Finnish and Romanian come from completely different language families, yet international vocabulary has landed in both with barely any changes. Words for technology, science, and modern life often took the same route into each language, so a Finnish speaker learning Romanian (or the reverse) gets a small head start on plenty of everyday terms.
Below are 150 word pairs whose Finnish and Romanian forms are identical or differ by just a letter or two, shown side by side with their English meaning. Skim the list to see the patterns, then use the tips below to lock them in.
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| # | English | Finnish | Romanian |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | idea | idea | idee |
| 2 | list | lista | listă |
| 3 | energy | energia | energie |
| 4 | demon | demoni | demon |
| 5 | planet | planeetta | planetă |
| 6 | kilometer | kilometri | kilometru |
| 7 | test | testi | test |
| 8 | virus | virus | virus |
| 9 | alibi | alibi | alibi |
| 10 | video | video | video |
| 11 | sex | sex | sex |
| 12 | baseball | baseball | baseball |
| 13 | band | bändi | bandă |
| 14 | princess | prinsessa | prinţesă |
| 15 | radio | radio | radio |
| 16 | sea | meri | mer |
| 17 | theory | teoria | teorie |
| 18 | kilo | kilo | kilo |
| 19 | operation | operaatio | operaţie |
| 20 | euro | euro | euro |
| 21 | minister | ministeri | minister |
| 22 | zombie | zombi | zombi |
| 23 | sum | summa | sumă |
| 24 | bingo | bingo | bingo |
| 25 | poker | pokeri | poker |
| 26 | penis | penis | penis |
| 27 | service | service | servici |
| 28 | gangster | gangsteri | gangster |
| 29 | organism | organismi | organism |
| 30 | perverse | perverssi | pervers |
| 31 | therapy | terapia | terapie |
| 32 | fan | fani | fană |
| 33 | hall | hall | hal |
| 34 | laser | laser | laser |
| 35 | marijuana | marihuana | marijuana |
| 36 | coast | coast | coastă |
| 37 | liter | litra | litru |
| 38 | burger | burger | burger |
| 39 | rock | rock | rocă |
| 40 | mafia | mafia | mafie |
| 41 | dvd | dvd | dvd |
| 42 | tequila | tequila | tequila |
| 43 | orgasm | orgasmi | orgasm |
| 44 | chaos | kaaos | kaos |
| 45 | iris | iiris | iris |
| 46 | samurai | samurai | samurai |
| 47 | karma | karma | karmă |
| 48 | gin | gin | gin |
| 49 | epidemic | epidemia | epidemie |
| 50 | vodka | vodka | vodcă |
| 51 | gorilla | gorilla | gorilă |
| 52 | stress | stressi | stress |
| 53 | therapist | terapeutti | terapeut |
| 54 | sushi | sushi | sushi |
| 55 | pajamas | pyjama | pijama |
| 56 | karate | karate | karate |
| 57 | asteroid | asteroidi | asteroid |
| 58 | protein | proteiini | proteină |
| 59 | studio | studio | studiou |
| 60 | avatar | avatar | avatar |
| 61 | magic | magi | magie |
| 62 | brandy | brandy | brandy |
| 63 | popcorn | popcorn | popcorn |
| 64 | irony | ironia | ironie |
| 65 | to rhyme | rimma | rima |
| 66 | scorpion | skorpioni | scorpion |
| 67 | bikini | bikini | bikini |
| 68 | marathon | maraton | maraton |
| 69 | philosophy | filosofia | filozofie |
| 70 | margarita | margarita | margarita |
| 71 | stripper | strippari | stripper |
| 72 | norm | normi | normă |
| 73 | leopard | leopardi | leopard |
| 74 | jazz | jazz | jazz |
| 75 | rodeo | rodeo | rodeo |
| 76 | lasagna | lasagne | lasagna |
| 77 | cobra | kobra | cobra |
| 78 | pedophile | pedofiili | pedofil |
| 79 | guru | guru | guru |
