CEFR A1 in Finnish: what you can do

A1 is the very first step. Finnish has a reputation for being hard, but the beginner level is friendlier than it sounds: there are no articles, no grammatical gender, and one word, hän, covers both "he" and "she". Spelling is almost perfectly phonetic, so what you see is what you say. A few hundred words and a handful of patterns already get a lot done.

What you can do

• Greet people and say goodbye: Hei! Moi! Hyvää huomenta. Näkemiin. Hei hei.
• Introduce yourself and ask simple questions: Olen Maria. Mikä sinun nimesi on? Missä asut?
• Say thank you and ask for help: Kiitos. Anteeksi. Voitko auttaa? En ymmärrä.
• Count, ask a price and understand a short answer: Paljonko se maksaa? Se maksaa viisi euroa.
• Order a coffee and a cinnamon bun at a café: Yksi kahvi ja korvapuusti, kiitos.

A quick self-check

You are probably at A1 if you can do most of these:

• Say your name, where you live and where you come from.
• Understand Mitä kuuluu? and answer Hyvää, kiitos.
• Read a short sign or a simple menu with help from the pictures.
• Write a few simple sentences about yourself.

Typical grammar at A1

Pronouns and the verb olla

The pronouns are minä, sinä, hän, me, te, he. The verb olla (to be) changes with the subject, and you can often leave the pronoun out because the ending already shows who is speaking.

Present tense of regular verbs

Most verbs end in -a / -ä in the dictionary form. Drop that vowel, add the person ending, and the stem sometimes changes (see consonant gradation).

Saying no

Finnish has a negative verb that changes with the person, while the main verb stays in its plain stem form: en puhu, et puhu, ei puhu. Minä en puhu suomea hyvin. (I do not speak Finnish well.)

Yes/no questions

Add -ko / -kö to the verb and put it first: Puhutko englantia? Asutko Helsingissä? The answer is the verb again: Puhun. or En puhu. There is no single word for "yes" or "no" in a full answer.

In everyday speech, Finns often skip the -ko and ask with rising intonation alone: Puhut englantia? This is normal and friendly, but you will see the -ko form in writing and in textbooks, so learn it first.

The first cases

Finnish uses endings where English uses small words. Two are enough at A1: the -ssa / -ssä ending for "in" (Asun Helsingissä) and the partitive for things you want some of (Haluan kahvia). See place cases and the partitive.

Numbers 1 to 10

yksi, kaksi, kolme, neljä, viisi, kuusi, seitsemän, kahdeksan, yhdeksän, kymmenen.

Vocabulary themes

• Greetings, names, countries and nationalities
• Family, home and everyday objects
• Food and drink, including coffee and korvapuusti
• Numbers, the days of the week (maanantai, tiistai, keskiviikko...) and colours
• Shops, prices and simple directions

What you may find hard

• Pronunciation. Long and short sounds change meaning: tuli (fire), tuuli (wind), tulli (customs). Stress is always on the first syllable. The letters ä, ö, y are front vowels with no exact English match.
• The endings. A word you learned changes shape when you use it: talo becomes talossa. Learn the ending along with the word.
• Long words. They are mostly short words joined together, so look for the parts.
• Vowel harmony. Endings have two forms, for example -ssa and -ssä (see vowel harmony).

Exams and courses

The national language certificate is the YKI (Yleiset kielitutkinnot), which tests Finnish at three bands. The basic band covers A1 and A2. Many adult newcomers also study at an adult education centre or a university language course. If you need a certificate for residence or citizenship, check the requirement that applies to you.

How to practise at this level

Learn useful chunks, not single words. Start with introducing yourself and ordering at a restaurant. Say sentences aloud every day. When ready, move on to A2.

Practice

Remember that olla changes with the person, that the negative verb carries the person, and that -ko makes a question.