Personal Pronouns — Finnish Grammar

Finnish has six personal pronouns, and two of their features make them simpler than their English counterparts: there is no gender distinction in the third person, and the subject pronouns are often left out entirely because the verb ending already shows who is meant.

The Six Pronouns

- I
- you (singular)
- he OR she
- we
- you (plural, or polite singular)
- they

One Word for "he" and "she"

covers both "he" and "she"; the grammar makes no gender distinction, and only the surrounding context shows which is meant. The same neutrality runs through the possessive forms.

Hän on ystäväni.
He/she is my friend.
Tunnetko hänet?
Do you know him/her?

Dropping the Subject Pronoun

Because the verb ending already identifies the subject, and are commonly omitted, especially in writing. The third-person pronouns and are normally kept, since the third-person verb endings do not single out the subject as clearly.

(Minä) puhun suomea.
I speak Finnish.
(Sinä) asut täällä.
You live here.

Pronouns Decline Through the Cases

Like nouns, pronouns change ending according to their role in the sentence. The object form of is the irregular .

minä → minun → minua → minut
I → my → me (partitive) → me (object)
Hän rakastaa minua.
He/she loves me.
Annan sen sinulle.
I give it to you.

"se" and "ne" in Everyday Speech

In casual spoken Finnish, ("it") and ("they") are commonly used for people as well as things, in place of and . You will hear this constantly, even though writing prefers the personal pronouns.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Finnish course

133 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Personal Pronouns” is about in bold:

Tämä on ystäväni Anna. Hän on opiskelija.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Hän nukkuu myös. Hän ei nuku.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
Rakastan heitä ja he rakastavat minua.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32

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