The Erasmus Experience 122 unforgettable days in Finland

Numbers

1-10

1. Yksi (uhk-see)
2. Kaksi (kahk-see)
3. Kolme (coal-may)
4. Nelja (knell-ya)
5. Viisi (vee-see)
6. Kuusi (coo-see)
7. Seitsemän (sayt-see-men)
8. Yhdeksän (uh-deck-san)
9. Kahdeksän (cah-deck-san)
10. Kymmenen (cuhm-men-en)

Simple enough, eh?

The Teens

To create the "teens" (which in Finnish includes eleven and twelve, we'll be adding - "toista" to the end of all those numbers from 1 - 9. Lets try a few examples:

1. Kolmetoista (coal-may-toy-ista)
2. Neljatoista (knell-ya-toy-ista)
3. Viisitoista (vee-see-toy-ista)

The others are formed the same way.

Under 100

When we want to create numbers between 20 and 99, in English we use an entirely different set of words. Two morphs to "twenty" and three becomes "thirty". Finnish uses the same words as for the single digits, but uses a plural of the word ten added to it. Instead of "twenty", kaksikymmentä, which is like saying two tens. Likewise, 50 is viisikymmentä, or five tens.

Other examples:

30 Kolmekymmenta (coal-may-cuhm-men-tah)

40 Neljakymmenta (knell-ya-cuhm-men-tah)

50 Viisikymmenta (vee-see-cuhm-men-tah)

100 and higher

One hundred, and multiples of 100, are formed in the same way as with tens. The word for 100 is sata (sah-tah). Multiples are created by using the plural, sataa (sah-taaah). Longer emphasis on the aaa there.

600 Kuusisataa (coo-see-sah-taaah)

700 Seitsemänsataa (sayt-see-men-sah-taaaah)

800 Yhdeksansataa (uh-deck-san-sah-taaaaaaaah)

You don't really have to put so much emphasis on that last syllable but you get the idea that it has to be stressed, to be a plural

One thousand is tuhat (two-hat), and plural is tuhatta (two-hat-ah), so the same process applies. An example:

4000 Neljatuhatta (knell-ya-two-hat-ah)

One million is miljoona (mill-yoon-ah) and plural is miljoonaa (mill-yoon-aaah).