Conversational Phrases and Connectors

[Jiri]

Hi, I've been living almost 1 year in Finland, try to learn finnish, I try to talk in finnish, but it's very hard and very often I get stuck, forget the right word, or can't remeber what to say.
In my mother tongue and also english there's lot of phrases that give you some "breathing time" in the conversation.
for example:
that is a good question,
frankly speaking,
anyway,
actually,
to be honest,
to tell the truth,
as far as I know,
well, as a matter of fact,
nevertheless,
by the way,
and one more thing,


In finnish I hear people use:
ihanko totta,
totta noin,
semmonen,
juust,
sillä tavalla..
ajattelen, että...
kuulustää hyvältä
totta kai

I don't want to mention swear-words here

actually, I found one good web page about this by a foreigner who learnt Czech:
https://sites.google.com/site/fluentcze ... tarterpack
but unfortunately no good finnish translation.

Do you know about any similar good resource or webpage or book to learn the finnish phrases to use to keep the conversation flowing?
What are some good phrases that you yourself use?
Thanks,
Jiri

[Mook]

to learn the finnish phrases to use to keep the conversation flowing?

Finnish people are quite happy using silence as a "connecting phrase"

[Jukka Aho]

In finnish I hear people use:
totta noin,

tota noin...

This would render as tuota noin... in standard written Finnish, but in speech the word tuota is often replaced with the short form tota. It’s an expression of uncertainty and hesitation; used when the speaker needs a moment to weigh his options or formulate a proper response. Much like “Err...” in English. (There’s also the simple Finnish expression Öö... which is used in a similar way.)

kuulustää hyvältä

Kuulostaa hyvältä, I guess? “(That) sounds good (to me)”.

Do you know about any similar good resource or webpage or book to learn the finnish phrases to use to keep the conversation flowing?

Keywords: täytesana, tilkesana, täytelisäke, liikasana, toiste

http://www.kielikukkanen.fi/2008/puheki ... 08_01.html
http://karirydman.blogspot.fi/2012/06/t ... llaan.html
http://willetway.wordpress.com/tag/taytesana/
http://www.kielikukkanen.fi/2012/lukijo ... 12_01.html

[Jiri]

Jukka,
kiitos korjauksesta.
Yes I meant "tota noin" and "kuulostaa hyvältä".

Also very often I hear the word:
"niiku"

[Jukka Aho]

Also very often I hear the word:
"niiku"

niinku (from niin kuin, which translates as “like”, “as if”, “sort of like” or “similar to”)

Se on niinku sininen, mut sit siinä on kans sellasia punasia pilkkuja.
“It’s, like, blue, but it also has these red dots.”

(Se on niin kuin sininen, mutta sitten siinä on kanssa sellaisia punaisia pilkkuja.)

[jahasjahas]

To me, niiku and niinku are both correct.

[Jukka Aho]

To me, niiku and niinku are both correct.

Well, there’s no “correct” or “incorrect” in spoken language. But I tend to hear a hint of the nk [ŋk] in there even in sloppy speech.

[jahasjahas]

To me, niiku and niinku are both correct.

Well, there’s no “correct” or “incorrect” in spoken language. But I tend to hear a hint of the nk [ŋk] in there even in sloppy speech.

I was a sloppy writer there; what I meant was "they are both part of my idiolect". Maybe the ŋ-less form is more common here in the Helsinki area than Vaasa.

Jiri: using too much "niinku" is stereotypically associated with teenage girls, much like, like, the English word like, so be, like, careful.