Learn the Finnish Alphabet

Suomen aakkoset

Learn to read the Finnish Alphabet (Suomen aakkoset): all 29 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	Aa	a	a as in father; doubled aa is the same sound held twice as long (kala vs. kaala)
B b	Bee	b	b as in bed; only in loanwords
C c	See	c	only in names and foreign words; read as in the original language
D d	Dee	d	a light d as in dog; native words have it only in the middle (sydän)
E e	Ee	e	e as in bed, pure and steady (metsä); ee is the same sound held longer (vapaa)
F f	Äf	f	f as in fish; only in loanwords
G g	Gee	g	ng together is one long sound as in singer (kenkä); alone, only in loanwords (golf)
H h	Hoo	h	h as in hat, also pronounced before consonants (vihta)
I i	Ii	i	ee as in see; ii is held longer (siili)
J j	Jii	j	y as in yes, never English j (joki)
K k	Koo	k	k as in skate, without a puff of air
L l	Äl	l	l as in lamp
M m	Äm	m	m as in man
N n	Än	n	n as in no; before k it sounds like ng (kenkä)
O o	Oo	o	a pure, rounded 'oh' with no glide (talo)
P p	Pee	p	p as in spin, without a puff of air
Q q	Kuu	q	k as in kite; only in foreign names
R r	Är	r	a rolled r (rakas); rr is rolled longer (kirra)
S s	Äs	s	s as in sun, never buzzing
T t	Tee	t	t as in stop, without a puff of air
U u	Uu	u	oo as in moon (kuu)
V v	Vee	v	a soft v, between v and w (vesi)
W w	Kaksois-vee	w	the same sound as V; only in old names and loanwords
X x	Äks	x	ks as in box; only in loanwords
Y y	Yy	y	say ee while rounding your lips, like German ü (yö); always a vowel
Z z	Tset	z	ts or s; only in loanwords
Å å	Ruotsalainen oo	å	an 'oh' like Finnish o; only in Swedish names (Åbo, Åland)
Ä ä	Ää	ä	a as in cat, never 'eh' (äiti)
Ö ö	Öö	ö	say 'eh' with rounded lips, like German ö (yö)

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