Uudestaan Uudelleen Taas – How to say “again” in Finnish
This article deals with the different ways to say “again” in Finnish. I often hear learners of Finnish ask what the difference is between the words uudestaan, uudelleen and taas. So let’s take a look at these words!
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- Uudelleen and uudestaan – Redoing something
- Taas – Repetition of an event
- English verbs starting with re-
- Cases where re- is expressed using uudelleen or uudestaan
- Cases where re- is expressed using a different verb
- Once more – Once again – Yet again
- Again and again
- Some example sentence
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1. Uudelleen and uudestaan – Redoing something
If we look at the words uudelleen and uudestaan from a grammatical viewpoint, both words are based on the adjective uusi. The difference lies in the case ending: uudelleen has the allative marker -lle, while uudestaan has the elative marker -sta. This difference can be discerned in the semantics of these words.
Uudestaan means “again, in the same (or a similar) fashion, a second time”. Uudelleen means “again, in a different (often improved) way”. In some cases, the difference is considered so minor that both words are used in the same context.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Voisitko sanoa sen uudestaan? | Could you say it again (a second time)? |
| Pyydä uudestaan, jos et saa vastausta. | Ask me for it again (a second time), if you don’t get a reply. |
| Minun piti aloittaa uudestaan aivan alusta. | I had to restart all the way from the beginning (in the same way). |
| En kadu sitä. Tekisin sen uudestaan. | I don’t regret it. I would do it again (the same way a second time). |
| Tee se vielä kerran uudestaan! | Do it once more (repeating what you did last time)! |
| Kirjoita teksti uudelleen! | Rewrite the text again (and improve it)! |
| Meidän täytyy arvioida riskit uudelleen. | We have to reassess the risks again (in a better way). |
| Päätöstä tarkastellaan uudelleen ensi vuonna. | The decision will be reviewed next year (perhaps with a different result). |
| Tätä tuotetta ei saa pakastaa uudelleen. | The product can’t be refrozen (it was already frozen in the store). |
Stores will often have a banner at their exit saying “Tervetuloa uudelleen“. The choice of uudelleen here makes sense: it expresses that you don’t have to redo your previous shopping trip; you’re just welcome to have another, similar shopping trip.
In theory we can use both uudelleen and uudestaan in the same sentence: “Yritys voi saada samaa tukea uudelleen [The business can get the same financial support a second time], jos se joutuu aloittamaan työn uudestaan” [if it’s forces to restart the work again from the beginning]. Here, uudelleen is used to express a second payment, while uudestaan is used to express that they have to redo everything the same way.
2. Taas – Repetition of an event
The word taas means “again” in the sense that something repeats yet another time. Taas isn’t used to express redoing anything. Rather, it expresses repetition of an event.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Ari on taas juovuksissa. | Ari is drunk again. |
| Mari on taas myöhässä. | Mari is late again. |
| Sari teki sen taas. | Sari did it again. |
| Museo on taas kiinni. | The museum is closed again. |
| Pitääkö minun käydä tämä taas läpi? | Do I need to go through this again? |
| Lukitsitko itsesi taas ulos? | Did you lock yourself outside again? |
| Tule taas käymään! | Come visit (us) again! |
| Mukava nähdä taas. | Nice to see you again. |
| Se tekisi minusta taas onnellisen. | It would make me happy again. |
The word taas also has another function, which we won’t get into here. It’s used to express a contrast between two statements.
3. English verbs starting with re-
For sentences with the adverb uudelleen, English often has a verb that starts with re- (e.g. redo, rewrite, reassess, review) that can be used instead of the word “again”. For example, “to write again” is “to rewrite”. However, this is just a tendency, so don’t rely on it without also considering whether the repetition of the action happens in the same fashion or in a different way
3.1. Cases where re- is expressed using uudelleen or uudestaan
In English, the prefix re- is used regularly to express repetition (e.g. “to use” becomes “to reuse”). Sometimes these actions get expressed using uudelleen or uudestaan in Finnish.
