Politeness with 'te' — Finnish Grammar

Finnish has a polite way of addressing one person you do not know well: the pronoun , which otherwise means "you" for several people, used in place of the familiar . It works much like the formal "you" of French (vous) or German (Sie): you use the plural pronoun and the plural verb, even though you are speaking to a single person.

How It Works

Use and conjugate the verb in the second-person plural (the -tte ending), even when speaking to just one person.

Mitä te haluatte?
What would you like?
Puhutteko englantia?
Do you speak English?
Oletteko te rouva Virtanen?
Are you Mrs Virtanen?
Voisitteko auttaa minua?
Could you help me?

When to Use It

The polite suits strangers, elderly people, customers, and formal settings such as official correspondence. That said, modern Finland is comparatively informal: many speakers, especially younger ones, use in almost every situation, and the familiar form is rarely taken as rude among peers. When in doubt with an older person or in a formal context, is the safe choice.

The Polite Imperative

The same politeness appears in commands, which then use the -kaa / -kää form - the plural imperative serving as the polite singular.

Olkaa hyvä.
Here you are. / Please.
Istukaa, olkaa hyvä.
Please sit down.
Odottakaa hetki.
Please wait a moment.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Finnish course

20 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 51. A few of them, with the words “Politeness with 'te'” is about in bold:

Älkää unohtako juustoa yhteiselle piknikillemme.
Don't forget the cheese for our picnic.
Lesson 477

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