Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are small words like I, you, he, she, we, and they. They are among the most common words in any language, and Finnish is no exception. In Finnish, pronouns work a little differently than in English. There is no difference between he and she, since the word hän can mean both. In everyday spoken Finnish, people often use se, which normally means “it,” to refer to people instead of hän.

Another important difference is that Finnish pronouns change their form depending on their role in the sentence. For example, minä means “I,” minut means “me” as the object of a sentence, and minulle means “to me.” This may feel unusual at first, but the good news is that these changes follow regular patterns.

Learning Finnish personal pronouns is not only about memorizing words but also about understanding how they behave in sentences. Once you get used to them, you will find it much easier to talk about yourself, the person you are speaking to, and other people or things in a natural way. This page will guide you through the basic pronouns, show you how they change in different cases, and explain the difference between formal written Finnish and everyday spoken Finnish.