the "translate please" thread

[Violens]

For Hungarian, Fireangel is correct, but the comparison is probably even worse than German - Icelandic. I recall there are less than 10 words that are about the same in Finnish and Hungarian, and the grammar is vastly different.

About pronounciation, the only easy thing in Finnish language is that every letter is always pronounced the same way. Thus, once you learn to pronounce each of them correctly, you always know how to read every word. The only exception is the "ng/nk" combination, which doesn't follow the way the letters n+g or n+k would be read individually.



Ehm, how about you give me some random sentence (in English) and I translate it into Finnish? Because to "say something" requires some imagination I currently lack. Then again...

Voitko sanoa jotain suomeksi saadaksesi minut näkemään is a bit clumsy translation of what you said above. There:

Voitko = Can you, conjugated from the verb voida = to be able (the pronoun "you" would be sinä, but it is usually omitted in these kind of sentences)

sanoa = say

jotain = something, in this case conjugated from the basic form jokin (or joku)

suomeksi = in Finnish, conjugated from suomi = Finnish language (no capitalization); Suomi = Finland

saadaksesi = to make, conjugated from the verb saada = to make someone do something (also "to get" in another concept)

minut = me, conjugated from minä = I

näkemään = see, conjugated from the verb nähdä = to see

I couldn't get the Finnish equivalent of just (=vain) to fit in the sentence without making it sound stupid (placing it there would make it read like "...to make only me see").

You might've got the point already, but this was actually a bit of fun, so feel free to throw another sentence at me and I'll try my best breaking it down like this.

-Villain

Thank you very much!

So just another one then I'll stop asking you : "I'd like to visit Finland and all north Europe countries, they really seem good places to me. Hope doing it one day or another"..ok thanks!

I read Icelandic it's almost like 600 years ago..so they can read ancient vikings' language

Last question: Is there any difference between "regular" finnish and the one spoken in Lappland?

 

[Dark_Silence]

I rather found ä and ö to be a little strange, but pronunceable after all.

i dont know how to pronounce them actually. Is it like in German? if so its easy because the sound also exists in French.

Villain: how do you say "i would like to drink a beer" in Finnish?

 

[Kovenant84]

I don't think there is such a phrase, DS - I think it's just assumed.

~kov.

 

[Villain]

Haluaisin juoda olut.

But I´m sure Villain can add a couple of slang-versions ;D

Actually, Haluaisin juoda oluen / olutta (a beer / some beer) is the correct phrase. Olut is the basic form, although the word kalja is preferred where I live; in this sentence it would be used kaljan / kaljaa.

As for slang, there are way too many words for a beer (bisse, keppana, tuoppi, etc), depending a bit on whether you are drinking it from a bottle or a glass. There's a Finnish saying that goes rakkaalla lapsella on monta nimeä, which means "a loved child has many names".

As for the other Finnish-related stuff, I'll come back to it later this evening.

-Villain

 

[Makaan]

Thanks for that.

Does "stark femma" mean anything? Is it even swedish?

" En (left out) Stark femma" means "(A) strong five", as in 5/5 points.
"Betygsätt Martin!" means "Rate it, Martin!", and
""Där satt den, helt klockrent" would be "Right on the spot, perfekt!" (Klockrent literally means clean as a bell

"a loved child has many names".

We´ve got exactly the same one, "Kärt barn har många namn"

Russian is a language I think is really cool. Allegedly, the words for "Evening" and "Party" are the same , at least according to my little brother who did some russian in school, anyone here who can confirm this?

 

[Violens]

" En (left out) Stark femma" means "(A) strong five", as in 5/5 points.
"Betygsätt Martin!" means "Rate it, Martin!", and
""Där satt den, helt klockrent" would be "Right on the spot, perfekt!" (Klockrent literally means clean as a bell




We´ve got exactly the same one, "Kärt barn har många namn"

Russian is a language I think is really cool. Allegedly, the words for "Evening" and "Party" are the same , at least according to my little brother who did some russian in school, anyone here who can confirm this?

Is Russian taught in Sweden? Wow, cool!

 

[Magrathean]

" En (left out) Stark femma" means "(A) strong five", as in 5/5 points.
"Betygsätt Martin!" means "Rate it, Martin!", and
""Där satt den, helt klockrent" would be "Right on the spot, perfekt!" (Klockrent literally means clean as a bell

Yay, thanks a lot for that!

 

[QRV]

Ehm, "possono" (they, essi)

Ma quindi tu studi italiano? Hai intenzione di venire a lavorare qui in Italia?

Ehm, possiamo, perche anch'io sono messicano, allora uso la prima persona del plurale. Avevo intenzione di andare a studiare là, ma non so si adesso sia possibile. Forse qualche altro anno, io aspetto.

 

[Villain]

So just another one then I'll stop asking you : "I'd like to visit Finland and all north Europe countries, they really seem good places to me. Hope doing it one day or another"..ok thanks!

A bit late, but here we go:

Haluaisin vierailla Suomessa ja kaikissa Pohjois-Euroopan maissa, ne todella vaikuttavat hyviltä paikoilta minusta. Toivon tekeväni niin jonain päivänä.

