Weather & Climate

1. Tänään on kuuma, eikö olekin?

   TÄ-nään on KUU-ma, EI-kö O-le-kin?

   It's hot today, isn't it?

   Usage

   Classic Finnish weather conversation opener

   Grammar Note

   Finnish is a Uralic language with many cases. Impersonal weather expressions use "on + adjective"

2. Näyttää siltä, että tulee sadetta

   NÄYT-tää SIL-tä, ET-tä TU-lee SA-det-ta

   It looks like it will rain

   Usage

   Used when rain seems likely

   Grammar Note

   "Sadetta" is the partitive case of "sade" (rain). Finnish partitive indicates partial quantity

3. Lumimyrsky on tulossa

   A snowstorm is approaching

   Usage

   Common winter warning in Finland

   Grammar Note

   "Lumimyrsky" = "lumi" (snow) + "myrsky" (storm) — Finnish compound noun

4. Tänään on viileää, eikö olekin?

   TÄ-nään on VII-le-ää, EI-kö O-le-kin?

   It's cool today, isn't it?

   Usage

   Used on cool days

   Grammar Note

   "Viileää" is the partitive of "viileä" (cool). Finnish weather predicates often use partitive case

5. Voisitteko kertoa sääennusteen?

   VOI-sit-te-ko KER-to-a SÄÄ-en-nus-teen?

   Please tell me the weather forecast

   Usage

   Politely ask about the weather forecast

   Grammar Note

   "Sääennuste" = "sää" (weather) + "ennuste" (forecast). "sääennusteen" is the accusative of "sääennuste" (same form as the genitive); the ending is -n

6. Tarvitsenko aurinkovoidetta?

   Do I need sunscreen?

   Usage

   Ask before going out under the strong sun

   Grammar Note

   "Aurinkovoide" = "aurinko" (sun) + "voide" (ointment/cream). "-ko" is a question suffix

7. Pitäisikö minun ottaa sateenvarjo?

   PI-täi-si-kö MI-nun OT-taa SA-teen-var-jo?

   Should I bring an umbrella?

   Usage

   Check whether to carry an umbrella

   Grammar Note

   "Sateenvarjo" = "sateen" (of rain) + "varjo" (shadow) — literally "rain shadow" = umbrella

8. Milloin on kuivakausi?

   When is the dry season?

   Usage

   Ask about the dry season when planning travel

   Grammar Note

   "Milloin" is the Finnish question word for "when"

9. Milloin on sadekausi?

   When is the rainy season?

   Usage

   Ask about the rainy season when planning travel

   Grammar Note

   "Sadekausi" = "sade" (rain) + "kausi" (season/period) — compound noun

10. Aurinko paistaa tänään todella voimakkaasti

    AU-rin-ko PAIS-taa TÄ-nään TO-del-la VOI-mak-kaas-ti

    The sun is really strong

    Usage

    Describe the strong sunlight

    Grammar Note

    "Paistaa" means "to shine/radiate" in Finnish. "Aurinko paistaa" = "the sun is shining"

11. sade

    Rain

    Usage

    Point to this when checking the forecast; "it is raining" is "Sataa"

12. lumi

    Snow

    Usage

    Point to this when asking about snow; "it is snowing" is "Sataa lunta"

13. tuuli

    Wind

    Usage

    Point to this to ask about wind; a strong wind is "kova tuuli"

14. aurinkoinen

    Sunny

    Usage

    Point to this when asking whether it will be sunny

    Grammar Note

    "It's sunny today" is "Tänään on aurinkoista", using the partitive

15. pilvinen

    Cloudy

    Usage

    Point to this when asking whether it will be cloudy; a cloud is "pilvi"

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