Product Description

This second edition of "Finnish: An Essential Grammar" is grounded in fundamental insights of modern linguistics and incorporates some of the latest achievements in the description of written and spoken Finnish. It gives not only a systematic account of the structures of the written language, but also features the characteristics of colloquial Finnish. No prior knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader and grammatical rules are clearly explained without jargon. Features of this book include: pronunciation guide, including the tendencies in present-day colloquial Finnish; thorough descriptions of morphology (word structure) and syntax (sentence structure); clear rules and an abundance of concrete examples; inflection tables; subject index; and, internet addresses to online software for grammatical analysis of Finnish. This is the ideal reference source both for those studying Finnish independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #212736 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-26
• Original language: English, Finnish
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover

Reviews of the first edition:

'Finnish: An Essential Grammar is an intelligent and effective introduction to standard Finnish... A learner using any kind of approach for learning Finnish will also find it useful as a reference grammar.

Scandinavica 39/1 [2000]

'The somewhat daunting task facing students of Finnish has been vastly simplified by Fred Karlsson's notably practical and supremely competent survey and guide. It amply merits a place in reference and lending libraries alike.'

Languages and Literature 14/1 [2000]

This second edition of Finnish: An Essential Grammar is grounded in fundamental insights of modern linguistics and incorporates some of the latest achievements in the description of written and spoken Finnish.

It gives not only a systematic account of the structures of the written language, but also features the characteristics of present-day colloquial Finnish. No prior knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader and grammatical rules are clearly explained without jargon.

Features include:

• pronunciation guide, including the tendencies in present-day colloquial Finnish

• thorough descriptions of morphology (word structure) and syntax (sentence structure)

• clear rules and an abundance of concrete examples

• inflection tables

• subject index

• Internet addresses to online software for grammatical analysis of Finnish. 

This is the ideal reference source both for those studying Finnish independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.

Fred Karlsson is Professor of General Linguistics at the University of Helsinki.

Customer Reviews

The most comprehensive and clear book of Finnish grammar.
I have found this book to be invaluable during my Finnish studies. It is clearly set out and provides many examples along the way. Highly recommended if embarking on Finnish studies.

The best Finnish teaching Aid - In English!
This has been the most essential, useful and easiest way to learn Finnish. In my studies all other books may help with learning basic sentences but this gives a very precise and logical understanding to constructing the notoriously difficult words and sentences.
I would just add that this is more of an aid to other books and not a method to learn. What I mean by this is that the traditional method of learning basic sentences is still important but to truly understand how and why words change, this book gives a very clear explanation.

This book is at times even better than my Finnish teacher because it has a rule and explanation for all grammatical constructions (except advanced level); not that my teacher was bad at all but because there are so many complicated rules that bear no resemblance to English grammar that sometimes one can forget or get confused explaining!

Oh and best of luck learning Finnish, unless you have a natural knack for the language; it is the most difficult language I've attempted (though I've been told Manadarin/Japanese are the only languages more difficult!)

OK at first, but after a while...
At first, I found this useful. It helped me to understand things clearer, and it explained things such as consonant gradation in a more extensive way than Teach Yourself Finnish. At first, I would have recommended it...
But lately, it's just confused and infuriated me to the point where I can't be bothered learning Finnish anymore. Perhaps it's just me, but I find it uses too many complex sentences when trying to explain things, which is even more confusing, because it takes one confusing idea, and explains it with loads of confusingly-used terminology (Not that I'm a dunce...I do know a lot of the terminology such as Nominative, postmodifiers, intensifiers, etc...) which means that by the end of the paragraph I want to tear my hair out.
It's also annoying that it lacks simplified explanations or ways of remembering things. For example, I was trying to study sentence order earlier, but instead of having a clear 'Adverbs go in Time, Manner, Place' order, or 'In 'että' clauses, verbs go to the end of the clause' (For example), it went off on explanations that are hard ot pay attention to, much less understand.
What makes it worse is the lack of exercises, which would clarify things better than those run-on sentences. I know that I cna use my Teach Yourself Finnish for this, but the grammar in that book's spread out all over the place so trying to find one particular piece is difficult and boring.
However, there's no other Finnish grammar books available in English (That I know of), so it's just one tha thas to be bought and wept over, I suppose.