pikkuhiljaa

MEANING:

Adverb: Little by little, gradually.

Comes from pikku- (“little”) +‎ hiljaa (“slowly”).

Used in a sentence: Alan pikkuhiljaa hermostua means ”I’m gradually getting irritated.”

kesken

 kesken

MEANING:

Adverb, preposition and postposition:  in the middle of, between, among.

USAGE:

As an adverb: unfinished.

As a preposition: in the middle of:

As a postposition: between, among: meidän kesken, heidän kesken… between us, among them…

pala palalta

 pala palalta

MEANING:

Adverb: bit by bit, little by little, gradually (in small pieces). Literally, piece by piece.

DERIVED FROM:

Pala palalta comes from pala (”piece” or ”bit”) + palalta (ablative singular of pala).

EXTRA CREDIT:

Let’s translate the whole headline, ”Lauttassaren vesitorni katoaa pala palalta” or ”Lauttasaari’s water tower disappears little by little.”

Some synonyms:

• pikkuhiljaa
• vähitellen
• vähä vähältä

nurin päin

 nurin päin

MEANING:

Adverb: inside out, upside down (wrong way around).

DERIVED FROM:

Nurin päin comes from nurin (over, inside out, upside down) + päin (”towards,” ” in the direction of”).

 

välillä

 välillä

MEANING:

Adverb: between, occasionally, at times, sometimes.

DERIVED FROM:

Välillä is the adessive singular of väli which means ”gap,” ”space.” ”interval.” or ”distance.”

EXTRA CREDIT:

Let’s translate the whole phrase from the postcard, ”Muista hengittää välillä” or ”Remember to breathe sometimes.”

harvoin

 harvoin

MEANING:

Adverb: seldom, rarely, infrequently.

EXTRA CREDIT:

Harvoin Tarjolla means ”rarely offered” and was the name of a 2008 Finnish television series.

jumissa

 jumissa

MEANING:

Adverb: stuck. (Olen jumissa means ”I am stuck.”)

DERIVED FROM:

Jumissa is the inessive singular form of jumi (”the state of being stuck.)

EXTRA CREDIT:

In the sense ”state of being stuck” used normally only in inessive, elative and illative singular: olla jumissa, päästä jumista,  or joutua or jäädä jumiin. (To be stuck,  to become unstuck, or to get stuck.)

ajan tasalla

 ajan tasalla

MEANING:

Adverb (phrase): up to date, updated, posted.

DERIVED FROM:

Ajan tasalla comes from ajan (“of the time”) + tasalla (a postposition meaning ”at the level of” or ”abreast”).

”Pidän teidät ajan tasalla tilanteen kehityksestä” means ”I’ll keep you posted about new developments.”

EXTRA CREDIT:

Ajantasainen is the adjectival equivalent, meaning ”up-to-date.”

hukassa

 hukassa

MEANING:

Adverb: lost.

DERIVED FROM:

Hukassa is the inessive singular form of hukka, which means ”wolf,” ”doom,” ”peril,” ”waste” or ”loss.”

EXTRA CREDIT:

Hukassa is used with the verb olla (“to be”). Hukkaan is used with mennä (“to go”), joutua (“to end up”) or other verb describing transition.

todennäköisesti

 todennäköisesti

MEANING:

Adverb:  Probably, likely.

DERIVED FROM:

Todennäköisesti comes from todennäköinen (an adjective meaning ”probable”) +‎ –sti (which can be used as an adverbial suffix corresponding to the English -ly.)

Todennäkoinen is a compound of toden (“true”) +‎ näköinen (“looking”).

EXTRA CREDIT:

Let’s translate the whole Verkkokauppa slogan Todennäköisesti aina halvempi, or ”Always likely to be cheaper.”