This second edition of Finnish: An Essential Grammar has undergone profound revisions. The chapter on basic sentence structure has been rewritten and syntax has been given more space. Sections have been added on phrase types, simple clause types, and types of complex sentences. A section on discourse particles has been added. The vocabulary of the copious example sentences has been updated to give it a touch of the twenty-first century.

The section on modern colloquial Finnish has been considerably expanded. Internet addresses helpful for any learner of Finnish are provided which make is possible to automatically analyse the grammatical structure of any Finnish words and sentences.

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 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.

Books by Fred Karlsson (University of Helsinki, Finland)