Learn Finnish: Single vs Double Letter Pronunciation Guide | KatChats

Struggle with pronouncing single vs double letters in Finnish? Here is my attempt at trying to showcase the subtle difference between how you would pronounce single letters eg kisa vs double letters eg kissa.
Happy learning! :)
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Thank you for watching!
♥ KatChats ♥

[@user-qk7et9kh5k]

You're that teacher I've always wanted

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Aww ^-^

[@sompornjansuwan5089]

I think so😊😊

[@GypsieSeeker]

Ki-itos! I kinda feel like we’re standing in a hallway and you just stopped me for 15 minutes to explain some Finnish tho 🤣

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Omg that's hilarious xD

[@HeinrichTsanov]

It is totally possible to train your ears to notice the subtle differences in a language. For example, my native language (Cantonese) does not contain voiced sounds such as [b] or [d] or [g]. Our accent of English exclusively use aspiration (the amount of air flow) instead of voicing (the vibration of the vocal cord) to distinguish sounds like /b/ and /p/, as we are generally insensitive to voicing. However, after many years of study in Russian, my ears are now equally sensitive to voicing as to aspiration. I even have experimental evidence to that. When a Bavarian said the word Bube to me, I thought he was saying Puppe or Bupe (a non-existent word). It took me some time to realize that Bavarians do not voice their /b/ sound, which makes it sound like /p/ in Finnish.

[@davehenderson6125]

I'm so happy you discussed this! I hadn't even considered a method for pronouncing (or differentiating for that matter) double-consonant words relative to their single-consonant varieties so, as a result, hearing a Finnish person talk still throws me off at the get-go because it's so overwhelming. Listening for the pauses in words & breaking the words into syllables (as you did) when practicing are techniques that I'm going to practice. Thank you.

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Hopefully it helps make it easier to decipher Finnish words eventually :) I'm basically just explaining it in a way I'd want it to be explained if I was learning haha, glad it's been helpful! :D

[@zami8827]

Laitetaan kokoon koko kokko. koko kokkoko? koko kokko.

[@cosmiceggs2385]

Thanks a ton! I was having a lot of trouble with double consonants.

[@michaelhalsall5684]

In English here are some of examples of a double consonants changing the meanings of words. Example "hoping" & "hopping".

[@katathoombz]

Then again the double C denotes, many a time, the length of the preceding V, more than the length of the C held. Thus the meaning changes due to the length of the V, but that in turn is marked by the doubling of the following C. In Finnish the V would be doubled, not the following C. Same orthographical phenomenon, but different purpose.

[@MrExtreme696]

Kiitos paljon

[@igor7851]

Cool video, but for me, the best part was this ''psych talk" of yours... I almost thought you gave up on these Finnish language videos after you became famous... 😂😂🏒🏒

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Haha ofc not! I just have a week and a half left of classes before my semester ends so coursework is intensifying xD

[@igor7851]

@@KatChatsFinnish Oh, sorry... Good luck!!!

[@michaeldriscoll8537]

Totally makes sense, this is a very good explanation. The idea of mouth shape at the end of the syllable really helped (mouth open at the end of “ma” versus the position to make the ending t in “mat” for mato versus matto.

[@vlhz69420]

Your finnish series are the best. There aren't any other channels which explain the language this detailed way. Thanks a lot!!

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Wow thank you so much! 🙏🏻

[@watchmakerful]

Russian has double consonants as well, typically on morpheme boundaries, but sometimes even in roots (масса, ванна, касса, тонна).

[@osubeavers503]

This is the hardest part of learning Finnish for me.

[@epiclemon9927]

Hey, I'm a native speaker and I'm confused as to what part is difficult. Can you explain to me?

[@osubeavers503]

The double letters, especially vowels.

[@epiclemon9927]

@@osubeavers503 Oh, any idea why they are so hard for non-native speakers?

[@osubeavers503]

@@epiclemon9927 I think because English speakers aren't used to sounding out each letter. We aren't used to extending the sounds. Finnish does weird things to our mouths. 😁

[@Alex-bp6jy]

I was waiting for a new video!! kiitos avusta =) Really helping me since I've been struggling to pronounce some sentences "non-artificially" like "minulla ei ole voimaa"

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Of course! I'm glad my video is even a little bit helpful xD

[@georgevassilev4102]

Double consonant basically asks you to to make a pause like in "Uh-Oh" in English. Easy example.

[@kasuraga]

I think i got a bit lucky. My issue isnt hearing them, its just my own personal pacing when i speak. Its been an issue when i was learning a bit of japanese. I think the fact i was able to speak and understand japanese well up till i was about 6 (my mom stopped using it as much around me :( ) helps a bit with learning other languages Double letters are slowly not becoming an issue fortunately. Being exposed to it daily almost all day helps too despite being frustrated when i dont know what my friends are saying (kind of motivates me to learn faster)

[@debbieprince7622]

Perfect explanation! Thank you so much for taking the time to explain it properly! I really appreciate it!

