Myat asks: 

Why doesn't "kirkko" change kk to k in location cases?

Hi Myat!

Thank you for the question! Kpt-changes definitely baffle a lot of learners of Finnish. So here we go, it's time to talk about every Finnish learner's favorite topic: kpt-changes also known as consonant gradation, astevaihtelu and kpt-vaihtelu. 

Kirkko ‘church’ actually does have a kpt change where one k disappears (kk:k), it just doesn't happen in every location case. Let's take a look at the different stems or forms that you add endings to: 

kirkko – nominative or dictionary form
weak stem: kirko-
strong stem: kirkko-

To get to the weak stem, we have removed one of the two k’s in the nominative form.

In this word type, you need the weak stem for most forms of the word, including the location cases Missä (inessive) and Mistä (elative):

kirkossa – inside the church
kirkosta – from the church (from inside the church)

We also need the weak stem for all the outside versions of the location cases:

kirkolla – at the church 
kirkolta – from the church, outside version 
kirkolle – to the church

For the Mihin or illative form of the word, you need the strong stem kirkko-:

kirkkoon – into the church

Whenever a word ends in o, it follows this type of pattern for kpt changes: the stem is strong in the nominative or dictionary form (kirkko), in the Mihin-form or illative (kirkkoon) as well as in the essive (kirkkona, ‘as a church’) and the partitive (kirkkoa). All the rest of the singular forms are made with the weak stem, kirko-.

This also goes words that end in one ö, u, y, a or ä.

If you would like to read more about kpt changes, the website Uusi kielemme does a phenomenal job of explaining it all. I also recommend Leila White's A Grammar Book of Finnish, which is my go-to for double checking grammar rules. 

However, remember that choosing the wrong stem isn’t the end of the world. Whatever you do, don’t get stuck on perfecting your kpt-changes before moving on to other topics, these will come in time! 

Me mentiin naimisiin tässä kirkossa. - We got married in this church.
Me käveltiin yhdessä kirkkoon. - We walked to church together. 

Vilppulan kirkko, kuva: Vesahjr, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Reading in the language you want to learn is one of the best ways to level up your language skills. But it can be really difficult to form a regular reading habit and stay motivated. Luckily, there are wonderful teachers who can help you do just that! One of them is Hanna Männikkölahti from Random Finnish Lesson. In this guest post, Hanna talks about her new course to help you to read a whole book in Finnish. 

Hi there! This is Hanna from Random Finnish Lesson / Private Finnish Lessons, guest posting on Mari’s blog. Mari and I have known each other since October 2017, when she introduced herself to me on Facebook. I had been offering private online lessons for a while, and Mari was just about to start her business. Initially, we chatted on Messenger, but now we also meet face-to-face several times a year.

I’ve been following Mari‘s Steps towards YKI courses, and we’ve talked a lot about online courses that combine independent work with group meetings. I’m excited to announce that I’ve finally put together my own course! It’s all about reading ‘Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen’ in easy Finnish within a month. You can read a sample of the book here. 

In my course, students will read the book on their own, but they will also watch videos where I discuss the book or read it aloud with them. I’ve also curated the best Kimi Räikkönen videos on YouTube and organized them to complement the book as you read. Students can chat about the book as much as they want in my Telegram group, and we’ll meet four times on Zoom throughout the month.

Here’s a link to my blog post about the course: https://randomfinnishlesson.blogspot.com/2024/07/tuntematonkimiraikkonen.html

You can listen to a podcast episode where I discuss the course in Finnish. My podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Inspired by this upcoming course and excited about my ChatGPT skills, I finally finished a Memrise course featuring vocabulary from ‘Tuntematon Kimi Räikkönen’. 

If you want to join the course, send me an email at [email protected]. I will send you an invoice and a link to the course materials. The early bird price is €39 if you sign up by July 15. After that, the price is €55. 

I’m looking forward to having you in the course! I honestly believe there’s no better support for reading a book in easy Finnish. 😊
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Best regards,
Hanna

I very often get asked a version of this question: 

I'm preparing for YKI, and I need to pass the writing part. I can't attend a traditional classroom course, but I don't feel like I'm making enough progress on my own. Private lessons are over my budget. Is there another way to get feedback from you for my writing? 

I've designed a course for this specific purpose. It's called Steps towards YKI: Writing, and the next chapter is coming up in August 2024. 

You get access to the course materials on signing up and can start studying whenever works best for you. Then, once the interactive part of the course starts in August, you can share your work with me in a dedicated Telegram group or on Google Docs, where I read your work, comment on it and make suggestions on what to focus on next to get to your goal. 

The course is open for enrollment now. Here's the course page. If you're reading this after August 2024, the next interactive part of the course will be in January 2025. 

Lämpimästi tervetuloa, a warm welcome!