There are several omissions and assimilations which are particularly common
in the colloquial spoken language. In the examples that follow, the colloquial
spoken language is compared with the ‘official’ pronunciation of the standard
language.
(1) The final vowels -i and -a, -ä are dropped (and a preceding long
consonant is shortened) in certain endings, of which the most important
are the inessive case ending -ssa ~ -ssä, the elative -sta ~ -stä, the
adessive -lla ~ -llä, the ablative -lta ~ -ltä, the translative -ksi, the second
person singular possessive suffix -si, the conditional -isi and the past
tense -s/i.
‘Official’ pronunciation Colloquial pronunciation
talossa in the house talos
meressä in the sea meres
talosta out of the house talost
merestä out of the sea merest
autolla by car autol
häneltä from him hänelt
vanhaksi to (become) old vanhaks
autosi your car autos
hän tulisi he would come hän tulis
Pekka sanoisi Pekka would say Pekka sanois
meillä on we have meil on
Tuula heräsi Tuula woke Tuula heräs
(2) The final -i of diphthongs (e.g. ai, oi, ui, äi) is dropped in unstressed
syllables. This also often applies to the -i of the past tense and the first
vowel of the conditional ending -isi.
punainen red punanen
sellainen such sellanen
semmoinen such semmonen
tuommoinen that kind of t(u)ommonen
246 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
‘Official’ pronunciation Colloquial pronunciation
Kalle sanoi Kalle said Kalle sano
Pertti kantoi Pertti carried Pertti kanto
hän kestäisi he would endure hän kestäs
Keijo antaisi Keijo would give Keijo antas
(3) When -a and -ä occur after a vowel they often assimilate to the
preceding vowel, producing a long vowel (ea and eä become ee, oa
becomes oo, etc.).
kauhea terrible kauhee
nopean fast (genitive) nopeen
tärkeä important tärkee
kulkea go kulkee
en rupea I do/will not begin en rupee
väkeä people (partitive) väkee
taloa house (partitive) taloo
varoa look out varoo
(4) The final -t of the past participle -nut ~ -nyt is dropped, or assimilates to
the following consonant.
olen sanonut I have said olen sanonu
olen sanonut sen I have said it olen sanonus sen
Pekka on tullut Pekka has come Pekka on tullu
Pekka on tullut jo Pekka has already come Pekka on tulluj jo
(5) In some words -d- is dropped or changes to -j-.
meidän our meijän
teidän your teijän
tehdään one does tenään
(6) -n- and -l- are occasionally dropped in the verbs ole- ‘be’, mene- ‘go’,
pane- ‘put’, tule- ‘come’.
olen I am oon
olemme we are oomme
menen I go meen
tulet you (sing.) come tuut
tulette you (pl.) come tuutte