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Kiitos! And I really appreciate the comment, thanks for watching :)

[@JackRyanFox]

As a British person who doesnt even pronounce their 't's in the first place this is hard

[@alexeysoloviev2924]

You are the best teacher ever! Gonna be watching all of your videos and learning from them! Thanks so much for everything you do! You are The Best! 😀👍❤️

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Aww thank you so much :)

[@celskie0127]

Superb explanation!Kiitos paljon!!

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Kiitos paljon!

[@murissantos]

These double letters seem to be like in Italian and Hungarian; thanks a lot for your videos, it's not so common to find someone who makes videos with these important details, it's a wonderful job! I already put Finnish in my list to study :D

[@KatChatsFinnish]

You're very welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful :D

[@mindfulmallard]

This gave a really good and clear explanation on the pronunciation differences! I've sometimes struggled with how long I have to stretch out a double consonant, but that thing about kukka made is so clear, I just have to hold the letter at the end of the first syllable :)

[@KatChatsFinnish]

:)

[@lostol7571]

what about Tulli...great videos.

[@Ninja-be8jh]

This is a really good video. This is very challenging for English speakers to understand (I'm sure others as well), because we don't put any emphasis normally on double consonants in speaking or writing, it's just something we remember. In Finnish, it obviously plays a much more important role and trying to mimic those sounds can be easily one of the most difficult things to learn and this is just very important to know because we can't hear it, especially in normal speaking, light speed, Finnish mode. When I first started speaking, I would try to figure out how to pace out or say the words in a way that sounded Finnish, it was so difficult. I tried ku-kkk-a for flower, or ku-2 second day-ka, it was just a mess and I couldn't figure it out for a while the rythym or sequence, in the end I came to the same conclusion in your video, but it would have been much nicer to know from the beginning, so this video should be sent to everyone learning Finnish, basically.

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Aww this is such a lovely comment, I'm glad you managed to figure it out on your own and that you feel my video can be helpful for others learning too =) It's really interesting to hear people's language learning journey so thank you so much for sharing! Kiitos!

[@bradyobrien1847]

So true about the English double consonants. When you try and read a word like bunny, the u doesn't have any special characters to identify the sound the "u" should make, so we have to go on a general rule that without the double consonants "nn" we say a "long u"(ū). And when spelling vise-versa. For someone just learning English, I would imagine it would be difficult to keep track of the many such nuances of the language. Watching this video greatly clarifies the pronunciation of Finnish double consonant. Something clicked in my brain when I understood the idea that at the end of the first tavu, your mouth (and throat?) should assume the shape to make the sound of the double consonant and kind of draw the sound into the next tavu. To the best of my ability to describe the idea in English anyway.

[@britishtf2]

Perfect. Just what I thought the difference was. Thanks for clarifying :)

[@michaeldriscoll8537]

This made sense to me when the Rangers drafted Kaapo Kakko in the NHL draft

[@aiste77777]

This was very very helpful, thank you:)

[@KatChatsFinnish]

I’m glad you think so! Kiitos!

[@haythamemara]

Great..thank you. Gracias. Kiitos. شكرا

[@azzthund1500]

Double K always fucks me up.

[@matthew_pauls]

what an enlightening video. just writing it out with the hyphen and hearing you say it was an epiphany for me. Kiitos!!!

[@KatChatsFinnish]

That’s amazing to hear! 😁

[@evangelistacosta5529]

Kiitos!

[@Herbert-tp7hs]

Thank you so much!

[@ab.afghan6663]

Really your the best teacher thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@benemastudios8643]

You are a good finnish teacher

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Kiitos!

[@g-sakhi-n]

moi mitä kuuluu, kiitos for all your videos 👍😍🌹

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Ei mitään!

[@franklinm9775]

hello I started to follow you today, i am trying to learn finnish by my own way and you are a great help, i was thinking for the next class or next classes something about finnish noun cases (just a suggestion) thank you and keep going, great job really, kiitos kat kippis

[@KatChatsFinnish]

I appreciate the suggestion! I'll add it to my list :D Thanks!

[@franklinm9775]

kiitos paljon kaunis !

[@mlivjuskla5571]

This was a very good explanation.

