Impersonal Constructions in Finnish

Overview

Impersonal constructions are sentences without a personal subject — they describe situations, weather, states, or general conditions. At the A1 level, you encounter impersonal constructions from your very first Finnish lessons because weather expressions, time expressions, and several common everyday phrases use this pattern. Finnish is particularly rich in impersonal constructions because it uses them for weather, emotional states, physical sensations, and general statements.

The most basic impersonal constructions use the 3rd person singular on (is) without a subject, or use the passive voice for general statements. Understanding these patterns helps you describe the world around you without needing to identify a specific agent.

How It Works

Weather expressions (no subject)

Finnish	English
Sataa.	It rains.
Sataa lunta.	It snows. (lit. "It rains snow.")
Paistaa (aurinko).	The sun shines.
Tuulee.	It's windy.
On kylmä.	It's cold.
On kuuma.	It's hot.
On pimeää.	It's dark.

Time and state expressions

Finnish	English
On aamu.	It's morning.
On myöhä.	It's late.
On hiljaista.	It's quiet.
On hauskaa.	It's fun.
On vaikeaa.	It's difficult.

Physical/emotional sensations (experiencer in adessive/partitive)

Finnish	Literal	English
Minua väsyttää.	Me tires.	I'm tired / sleepy.
Minua janottaa.	Me thirsts.	I'm thirsty.
Minua naurattaa.	Me laughs.	I feel like laughing.
Minua pelottaa.	Me fears.	I'm scared.
Minulla on kylmä.	At me is cold.	I'm cold.
Minulla on nälkä.	At me is hunger.	I'm hungry.

General statements (passive)

Finnish	English
Suomessa puhutaan suomea.	In Finland, Finnish is spoken.
Täällä ei saa tupakoida.	Smoking is not allowed here.
Sanotaan, että...	It is said that...

"One/you" (general person)

Finnish often uses the passive or 2nd person singular for general statements:

Finnish	English
Sitä ei voi tietää.	One can't know that.
Kun katsoo ikkunasta...	When you look out the window...
Jos haluaa oppia, täytyy harjoitella.	If one wants to learn, one must practice.

Examples in Context

Finnish	English	Note
Tänään sataa.	Today it rains.	Weather
Ulkona on kylmä.	Outside it's cold.	Weather/state
Minua väsyttää.	I'm sleepy.	Sensation
Suomessa on pitkä talvi.	In Finland there is a long winter.	General fact
On hauskaa oppia suomea!	It's fun to learn Finnish!	State
Minua pelottaa pimeässä.	I'm scared in the dark.	Sensation
Täällä puhutaan englantia.	English is spoken here.	Passive impersonal
On jo myöhä.	It's already late.	Time
Minulla on kuuma.	I'm hot.	Physical sensation
Sanotaan, että Suomi on kaunis.	It's said that Finland is beautiful.	General statement
Pitää olla varovainen.	One must be careful.	General necessity
Satoi koko päivän eilen.	It rained all day yesterday.	Weather (past)

Common Mistakes

Adding a subject to weather expressions

• Wrong: Se sataa. (adding "it" like English)
• Right: Sataa.
• Why: Finnish weather expressions are truly subjectless. There is no equivalent of English "it" in these constructions.

Confusing personal and impersonal sensation verbs

• Wrong: Minä väsytän. (I tire — causative meaning)
• Right: Minua väsyttää. (I feel tired — impersonal)
• Why: The impersonal sensation construction puts the experiencer in the partitive case, not the nominative.

Using nominative for the experiencer

• Wrong: Minä on kylmä. (nominative)
• Right: Minulla on kylmä. (adessive)
• Why: The "I'm cold/hungry/etc." construction uses the adessive case (minulla), not the nominative.

Practice Tips

1. Weather journal: Every day, describe the weather in Finnish: Tänään sataa. On kylmä. Tuulee kovasti. Aurinko paistaa.
2. Sensation vocabulary: Learn the common sensation verbs as units: minua väsyttää, minua janottaa, minua naurattaa, minua pelottaa, minua harmittaa.
3. General statement practice: Make observations using impersonal constructions: On hauskaa oppia suomea. On vaikeaa herätä aikaisin. On tärkeää syödä hyvin.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — verb forms used in impersonal constructions