Haluaisin = I'd like to, conjugated from the verb haluta.

vierailla = to visit, in the basic form for once.

Suomessa = (in) Finland, conjugated from Suomi (in Finnish language visiting happens "in" the target, if you were to say "to Finland" it would be Suomeen).

ja = and

kaikissa = (in) all, conjugated from kaikki.

Pohjois-Euroopan = north European, from the words pohjoinen = north & Eurooppa = Europe (notice the capitalization when they are written together).

maissa = (in) countries, from the basic form maa = country / land / earth.

ne = they (in this context).

todella = really, from the word tosi = real.

vaikuttavat = seem, conjugated from vaikuttaa = to appear (also "to influence").

hyviltä = good, from the basic form hyvä (it is a bit clumsy word in this sentence, but I translated it literally).

paikoilta = places, from the basic form paikka.

minusta = to me (in this context).

Toivon = (I) hope, from the verb toivoa.

tekeväni = doing, from the verb tehdä.

niin = so (to use "it" here would be sen, but that sounds too clumsy to my ear).

jonain = some, from the basic form joku / jokin (using "one or another" here would be yhtenä tai toisena, but that's not something a modern Finn would say).

päivänä = day, from the basic form päivä.

As for regional differences, no-one speaks "official" Finnish (except for some very literary-minded people perhaps), there are about a dozen major dialects in Finland, all of which use very different pronounciations. To native speakers it won't cause much trouble usually, but I recall having some difficulties understanding our very own Naku from this forum back in 2004, because of differences in dialect. There is a small minority of original Lappland-people still in the north, who speak their own language that is in no way related to Finnish.

-Villain

 

[Violens]

A bit late, but here we go:

Haluaisin vierailla Suomessa ja kaikissa Pohjois-Euroopan maissa, ne todella vaikuttavat hyviltä paikoilta minusta. Toivon tekeväni niin jonain päivänä.

Haluaisin = I'd like to, conjugated from the verb haluta.

vierailla = to visit, in the basic form for once.

Suomessa = (in) Finland, conjugated from Suomi (in Finnish language visiting happens "in" the target, if you were to say "to Finland" it would be Suomeen).

ja = and

kaikissa = (in) all, conjugated from kaikki.

Pohjois-Euroopan = north European, from the words pohjoinen = north & Eurooppa = Europe (notice the capitalization when they are written together).

maissa = (in) countries, from the basic form maa = country / land / earth.

ne = they (in this context).

todella = really, from the word tosi = real.

vaikuttavat = seem, conjugated from vaikuttaa = to appear (also "to influence").

hyviltä = good, from the basic form hyvä (it is a bit clumsy word in this sentence, but I translated it literally).

paikoilta = places, from the basic form paikka.

minusta = to me (in this context).

Toivon = (I) hope, from the verb toivoa.

tekeväni = doing, from the verb tehdä.

niin = so (to use "it" here would be sen, but that sounds too clumsy to my ear).

jonain = some, from the basic form joku / jokin (using "one or another" here would be yhtenä tai toisena, but that's not something a modern Finn would say).

päivänä = day, from the basic form päivä.

As for regional differences, no-one speaks "official" Finnish (except for some very literary-minded people perhaps), there are about a dozen major dialects in Finland, all of which use very different pronounciations. To native speakers it won't cause much trouble usually, but I recall having some difficulties understanding our very own Naku from this forum back in 2004, because of differences in dialect. There is a small minority of original Lappland-people still in the north, who speak their own language that is in no way related to Finnish.

-Villain

Thank you so much! Ask me if you need some translation from/into italian!

 

[Violens]

Ehm, possiamo, perche anch'io sono messicano, allora uso la prima persona del plurale. Avevo intenzione di andare a studiare là, ma non so si adesso sia possibile. Forse qualche altro anno, io aspetto.

Allora avresti dovuto scrivere "Noi messicani" e non "i messicani"..così come è scritta o cambi persona oppure è errore..

Se vieni qua passa a Torino, che magari ci incontriamo!

 

[Kovenant84]

Villain... that could have always just been Naku.

~kov.

 

[Dark_Silence]

The declension in Finnish is definitely worst than in German... i am already having difficulties with the German ones ...

Actually those Finnish declensions make me think to Latin...
In the end, Latin didnt die, it just transformed itself into Finnish

 

[Sarah C]

Yeah, Finnish is prolly the weirdest of Scandinavian languages

Swedish was quite easy to learn though. The grammar is quite chaotic (very few rules, mostly exceptions !) but the language itself can be very rewarding, very fast

And the Swedes are always quite happily surprised when foreigners don't go the easy way, and try pathetically to make a sentence out of swedish words I guess they appreciate the effort, and try making it easier by speaking slowly and trying hard to understand whatever we're saying

At least, that was the impression i got. Easy going language, i love it !

 

[Makaan]

Is Russian taught in Sweden? Wow, cool!