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Kiitos :D

[@ccindy000]

Sinä olet hauska!☺

[@Joan-nr9we]

I'm thinking of cute silly terms of endearment for my finnish boyfriend. hope u can make a video for that

[@gonzalogomez6154]

Moi! I "discovered" your videos recentely and I think I got addicted 🤣 thank you! 8:04 you reminded me of my elementary school teacher, she separated into syllables like that 12:51 ❤️

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Thank you so much!! :)

[@ajbabay]

Please correct me if I’m wrong but when I think of the double letters, I think of them as a comma in the middle of the word. Like a soft pause as opposed to a full stop (period or I guess a new word in this context?)

[@ibraahimmuxudiin6565]

Nice I like it

[@NurseArielPhysiotherapists]

Kiitos..from Philippines

[@ambermarie211]

Sana sounds very similar to the way most Americans pronounce the word sauna. My Finnish family might disown me if they heard me prounounce sauna that way though. 😂

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Hahahah

[@dyannahoney2255]

"Sana" is feminine for "healthy" in Spanish and refers to a dairy product in Romanian.

[@Sof93]

This is so interesting! It reminds me a bit of Korean haha

[@joyzy2653]

Hi there.. your video made me push harder to study finnish language even better.. I was using a text book and I find it boring to study alone..your video made it easier for me to understand finnish language. Im glad that your alphabet is the same with elnglish but quite differ in pronounciation.Anyways, thank you so much,I was hoping if you can make a video on how to read the long words or how to pronounce it right.. or maybe how to break it.. kiitos..

[@toranobutsu]

That's really interesting. I think what you're trying to describe is what's called a glottal stop. Basically it's when you use a part of your airway called the glottis that basically stops the syllable in the middle of saying it. It's a feature of language that's surprisingly common. For example, in Japanese the word koko means "Here." But if you add that glottal stop and say kokko it means "National Treasury."

[@stinkyboy]

That's pretty cool! Kokko means bonfire in Finnish :)

[@PieniTiikeri1986]

Here is the example which could be my confusing of the double letter words, in Finnish, "Rakkaus" means the noun version of "love" , but when it changes to the verb, it becomes Rakasta. I don't understand why does the word drop a "k"? I assume "Rakkasta" is more reasonable. Don't laugh at me, I am just a newbie.

[@jnr1075]

kiitos 😘😘😘

[@KatChatsFinnish]

:)

[@keanunorman1008]

I know these may be kind of old but I'm very interested. My question is, it sounds almost like a gluter stop, a stød, would that be a good way to explain what's happening with constanents? In Danish, there are a lot of stød's, sorry that's the only almost similarity I can think of. Thank you!

[@elias7819]

To me the differences are more apparent in how you say the vowels, even more so than the consonants. It seems like the timing on each vowel is more or less equal in duration with the single consonant word. With the double vowel words, it sounds like the timing is more lopsided (lacking a better word). The first vowel seems to held longer/stressed and the second sounds unstressed 🤔

[@finnsalsa9304]

Ultimate challenge tule - Come! tulee - He's coming (ei) tulle - He probably won't come. tullee - Maybe he comes. (ei) tuule - It's not windy. tuulee - It's windy. (ei) tuulle - It's probably not windy. tuullee - It's probably windy. - Good luck! - Lykkyä tykö! :3

[@elderscrollsswimmer4833]

More: tuli - fire; tuuli - wind; tulli customs, toll;

[@williamgilreath7842]

Can also call it stressing or emphasizing the consonant when pronouncing double consonants. I prefer to say stressing. I think context also helps. After all, you're going to place kukka not kuka on your desk. Though in the case of given names like Sanna and Saana I think proper pronunciation is more important since context may not be so apparent.

[@williamgilreath7842]

Realize the next video has you saying basically saying the same thing, at least in the case of vowels. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, KZbin doesn't allow for watching videos in reverse order, and I'm trying to rewatch these and those I'd missed one after the other.

[@KatChatsFinnish]

:)

[@PaulVinonaama]

Yea, you should make a difference between Joona and Jonna, at least.

[@joyciefruit]

Yesssss I agree with your psych talk hahaha

[@astoriasxyle5713]

How to pronounce "y"s in between words please.

[@annabr9986]

I really like the video, thank you ❤️ for me the differences are pretty strong, so even when I’m watching interviews and I don’t understand anything but some words, I feel like I could tell where the double letters were. Maybe it’s because I’m native speaker of Russian and German and there are many words with double consonants in Russian but pronouncing and hearing the double letters in Finnish will be the smallest problem. I really would like to go on with some grammar, so maybe you could take a video on this sometime?

[@KatChatsFinnish]

I'll definitely be doing grammar in the future :P

[@annabr9986]

KatChats thank you, I’m looking forward to it!! :)

[@tomasbeltran04050]

Is it like a glottal stop?

[@saidoudou1377]

Tuuli remembers me in --> Tuuli tuule sinne missä muruseni on :) thanks for sharing

[@merc340sr]

Can a poor pronunciation of double letters be overcome by context? If you don't pronounce the two letters, will Finns be able to understand you from the context of the discussion?

