Finnish has a bunch of miltä phrases, which are definitely worth learning! This article was inspired by a more limited list about the topic in the book Suomen kieli kuntoon 2 (by Ulla Helena Lehtonen and Tarja Ruohonen), which is unfortunately no longer in print.

All the phrases in this article contain the ablative (-lta/-ltä) case and a possessive suffix (-ni, -si, etc.). These phrases are used to describe what someone is like in a certain area of their existence (their looks, their education level, their size). Also included are phrases that aren’t used for people but rather for situations, products or systems.

I’ve tried to list these miltä phrases based on how commonly used they are. As such, the most common ones  are near the top of this list. I start with those that are often used for people – you’re likely to have more use for those!

1. Luonteeltani

When describing what type of person someone is by nature, temperamentally, we can use the word luonne “character, personality”, combined with the ablative case and a possessive suffix. This phrase is most often used for people, but it can also be used to describe the nature of a situation, process or event. The following examples should illustrate what I mean.

Instead of using luonteeltaan, you can also just use the adjectives or describe your personality with verbs and such: “Olen suorasukainen ja rehellinen ja pyrin realistisuuteen.”

2. Ammatiltani

You can use the word ammatti “profession, job” in the phrase “olla ammatiltaan” to express what someone is by profession, by trade, by occupation. Rather than just stating “Olen insinööri” (I’m an engineer), you can say Olen ammatiltani insinööri.

3. Koulutukseltani

The word koulutus “education” can be used in the phrase “olla koulutukseltaan“. You will use this phrase to describe your education, what you graduated as or what you were trained in a school to do.

Sometimes your profession and your education may not match one another, so “Olen koulutukseltani lakimies” (I’m a trained lawyer) could be in contrast with your current occupation: “Olen ammatiltani sihteeri” (I’m a secretary by profession).

4. Ulkonäöltäni

The word ulkonäkö can be used in the phrase “olla ulkonäöltään” to express what you look like, in terms of your physical appearance. This phrase is most useful online when you choose to share what someone looks like without showing any pictures.

5. Kooltani

The word koko “size” can be used in the phrase “olla kooltaan” to express what size someone or something is. Of the phrases mentioned so far, this, comparatively, is used more with the size of things than with people.

6. Tyyliltäni

The word tyyli “style” can also be used in the phrase “olla tyyliltään“. It’s hard to narrow down what “style” can be related to, but at least it includes things like minimalism or clothing styles. In addition to just plain tyyliltään, you can also use the word pukeutumistyyliltään.

7. Mieleltäni

As we go further down this list, we get to phrases which are fairly rarely used. The word mieli “mind” can be used to express what someone is like mentally in the phrase olla mieleltään.

Don’t confuse this one with mielestäni!

8. Ilmeeltäni

The word ilme can mean “facial expression” but when dealing with objects it can also mean “appearance”. The phrase olla ilmeeltään can be used to express what someone’s facial expression “resting face” is like, but also what, for example, a new website’s redo looks like.

9. Maineeltani

The word maine “reputation” is also fairly rarely used in the phrase olla maineeltaan, used in describing someone’s reputation.

10. Puheiltani

The word puhe in the plural form appears in the phrase olla puheiltaan, which expresses what a person’s speech is like.

11. Kulttuuriltani

Another rare phrase that belongs to this group is olla kulttuuriltaan, which is based on the word kulttuuri “culture”. It’s much more commonly used with the culture of countries than with your own personal culture.

It is, however, possible to find some cases where we use olen kulttuuriltani. The phrase “Olen kulttuuriltani aitosuomalainen” could probably be brought up as a contrasting phrase for “En ole jokin halpakulttuurinen sekasotku” (I’m not some cheap cultural mess).

12. Rakenteeltani

The word rakenne can be used in many contexts, where it can mean, for example, structure, build, frame, or texture. When talking about people, olla rakenteeltaan refers to ruumiinrakenne: your physique, the way you’re built.

Different contexts require you to think about rakenne differently: when talking about cheesecake we mean the texture, and when talking about walls we mean the structure.

13. Mitoiltani

The phrase olla mitoiltaan (from the word mitta “measure, scale, dimension”) can be used much like the phrase olla kooltaan (from the word koko “size”). They differ slightly: mitta is generally used with actual units of measurement, such as cm, mm, or m².

Generally miltoiltaan is used for things, but when talking about someone’s height and weight, it can also be used for people.

14. Hinnaltaan

The word hinta “price” can be used to create the phrase olla hinnaltaan, which means “in terms of price, pricewise”. This phrase is of course only used for things, so it appears in the third person only.

15. Laadultaan

The word laatu “quality” can be used when we’re assessing things in relation to their quality using the olla laadultaan phrase.

16. Ominaisuuksiltaan

The word ominaisuus means “feature, property, quality”. It can be used in the olla ominaisuuksiltaan phrase when assessing whether something is suitable for something.

17. Toiminnoiltaan

The phrase olla toiminnoiltaan contains the plural of the noun toiminto “function” and is generally used to describe the way in which machines work. It’s often used as a synonym for olla ominaisuuksiltaan.

18. Sisällöltään

The word sisältö “content” can be used to refer to the content of a speech or course, using the phrase olla sisällöltään.

19. Kokoonpanoltaan

The word kokoonpano “composition, constitution, configuration” isn’t used with people. However, the composition of an orchestra or the government can differ, and we can use the phrase olla kokoonpanoltaan to express this difference.

20. Sanastoltaan

Languages, texts and books can have different types of vocabulary (sanasto). When describing language in terms of its vocabulary, olla sanastoltaan is a useful phrase to use.

Note!

In all the examples above, I’ve limited myself to miltä phrases with the verb olla. However, it is possible to use other verbs as well. The most common ones are muistuttaa, sopia and poiketa.

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• VISK: Ablatiivin ja elatiivin käyttöä

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That’s all for miltä phrases for now! There are other adverbs that use the -lta case, but these will get their own special article because they differ in meaning!