While you’re probably familiar with yksi, kaksi, kolme, you might also have come across ykkönen and kakkonen and wondered about what those are used for. This article dives into the topic of the names of the numbers.

When in English, you say “number one”, in Finnish you can use a separate form of the number instead. One is yksi, but “number one” is ykkönen. We can call ykkönen “the name of the number” and yksi the number. When in English, you generally say “number x”, Finnish will use the name of the number.

While you will hear this form a lot in spoken language, it’s not limited at all to only spoken language.

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1. The Formation of the Names of the Numbers
   1. Numbers 1 through 30
   2. Numbers 30 through 59
   3. Round numbers 10 through 100
   4. Examples of numbers above 100
   5. Inflection of the names of the numbers
2. The Usage of the Names of the Numbers
   1. Bus numbers
   2. Money – bank notes
   3. School – grades and test results
   4. Age – in her 60s
   5. Elevators and floors
   6. Models and years

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1. The Formation of the Names of the Numbers

1.1. Numbers 1 through 30

1.2. Numbers 30 through 59

1.3. Round numbers 10 through 100

1.4. Examples of Numbers Above 100

1.5. Inflection of the Names of the Numbers

When inflecting the names of the numbers in the different cases, you only inflect the last part of it. For example, kaksviiskolmonen (253) will become kaksiviiskolmosta (partitive), kaksviiskolmosessa (missä) and kaksviiskolmoseen (mihin).

2. The Usage of the Names of the Numbers

2.1. Bus Numbers

Public transportation is one area where the use of the names of the numbers is vital. You will refer to the buses based on their numbers, so “bus number one” will be ykkönen in Finnish. Say you’re waiting for “bus number 4”, this is nelonen in Finnish: Odotan nelosta.

It is possible to say “bussi numero yksi” in Finnish, but this is much rarer than using the name of the number.

2.2. Money – Bank Notes

The names of all the bills can be expressed in the same was as the English “a fiver”. In English, “a tenner” or “a hundreder” don’t really work in English, but you can talk about a 50 dollar note as “a fifty”. It’s similar to that, only Finnish has a separate word for the number in this situation, as you can see below.

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• 5 euro note: vitonen, viitonen
• 10 euro note: kymppi
• 20 euro note: kaksikymppinen, kakskymppinen
• 50 euro note: viisikymppinen, viiskymppinen
• 100 euro note: satanen
• 200 euro note: kaksisatanen, kakssatanen
• 500 euro note: viisisatanen, viissatanen

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2.3. School – Grades and Test Results

Below, you can find two types of sentences using numbers specific to the school environment. First, we can use them to express what grade someone is in. For example, seiska is seventh grade.

In addition, in Finland you get numbers for tests rather than A’s or B’s. Generally tests give you a number out of ten, with 5 being the lowest number required to pass a test.

2.4. Age – In her 60s

We can use the names of the round numbers with -inen at the end to express someone’s age. For example, kolmekymppinen is an adjective that expresses that someone is in their 30s. Usually, you’re using this phrase as an approximation: you’re not saying the exact age. However, you can also use kolmekymppiset in the plural to refer to someone’s 30th birthday party.

2.5. Elevators and Floors

2.6. Models and Years

Cars, bikes, weapons and programs are just a few of the things that often come with a number attached to them. Take Windows for example: We have had Windows 95 (ysiviis), 98 (ysikasi), XP (äks-pee) and 10 (kymppi).

We can also refer back to the summer of a year using the name of the number: we can refer to the summer of ’83 as kesä kasikolme.

That’s it for the names of the numbers!