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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 18 - How much in Finnish?
Reeta: Now it's time for some useful Survival Phrases for when you have free time to go shopping in Finnish stores.
You should remember that Anteeksi or "Excuse me" is almost always the first thing to say when you're talking to a shop clerk. After that you should say, "How much is this?" In Finnish, that's Kuinka paljon tämä maksaa? Let’s break it down, Kuinka paljon tämä maksaa. Once more, Kuinka paljon tämä maksaa.
Kuinka paljon means "How much?" and we follow it with tämä, which means "this," and the verb maksaa, which means "to cost."
Kuinka paljon tämä maksaa?
Let's imagine that you are by a stand of clothes in a local market and you want to buy a coat. After saying anteeksi to get the stall-holder's attention, you can say Kuinka paljon tämä takki maksaa?
We already know kuinka paljon ("How much"). Next comes the demonstrative tämä, and then the object whose price you want to ask. In this phrase it is takki, meaning "coat," and the last word is the verb maksaa, meaning "to cost."
Kuinka paljon tämä takki maksaa?
The last construction of this lesson is another common way to ask the price in Finnish: Paljonko se maksaa? Let’s break it down, Paljonko se maksaa. Once more, Paljonko se maksaa.
Paljon means "much," "a lot." Adding the -ko suffix makes it a question.
This phrase uses se instead of tämä. Se is used if the item is closer to the sales clerk than to you. Of course it can be replaced with tämä if you are holding the item, or if you are closer to the item you want to know the price of.
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.
“How much is this?” - Kuinka paljon tämä maksaa?
“How much is this coat?” - Kuinka paljon tämä takki maksaa?
“How much is it?” - Kuinka paljon se maksaa?
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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