[@Larjus]

I'd say that usually it will, but it depends on the situation and context. Some are more obvious than others. First it might cause confusion and understanding the intended meaning requires more (thinking) from us Finns, but I'm sure in most cases we would eventually (maybe after a question or two) get what you're trying to say.

[@caasharashiidibraahim3567]

❤

[@J_A]

Katsottuani tämän videon tajusin viimeisenkin ongelman lausumisessani, mutta nyt tunnen osaavani puhua Suomea.

[@susangileswantuck2413]

How do you do the double "l's" in a name? Is it like a y? (as in Spanish)

[@KatChatsFinnish]

No you would still pronounce it as an "l" tbh it sounds pretty much that same as a single "l"

[@aakashacharya5184]

Love you always..😍😘😊🤘

[@bradyobrien1847]

The bouncing ball! Like in the sing-along Jinglebells!

[@KarlNeuman]

Kiitos, Kat!!!

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Omg of course!

[@Jonathan-lg1xw]

I get all the double consonants and double vowels, but there are some words that are just really hard, like the double nn after double u in kuunnella. But the word I have the most trouble with of them all is "kansa" vs "kanssa" :(

[@JonybatPT]

Yea, or whenever there is a double consonant after a double vowel really, like kaappi or kaapit

[@Youlubucki]

Maybe the right word for that double letter phenomenon is "gemination"?

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Ohh I think you're right!

[@riadghellab9829]

👍👍

[@janneschroderus2866]

Sinulla on erinomainen tulevaisuus edessäsi..Olisit erinomainan juontaja/toimittaja,koska olet älykäs ja äänesi on miellyttävä jota on ilo kuunnella... Lisäksi olisit aivan erinomainen opettaja,joten uravaihtoehtoja riittää.. : )

[@apexninja2596]

Could u please make a video on the 18 Diphthong ei ui ey öy and so on. I really struggle with them thx

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Definitely can add it to the list!

[@apexninja2596]

@@KatChatsFinnish Thx your the best I will let u know if I struggle with something else😅

[@pinguinthecowboy8899]

it’s a weird italian 😂, finnish is so fun to learn

[@KatChatsFinnish]

I'm glad !! :D

[@aduoluwatobi4024]

Hi katchat, basically if you have two consonants together, u break them but if you have two vowels u pronounce them together. Is it?

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Yup!

[@aduoluwatobi4024]

KatChats thanks

[@okaro6595]

Can you find a word with double E or double O?

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Sure! There lots with double E for example "hän menee" = he/she goes (lots of verbs conjugated in the "he/she" form actually), and double O is less common, but still shows up for example: "diagnoosi" = diagnosis or "eurooppa" = Europe

[@g-sakhi-n]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@saqos]

Jeeeeee

[@williamdegroot-motisi3959]

i was talking to my Finnish friend the other day and she said something about substantive noun endings or something like that. I asked her why it was “pidän juustoSTA” instead of just “pidän juusto” HELP (she may have been using the wrong word 😂 she does that a lot)

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Umm not sure off the top of my head what rule it would be..? But in general if you say you like something in Finnish whether it be a dog, cheese, Michael Jackson, homework etc you would use the -sta/stä ending xD Sorry that's prob not very helpful, but just off the top of my head idk WHY it's like that D:

[@williamdegroot-motisi3959]

KatChats lmao thanks kween love your videos 💜💜💜

[@AB_Archives]

In Finnish grammar it's called 'Verbin rektio' roughly it could be translated as Verb's recompense or as we taught in Finland the shadow of the verb. It's basically having the noun to end with the same layout as the verb. Some verbs are considered elatiivi verbit so (sta/ä), partitiivi verbit, etc. This might not make sense to you but of course you can use the internet for more details. Out of interest here are some other verbs where you have to use (sta/ä): tykätä nauttia olla kiinnostunut ajatella (mielipide)

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Thanks so much for the addition, much appreciated!!

[@williamdegroot-motisi3959]

Abdirahman Abdullahi kiitos paljon!!!

[@astaknan9161]

Kiitti

[@KatChatsFinnish]

:)

[@huseyinolmez2305]

Kusi // kuusi 😂

[@whoneedsdefenseanyways4418]

En tiiä miks katon näit suomalaisen mut nää vaa on nii kiinnostavii ja hyvintehtyi💪😉

[@KatChatsFinnish]

Omg hahah, no kiva et kiinnostaa xD

[@rosacardoso3231]

So hard.

[@user-yb5cn3np5q]

... and then there is Ukrainian with "chch" and "tsts" double consonant sounds. Best luck, foreigners.

[@user-ix4jh1ex5c]

Kiitos paljon