
Yö on pitkä.
The night is long.
Y [y] is a front rounded vowel (like German ü). Ö [ø] is like German ö.
The check for this topic is still being prepared
Ready-made hints are free
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises