Twelve words stand between you and every question you'll need to ask in Finland. Where's the toilet, how much does it cost, when does the bus leave, what is this thing on my plate — all of them start with one of the words below, and most of them start with the same two letters.
That's the shortcut nobody mentions: almost every Finnish question word begins with mi-. Mikä, missä, mihin, mistä, miten, miksi, milloin. Learn to hear that opening syllable and you'll know a question is coming before you've understood a single other word in the sentence. Only the "who" family breaks the pattern, and it's just two words long.
The Finnish Question Words
who
kuka
whose
kenen
what / which
mikä
where (at)
missä
where to
mihin
where from
mistä
when
milloin
why
miksi
how
miten / kuinka
how much
paljonko
how many
kuinka monta
which one (of two)
kumpi
Practice these words
kuka
Quick notes:
- Finnish has three words for "where," and the difference is direction. Missä = where something is. Mihin = where you're going. Mistä = where you've come from. Getting these mixed up is the most common beginner slip, and it's the one Finns notice.
- Miten and kuinka both mean "how" and swap freely. Miten is more common in speech.
- Paljonko is technically "how much" but covers price, quantity, time and temperature. It's the workhorse.
Questions
Who is that?
Kuka tuo on?
What is this?
Mikä tämä on?
Where is the toilet?
Missä on vessa?
Where are you going?
Mihin menet?
Where are you from?
Mistä olet?
When does it start?
Milloin se alkaa?
Why?
Miksi?
How much does it cost?
Paljonko se maksaa?
What time is it?
Paljonko kello on?
How do you say…?
Miten sanotaan…?
What does that mean?
Mitä tuo tarkoittaa?
Whose is this?
Kenen tämä on?
Practice these words
Kuka tuo on?
Quick notes:
- Finnish needs no "do" or "does." Mikä tämä on? is literally "what this is" — and that's the complete, correct question.
- Mitä is the form of mikä you'll hear after many verbs, as in mitä tuo tarkoittaa. Both are worth recognising; you don't need to choose between them consciously yet.
- Vessa is the everyday word for toilet. WC works too and is written on the doors.
- If you didn't catch something, say anteeksi? with a rising tone. It's the Finnish "sorry, what?"
Yes-or-No Questions Work Differently
Everything above asks for information. For a question that expects a plain yes or no, Finnish doesn't use a question word at all — it glues -ko or -kö onto the verb and puts the verb first.
Do you speak English?
Puhutko englantia?
Is it far?
Onko se kaukana?
Can you help?
Voitko auttaa?
Do you have a table?
Onko teillä pöytää?
Practice these words
Puhutko englantia?
Quick note: whether you add -ko or -kö depends on the vowels already in the word — puhutko but menetkö. You'll get this right by ear long before you get it right by rule, so copy the phrases as written.
What Makes Finnish Questions Easier Than They Look
Start with the good news: there's no auxiliary verb to build. English asks "where do you live," Spanish flips the subject, German throws the verb to the end. Finnish just puts the question word first and leaves the rest of the sentence alone. Missä asut? — "where you-live." One word, one job, no scaffolding.
The mi- family is worth learning as a group rather than one word at a time, because the endings are doing consistent work. Missä ends in -ssä (in/at), mistä in -stä (from), mihin points toward. Those same endings turn up all over Finnish — Helsingissä is "in Helsinki," Helsingistä is "from Helsinki." You're not just learning three question words here; you're meeting the pattern that runs through the entire language.
One last habit to expect. Finns often answer a yes-or-no question by repeating the verb instead of saying yes. Ask puhutko englantia? and a common reply is simply puhun — "I speak." It isn't curtness; it's how the language works. Kyllä ("yes") and the casual joo both exist and are perfectly normal, but don't be thrown when the answer comes back as an echo of your own question.