Personal pronouns minä, sinä, hän, me, te, he
I can use Finnish personal pronouns correctly.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Minä olen suomalainen.
I am Finnish.
Hän on opettaja.
He/she is a teacher.
Me asumme Helsingissä.
We live in Helsinki.
Te olette tervetulleita.
You (plural) are welcome.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Finnish has 6 personal pronouns. The most striking feature: hän means both 'he' and 'she' — Finnish has no grammatical gender!
| Person | Written | Spoken |
|---|---|---|
| I | minä | mä |
| you (sg.) | sinä | sä |
| he/she | hän | se |
| we | me | me |
| you (pl.) | te | te |
| they | he | ne |
In spoken Finnish, se (literally 'it') is used for people — this is normal, not rude!
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTrying to distinguish he/she (hän covers both). Using sinä when te is more appropriate formally.
Trying to distinguish he/she in Finnish
Remember: hän = both he and she. Finnish has no grammatical gender.
Confusion about sinä vs te for formal
Te (capitalized Te) can be formal 'you' but is less common than in German/French.
Minä olen suomalainen.
I am Finnish.
Minä = I. In spoken Finnish, often shortened to 'mä'.
Hän on opettaja.
He/she is a teacher.
Hän = he OR she. Finnish has no grammatical gender!
Me asumme Helsingissä.
We live in Helsinki.
Me = we. The verb 'asua' is conjugated: asumme (we live).
Te olette tervetulleita.
You (plural) are welcome.
Te = you (plural/formal). Like French 'vous' or German 'Sie'.
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Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises