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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Jessi: Hello, and welcome to Finnish Survival Phrases, brought to you by FinnishPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Finland. You'll be surprised at how far a little Finnish will go. Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and there you'll find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!
Finnish Survival Phrases lesson 8 - I Don't Understand, in Finnish
Reeta: In this lesson we shall see a very useful phrase meaning "I don't understand." It is of course very useful because many times you won't immediately understand what people are saying.
In Finnish, "I don't understand" is En ymmärrä. Let’s break it down, En ymmärrä. Once more, En ymmärrä.
The first word, en, means "I don't," and it's actually a negative verb with different forms for all six personal pronouns. Let’s break it down, en. Next comes ymmärrä, which in Finnish is "understand" in its stem form. Let’s break it down, ymmärrä. Once again ymmärrä.
To recap, we have En ymmärrä. Literally, this means "I don't understand."
Now let's look at another phrase, En tiedä, which means "I don't know." Let’s break it down, En tiedä. The word tiedä means "know" in its stem form.
Another way to express that you don't understand is by telling someone, "I don't speak Finnish." This phrase in Finnish is En puhu suomea. Let’s break it down, En puhu suomea. Once again En puhu suomea.
The first word, en, means "I don't." This is followed by puhu, which in English is "speak" In its stem form. The third word is suomea. It means "Finnish."
Here's the whole sentence: En puhu suomea.
Ok, to close out today's lessons, we’d like you to practice what you have just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You’ll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so Onnea! which means “Good luck!” in Finnish.
“I don't understand.” - En ymmärrä.
“I don't know.” - En tiedä.
“I don't speak Finnish.” - En puhu suomea.
Jessi: Alright! That's going to do it for today. Remember to stop by FinnishPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment!

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