The 1,000 Most Common Finnish Words

Ranked by real-world frequency. Study all of them free with spaced repetition.

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The 1,000 Most Common Finnish Words: the list

Tips for learning Finnish words

• Note the infinitive ending whenever you learn a new verb, because it signals which conjugation type the verb belongs to: tulla and mennä end in -lla/-nnä, haluta and tarvita end in -ta/-ita, and sanoa, kertoa and puhua end in a vowel plus -a.
• Some very frequent verbs show consonant gradation, so learn the first-person present form alongside the infinitive: tietää gives tiedän and ottaa gives otan. That is the form you will actually reach for when you speak.
• Short high-frequency words like nyt, niin, vain, sitten and kyllä do very different jobs in a sentence. Drill them inside short phrases rather than in isolation, so you build a feel for where each one belongs and not just what it means.
• Watch for entries that share an English translation, such as saada and päästä, both glossed as 'to get'. Attach a short example phrase to each one so the flashcard prompt does not leave you guessing which word is wanted.
• When you type an answer, resist guessing the spelling from English habits: täällä has both a long vowel and a double consonant, and mies keeps its ie pair intact. Typing the letters out is what fixes them in memory.
• Words like olla, tulla and tietää turn up constantly, so keep reviewing them daily instead of marking them 'done' after one correct answer. Solid control of the first few dozen words makes every later card easier.