| English | Finnish |
|---|---|
| to recommence, resume | aloittaa uudelleen |
| to restart | aloittaa uudestaan |
| to restart (e.g. computer) | käynnistää uudelleen |
| to rethink, reassess, reevaluate | arvioida uudelleen |
| to reuse | käyttää uudelleen |
| to reprocess, review (a decision) | käsitellä uudelleen |
| to reheat, heat again | kuumentaa uudelleen |
| to reheat, warm up again | lämmittää uudelleen |
| to rephrase a question | muotoilla kysymys uudestaan |
| to rethink something | miettiä asiaa uudestaan |
| to try again | yrittää uudestaan |
| to reread a book | lukea kirja uudestaan |
| to reassess the risks | arvioida riskit uudelleen |
| to re-examine | tutkia uudelleen |
| to review | tarkastella uudelleen |
| to repackage | pakata uudelleen |
| to renumber | numeroida uudelleen |
| to reconsider | harkita uudelleen |
| to renegotiate | neuvotella uudelleen |
| to re-release | julkaista uudelleen |
| to repaint | maalata uudelleen |
| to replant | istuttaa uudelleen |
| to replenish | täyttää uudelleen |
| to resend | lähettää uudelleen |
3.2. Cases where re- is expressed using a different verb
In addition, there are many English verbs starting in re- which are expressed in English with a separate verb rather than by adding the word uudelleen.
An example of this which you will need during your studies is how to ask “Could you say that again?” in Finnish. We could use the following phrase for this: “Voisitko sanoa sen uudelleen/uudestaan/vielä kerran?“. However, it’s much more common to request “Voisitko toistaa?” (Could you repeat?).
The phrase “sanoa uudestaan” could also be replaced with more advanced verbs such as toistella (to say repeatedly). You could learn the verbs hokea, jauhaa and tolkuttaa to mean “to say again and again”.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| to repay | maksaa takaisin |
| to replace | korvata uudella, vaihtaa uuteen |
| to replicate | kopioida, toistaa |
| to reproduce | toisintaa |
| to reschedule | siirtää, lykätä, ajoittaa uudelleen |
| to reset | nollata, resetoida |
| to resize | muuttaa kokoa |
| to restock | täydentää varastoja |
| to restore | palauttaa, restauroida, entistää |
| to retake (a class) | uusia |
| to retrace | jäljittää |
| to return (a book) | palauttaa |
| to return (to a place) | palata takaisin |
| to reuse | kierrättää, käyttää uudelleen |
| to revitalise | elvyttää, elävöittää |
| to repeat | toistaa |
| to recur | toistua |
| to rehearse | kerrata, harjoitella |
(Note that there are also many English verbs that don’t carry this meaning of a repetition, such as restrict, reply, retain, retire, reveal and reward.)
4. Once more – Once again – Yet again
There are also other words and phrases that are used to express repetition.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| jälleen | once again |
| jälleen kerran | once again, once more |
| taas kerran | once again, yet again |
| toisen kerran | a second time |
| vielä kerran | once more, one more time |
| toistamiseen | yet again |
5. Again and again
Consider these English phrases: “again and again”, “over and over”, “over and over again”, “time and again” and “time and time again”. Finnish has similar phrases to express that something repeats many times.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| uudelleen ja uudelleen | again and again |
| yhä uudelleen | over and over again |
| kerta toisensa jälkeen | time after time |
| toistuvasti | repeatedly |
6. Some example sentences
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Haava aukesi uudelleen. | The wound reopened |
| Tervetuloa uudelleen! | Welcome again! |
| Sinun täytyy aloittaa uudestaan aivan alusta. | You have to start over from scratch. |
| Joku päivä löydät rakkauden uudestaan. | One day, you will find love again. |
| Mietipä asiaa uudestaan. | Please reconsider. |
| Lapsi laski liukumäkeä yhä uudelleen. | The child went down the slide again and again. |
| Katson lempisarjani yhä uudelleen. | I watch my favorite series over and over again. |
| Palasin takaisin yhä uudelleen ja uudelleen. | I came back again and again. |
| Potilas palaa päivystykseen yhä uudestaan. | The patient returns to the ER again and again. |
| Ari on taas juovuksissa. | Ari was drunk again. |
| Ari oli taas muuttanut mielensä. | Ari had changed his mind again. |
| Tule taas käymään! | Come visit again! |
| Koira on taas karannut. | The dog has run away again. |
| Taas kerran olin pakannut mukaani liikaa. | Once more I had packed too much. |
| Suuret kiitokset taas kerran Arille! |
Many thanks once again to Ari! |
| Olisin iloinen, jos voisimme jutella toistamiseen. | I would be happy if we could chat again. |
| Ari on rikkonut lakia toistuvasti. | Ari has broken the law repeatedly. |
| Ari ajoi toistuvasti ilman ajokorttia. | Ari drove repeatedly without a driver’s license. |
| Voit jälleen kirjautua verkkopalveluun. | You can sign in to online services again. (it was down for a while) |
| Jäähalli on jälleen avoinna. | The ice rink is open again. (it was closed for a while) |
That’s all for this article! Hopefully it helped you make more sense of the ways to say “again” in Finnish!
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