5. Vowel harmony
The vowels in Finnish are divided into three groups.
The vowels ä, ö and y are called front vowels. They do not usually occur in the same word with back vowels a, o and u. Neutral vowels e and i can occur together with either front or back vowels or by themselves:
Ă„iti juo kahvia.
Mother drinks coffee.
Isä lukee lehteä.Father reads a newspaper.
All these vowel groups can occur together in compound words:
Pikkutyttö juo kevytmaitoa.
The little girl drinks semi-skimmed milk.
Due to vowel harmony, there are two variants of most endings:
Ă„iti ei nukkunut hyvin.
Mother didn’t sleep well.
Hän ei herännyt herätyskelloon.She didn’t wake up with the alarm.
He asuvat pienessä talossa Vantaalla.They live in a small house in Vantaa.
He käyvät töissä Helsingissä.They go to work in Helsinki.
If a word contains a, o or u, you choose an ending with a, o or u:
nukku + nut
(didn’t) sleep
asu + vat
they live
talo + ssa
in a house
Vantaa + lla
in Vantaa
If a word contains ä, ö or y, or only neutral vowels e and i, you choose an ending with ä, ö or y:
herä + nnyt
(didn’t) wake up
käy + vät
they go
töi + ssä
to (at) work
Helsingi + ssä
in Helsinki
piene + ssä
inside something small