Nah, It´s not really that common, but the school me and my brother went to was quite large and had a lot of language options, I think you could choose between French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian and Latin. Most students study english from their third year or so in school (aged 10), and English is mandatory all the way up to year 11th-12th year. Everyone has to study a third language from year 6 and onwards, and when you come up to "Gymnasiet" (10th-13th year, which is optional but almost everyone go there) you can chose whatever you want, that´s were my brother took Russian classes.

As for me I did some German (or, well, I did german for 5 years ), but I never really liked it, and definetly did not get good at it. If I could change my choices I would have picked russian for my final year instead, not that I would learn much but I think the language is really cool .

Swedish was quite easy to learn though....

How/Where/When/Why did you learn Swedish?

 

[Sarah C]

I was an exchange student in Stockholm last year. Thank you Erasmus !!

One of the reasons i went there was to learn a third language, because my Spanish is terrible. I started with the traditionnal swedish initiation, we were about 200 students from all around the world in the hall, with just one teacher, who's one of the greatest i've ever had (all subjects included). After 2 or 3 courses, i was able to order my coffee from the Pressbyran, which was really rewarding -because of the reasons i mentionned earlier- so it gave me loads of motivation, and i think that for someone who only had a few weeks of courses, i'm not doing so bad

I just love this language, but it's hard to practice it in France (I'm French btw). I have loads of contacts with my Swedish friends, through msn, keep watching as much of videos on svt.se and reading daily nemi comics, but i've lost a lot.

The coolest thing to show off is to be able to speak Swedish with the bands coming to Paris. That was very funny at the Hellfest, because everyone was quite drunk, and we ended up speaking a mix of english and swedish with Mikael and Martin, with everyone around wondering whatthehell we were talking about.

It allows some privacy sometimes, same when my friends came to Paris, we would talk Swedish most of the time because they were too lazy, and it was useful to get rid of the annoying people in the Subway ^^

 

[Dark_Silence]

it was useful to get rid of the annoying people in the Subway ^^

i have always wondered if you get cought in teh subay/tramay/ bus without a ticket, if you started to speak a foreign language that only few people can speak and do like you didnt understand a word of what the controllers say, would they let you go away?...

Its always funny because my bf and i speak French i(i am a native French speaker) and when we're in town or in the tramway, you can say tons of things about the annoying people and they dont get a word of what you say...

 

[Violens]

Nah, It´s not really that common, but the school me and my brother went to was quite large and had a lot of language options, I think you could choose between French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian and Latin. Most students study english from their third year or so in school (aged 10), and English is mandatory all the way up to year 11th-12th year. Everyone has to study a third language from year 6 and onwards, and when you come up to "Gymnasiet" (10th-13th year, which is optional but almost everyone go there) you can chose whatever you want, that´s were my brother took Russian classes.

As for me I did some German (or, well, I did german for 5 years ), but I never really liked it, and definetly did not get good at it. If I could change my choices I would have picked russian for my final year instead, not that I would learn much but I think the language is really cool .



How/Where/When/Why did you learn Swedish?

Ah ok, but that remains cool stuff!..here you can be taught English and ...English..ah, yeah sometime even English!

Leaving kidding behind..here most common taught language is English but up 'til only 20 years ago was French (ok, it might be interesting, but no as useful as English is), and btw even if now English has "taken over", in most of schools is more than a dream to choose a third language from 6 (maybe, and I underline that I'm not sure, only private ones and stuff like that..)..at best you learn a second language during elementary school (6-11), same situation during junior high, or "scuole medie inferiori" (12-14) and in some cases you can add a second language (depending on the school you're gonna attend) during high school or "scuole superiori" (15-19); only exception are the linguistic high schools (licei linguistici) that can give a 3 languages education (but often the choice is too limited mainly between spanish and german)..some high school (included linguistic ones) teach Latin too, but never heard 'bout portuguese, russian, dutch or, say, swedish..

 

[QRV]

Allora avresti dovuto scrivere "Noi messicani" e non "i messicani"..così come è scritta o cambi persona oppure è errore..

Se vieni qua passa a Torino, che magari ci incontriamo!

Hai raggione. A veci confondo la struttura del italiano con quella del spagnolo (in spagnolo, è corretto dirlo cos&#236, come le due lingue sono molto similari.

Bene, se vado in Italia passerò a Torino, che incontrare una faccia amica sarebbe cosa buona.

 

[Volve]

Yeah, Finnish is prolly the weirdest of Scandinavian languages

Swedish was quite easy to learn though. The grammar is quite chaotic (very few rules, mostly exceptions !) but the language itself can be very rewarding, very fast

And the Swedes are always quite happily surprised when foreigners don't go the easy way, and try pathetically to make a sentence out of swedish words I guess they appreciate the effort, and try making it easier by speaking slowly and trying hard to understand whatever we're saying

At least, that was the impression i got. Easy going language, i love it !

I would like to comment on you saying Finnish is a scandinavian language. It might be different i Sweden, but in Norway we wouldn't call Finnish a scandinavian language. Scandinavia is Norway and Sweden, and sometimes Denmark. They are the closest relatied countries. Finland has a language witch I never expect to understand anything of. Both swedish and danish I can understand almost emidiately. Finland I would place in the Nordick countries. Iceland is in that group.

Hvordan er det i Sverige?