CEFR B1 in Finnish: what you can do

B1 is the level where Finnish starts to feel like a language you can live in. You can deal with most situations in Finland, tell a story, give a reason and say what you think. It is also the level where many learners stall, because the beginner grammar is done and the next steps are less obvious. The way forward is more listening, more reading and more feedback on your own writing.

What you can do

• Talk about experiences, plans, hopes and opinions, and give short reasons.
• Politely ask for things and make requests: Haluaisin varata ajan. Voisitko auttaa minua?
• Write a clear email or a short message, and fill in forms.
• Understand the main points of a news item in clear language, such as Yle Selkouutiset.
• Deal with the authorities, the doctor and the landlord with some help.

A quick self-check

You are probably at B1 if you can do most of these:

• Say what you have done in Finland and for how long: Olen asunut Suomessa kaksi vuotta.
• Express a wish or a plan with haluaisin and aion.
• Join two ideas with koska, jos, vaikka and että.
• Follow a slow conversation between two Finns, even if you miss details.

Typical grammar at B1

The conditional

The conditional is the polite form and the "would" form. It adds -isi- to the stem.

The perfect

The perfect is olla plus a past participle: Olen asunut Turussa vuoden. En ole käynyt Lapissa. Use it when the action matters for now, or when the time is not stated. Use the simple past when you give a time: Kävin Lapissa viime kesänä.

The passive

The Finnish passive does not name who does something: Suomessa puhutaan suomea. In everyday speech the same form also replaces the "we" form, so Finns say me mennään instead of the standard me menemme. Keep that for speaking and informal writing, and use menemme in formal texts. On its own, without a pronoun, the form works as a suggestion: Mennään! (Let's go!)

Connecting sentences

että (that), koska (because), jos (if), kun (when), vaikka (although). Koska olin väsynyt, menin nukkumaan. Jos sataa, jään kotiin.

Talking about the future

Finnish has no future tense. The present tense does the job, with a time word or context. For a plan, use aion (I intend): Aion matkustaa Lappiin. See Finnish without a future tense.

Becoming and being something

Opiskelen lääkäriksi. (I am studying to be a doctor.) Työskentelen opettajana. (I work as a teacher.) The -ksi ending shows what something becomes, and the -na / -nä ending shows what it is.

Vocabulary themes

• Work, study, careers and job applications
• Housing, rent and services
• Health, the doctor and the pharmacy
• Travel, holidays and plans
• News, society and the environment

What you may find hard

• The gap between written and spoken Finnish. Finns say mä oon where the textbook says minä olen. Listen to both. See the post on spoken and written Finnish.
• Choosing between cases. At B1 most errors are in the object and in verbs that take a certain case.
• Word order. Finnish word order is flexible, but it signals what is new and what is known.
• Idioms. Finnish idioms rarely map word for word onto English ones. See everyday idioms.

Exams and courses

The YKI intermediate band covers B1 and B2 (levels 3 and 4 on the scale). Some residence and citizenship processes require a certificate at a stated level, so check the current requirement before you book.

How to practise at this level

Read short news items every day and write a short diary entry. Ask a Finnish speaker to correct one paragraph a week, and look at the cases first. When ready, move on to B2.

Practice

Remember that the conditional has -isi-, that the perfect uses a participle, and that the passive is -taan / -tään.