| 80 | tornado | tornado | tornadă |
| 81 | grail | graali | graal |
| 82 | karaoke | karaoke | karaoke |
| 83 | revolver | revolveri | revolver |
| 84 | master | maestro | maestru |
| 85 | journalism | journalismi | jurnalism |
| 86 | heavy | heavy | heavy |
| 87 | journalist | journalisti | jurnalist |
| 88 | torpedo | torpedo | torpedou |
| 89 | cappuccino | cappuccino | cappuccino |
| 90 | teacher | sensei | sensei |
| 91 | lottery | lotto | loto |
| 92 | cutter | cutter | cutter |
| 93 | punk | punk | punk |
| 94 | viagra | viagra | viagra |
| 95 | pony | poni | pony |
| 96 | racism | rasismi | rasism |
| 97 | aspirin | aspiriini | aspirină |
| 98 | chili | chili | chili |
| 99 | snob | snobi | snob |
| 100 | trance | trance | trance |
| 101 | prostitution | prostituutio | prostituţie |
| 102 | hamster | hamsteri | hamster |
| 103 | logo | logo | logo |
| 104 | espresso | espresso | espresso |
| 105 | brass | brass | brass |
| 106 | herpes | herpes | herpes |
| 107 | algorithm | algoritmi | algoritm |
| 108 | banner | banner | banner |
| 109 | lemonade | limonadi | limonadă |
| 110 | plutonium | plutonium | plutoniu |
| 111 | bonus | bonus | bonus |
| 112 | glory | gloria | glorie |
| 113 | hologram | hologrammi | hologramă |
| 114 | bright | bright | bright |
| 115 | pillar | pilar | pilar |
| 116 | album | albumi | album |
| 117 | gala | gaala | gală |
| 118 | fiasco | fiasko | fiasco |
| 119 | tofu | tofu | tofu |
| 120 | archaeology | arkeologi | arheologie |
| 121 | impotent | impotentti | impotent |
| 122 | bowler | bowler | bowler |
| 123 | boulevard | boulevard | boulevard |
| 124 | mummy | mummia | mumia |
| 125 | scooter | scooter | scooter |
| 126 | federation | federaatio | federaţie |
| 127 | lava | laava | lavă |
| 128 | platinum | platina | platină |
| 129 | nachos | nacho | nachos |
| 130 | deodorant | deodorantti | deodorant |
| 131 | blog | blogi | blog |
| 132 | tick | tik | tick |
| 133 | optimist | optimisti | optimist |
| 134 | indigo | indigo | indigo |
| 135 | specter | specter | spector |
| 136 | amulet | amulet | amuletă |
| 137 | asthma | astma | astm |
| 138 | roe | roe | roe |
| 139 | methamphetamine | metamfetamiini | metamfetamină |
| 140 | elegant | elegantti | elegant |
| 141 | geologist | geologi | geolog |
| 142 | pathologist | patologi | patolog |
| 143 | adoption | adoptio | adopţie |
| 144 | pianist | pianisti | pianist |
| 145 | diva | diiva | divă |
| 146 | muse | muusa | musa |
| 147 | vegan | vegan | vegan |
| 148 | ballerina | ballerina | balerină |
| 149 | tonic | tonic | tonică |
| 150 | look | look | look |
No. Finnish is a Uralic language and Romanian is a Romance language. The pairs on this page look alike because both languages borrowed the same international and scientific vocabulary, not because of shared ancestry.
Some, such as alibi, radio, and euro, are spelled exactly the same in both languages. Others differ by a single letter or ending, such as lista and listă, or kilometri and kilometru, following the small, learnable patterns described in the tips above.
Sign up free with an email address, with no card and no password needed. The app shows you the English word and asks you to type the Finnish translation, accents forgiven, and spaced repetition brings each word back right before you are likely to forget it.
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