Finland gave the world Nokia, and the Finnish language mostly refused to borrow the vocabulary that came with it. A computer is a tietokone, a "knowledge machine." Email is sähköposti, "electricity post." A browser is a selain, from the verb selata, to leaf through something.
So this page has fewer free gifts than you'd expect from a tech word list — and one verb, ladata, that does two completely different jobs.
Devices and Things You Plug In
phone
puhelin
mobile phone
kännykkä
smartphone
älypuhelin
tablet
tabletti
laptop
kannettava / läppäri
computer
tietokone
screen
näyttö
keyboard
näppäimistö
mouse
hiiri
headphones
kuulokkeet
speaker
kaiutin
charger
laturi
battery
akku
cable
johto
printer
tulostin
remote control
kaukosäädin
Practice these words
puhelin
A trademark that got away: kännykkä is usually said to have begun as a Nokia trademark before becoming the ordinary Finnish word for a mobile phone, built on a dialect word for hand. Before it caught on, Finnish teenagers called the things jupinalle — "yuppie teddy bear." You'll hear plain puhelin just as often now, since every phone is a mobile one, and kannettava is the full word behind läppäri: kannettava tietokone, a carried computer.
On the Phone and the Computer
app
sovellus
password
salasana
username
käyttäjätunnus
user account
käyttäjätili
settings
asetukset
update
päivitys
file
tiedosto
folder
kansio
screenshot
kuvakaappaus
browser
selain
search engine
hakukone
message
viesti
text message
tekstiviesti
video call
videopuhelu
sähköposti
Practice these words
sovellus
Read the parts, guess the word: sala is secret and sana is a word, so salasana is a secret word. Kuva is picture and kaappaus is a seizure or hijacking, so a kuvakaappaus is a picture-grab. Finnish builds tech words out of things you already know, which is the general principle behind Finnish compound words.
Getting Online
the internet
netti
internet connection
nettiyhteys
wireless network
langaton verkko
wifi password
wifi-salasana
website
verkkosivusto
web page
verkkosivu
link
linkki
social media
sosiaalinen media
cloud service
pilvipalvelu
network
verkko
Practice these words
netti
Nobody says internet: the word exists, but in speech it's netti every time — netti ei toimi, katson netistä. Verkko means both a fishing net and a computer network, which is the same picture English had in mind.
Sivu or sivusto: a verkkosivu is one page; the whole site is a verkkosivusto, or just nettisivut in speech. Mixing them up is the commonest small mistake learners make here.
Things You Do
to charge, to download
ladata
to install
asentaa
to delete
poistaa
to save
tallentaa
to send
lähettää
to log in
kirjautua sisään
to log out
kirjautua ulos
to restart
käynnistää uudelleen
to turn off
sammuttaa
to update
päivittää
to print
tulostaa
Practice these words
ladata
One verb, two jobs: ladata means to charge a battery and to download a file. Lataan puhelinta is "I'm charging my phone"; lataan sovelluksen is "I'm downloading an app." Context does all the work, and no Finn finds this confusing. The rest of the everyday verbs are in common Finnish verbs.
When It Stops Working
My phone isn't working.
Puhelimeni ei toimi.
The battery is dead.
Akku on tyhjä.
The screen is broken.
Näyttö on rikki.
Where's the charger?
Missä laturi on?
Can I charge my phone here?
Voinko ladata puhelintani täällä?
Is there wifi here?
Onko täällä wifiä?
What's the wifi password?
Mikä on wifin salasana?
The internet isn't working.
Netti ei toimi.
There's no signal here.
Täällä ei ole kenttää.
I've forgotten my password.
Olen unohtanut salasanani.
Practice these words
Puhelimeni ei toimi.
No field, no bars: kenttä is a field — a sports field, a meadow — and täällä ei ole kenttää is how Finnish says there's no signal. It's colloquial, so you'll hear ei oo kenttää and kenttä on huono in speech, while anything written says kuuluvuus on huono. In the Lapland backcountry you'll hear all of them.
Dead or dying: akku on tyhjä is dead, akku on lopussa is nearly there, and akku loppui is the moment it went.
Why the Words Look Like That
Finnish had a deliberate habit, through the twentieth century, of coining rather than borrowing. The results are unusually transparent once you can read the parts: tietokone is knowledge plus machine, tulostin comes from tulostaa (to print out), puhelin from puhella (the "chat" form of puhua, to speak), näyttö from näyttää (to show). A learner who knows two hundred basic words can often guess a technical one, which is not true in most European languages.
The borrowing did happen, just selectively, and it bent the words to fit Finnish shape: tabletti, linkki, appi, netti. Note the doubled consonant and the vowel on the end — that's what Finnish does to any word it takes in, and it's the same treatment described in loanwords and false friends.
Practically, there are three words on this page worth knowing before you land: laturi, because you'll have forgotten yours; wifin salasana, because you'll need to ask; and netti, because asking about the internet in full marks you out instantly as someone reading from a phrasebook.