on Verb
Looks like on Really means is
To say the preposition 'on' in Finnish, use päällä, not on.
Some Finnish words look like an English word you already know, then mean something completely different. Here are 18 of the most common traps, each with the English word it resembles, what it really means, and how to say the English sense instead.
False friends in Finnish are words that look like an English word but mean something completely different. For example, on means is, not on, and me means we, not me. This free guide lists 18 real Finnish false friends: the English word each one resembles, what it truly means, and how to say the English sense correctly.
All 18 Finnish false friends.
Looks like on Really means is
To say the preposition 'on' in Finnish, use päällä, not on.
Looks like me Really means we
To say 'me' (object form of I) in Finnish, use minut, not me.
Looks like he Really means they
To say 'he' in Finnish, use hän, not he.
Looks like into Really means enthusiasm, eagerness
To say the preposition 'into' in Finnish, use sisään, not into.
Looks like no Really means well, so (a filler word, not a negation)
To say 'no' in Finnish, use ei, not no.
Looks like tie Really means road, street, way
To say 'necktie' in Finnish, use solmio, not tie.
Looks like home Really means mold, mildew (fungus growth)
To say 'home' in Finnish, use koti, not home.
Looks like kiss Really means cat
To say 'kiss' in Finnish, use suukko, not kissa.
Looks like house Really means trousers, pants
To say 'house' in Finnish, use talo, not housut.
Looks like hiss Really means elevator, lift
For a hissing sound in Finnish, use sihinä, not hissi.
Looks like hi Really means shark
To greet someone in Finnish, say hei, not hai.
Looks like canine Really means rabbit
For 'canine' (dog related) in Finnish, use koiran-, not kaniini.
Looks like silicon Really means silicone (the flexible polymer)
To say 'silicon' (the chemical element) in Finnish, use pii, not silikoni.
Looks like billion Really means trillion (a million million)
To say 'billion' in Finnish, use miljardi, not biljoona.
Looks like novel Really means short story
To say 'novel' (a full length book) in Finnish, use romaani, not novelli.
Looks like angina Really means tonsillitis (a throat infection)
To say 'angina' (chest pain) in Finnish, use angina pectoris, not angiina.
Looks like motorist Really means motorcyclist
To say 'motorist' (car driver) in Finnish, use autoilija, not motoristi.
Looks like tile Really means brick
To say 'tile' in Finnish, use laatta, not tiili.
Data verified as of July 2026.
False friends stick when you meet them inside a real sentence. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Finnish with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so the true meaning attaches to the story instead of the English lookalike. Save the tricky words and review them later. Free to start.
A false friend is a word that looks or sounds like a word in your language but carries a different meaning. English and Finnish overlap heavily because both borrowed from Latin, Greek, and French, or share older roots. The spelling stayed close while the meaning drifted, so Finnish on still reads like "on" to an English eye even though it means "is".
These slips are common because your brain rewards the shortcut: a familiar-looking word feels safe, so you skip the check. That is fine until on or me changes the meaning of a whole sentence. Recognizing the pattern is half the fix. Knowing the handful of high-frequency offenders on this page is the other half.
The durable fix is not memorization but exposure in context. When you read Finnish and see one of these words doing its real job in a sentence, with a translation a tap away, the correct meaning wins. That is exactly what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
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False friends are Finnish words that look almost identical to an English word but mean something different, like on, which looks like "on" but means "is". They exist because both languages inherited or borrowed from shared roots that then drifted apart. The fix is meeting them in real sentences until the true meaning sticks.
No. Finnish on actually means is, not on. To say the preposition 'on' in Finnish, use päällä, not on. This is one of the most common Finnish false friends for English speakers, so it is worth learning early.
Memorizing a list helps for a day; context makes it permanent. When you meet Finnish words like on and tiili inside real sentences, with the translation one tap away, the correct meaning attaches to the situation instead of to the English lookalike. That is how reading in Lingo7 trains them out of you.
Yes. Finnish and English share a large amount of vocabulary through Latin, French, and centuries of borrowing, and that overlap is exactly what breeds false friends. This page covers 18 of the most common ones, from on (looks like on) to tiili (looks like tile). Reading in context is the surest way to keep them straight.