If you say kyllä 100% of the time when you mean “yes”, then we need to have a chat.

I could, in theory, tell you to use joo 80% of the time and kyllä 20% of the time.

But that would make this a very short article and probably not a very educational one.

But in all honesty,

if kyllä is currently your default Finnish word for “yes”,

then I would suggest you make it

joo

instead.

Why is kyllä still so common, I wonder?

But I don’t have to wonder, I know why. Everyone is taught kyllä=yes, and it is of course true.

However, I am quite surprised by how often I meet learners who answer almost EVERY yes/no question with kyllä.

And I am not only talking about complete beginners.

Six months of Finnish.

One year.

Two years.

Sometimes people have lived in Finland for six, seven, eight, nine, ten years.

And somehow joo has still not taken over…

A short exchange might go like this:

Kävitkö kaupassa töiden jälkeen?
[Did-you-go in-the-shop after work?]

Kyllä, kävin kaupassa.
[Yes, I-went in-the-shop.]

Then another:

Oliko sulla palaveri tänään?
[Was with-you meeting today?]

Kyllä, minulla oli palaveri.
[Yes, with-me was meeting.]

And another.

Haluatko kahvia?
[Do-you-want coffee?]

Kyllä.
[Yes.]

Kyllä, kyllä, kyllä.

* Note regarding the English: The word-for-word translations are designed to show Finnish word order, structure and word forms as clearly as possible, helping learners observe new vocabulary and recognise recurring patterns in the language.

None of those answers are wrong.

But to a native ear,

that repeated kyllä 

sounds too strong,

and

odd to be honest,

than the situation really needs.

So when DO we use kyllä?

Very often kyllä is doing more than simply saying yes.

It can do a few things, for example:

• strengthen what you are saying.
• reassure someone.
• emphasise that something really IS the case
• push back against doubt.

For example:

Kyllä mä tiedän.
[YES Indeed I know.]

There is some weight there.

Kyllä se onnistuu.
[YES Indeed it can be done.]

Kyllä mä menen.
[YES Indeed I will go.]

and my ALL TIME FAVOURITE!!!

Kyllä se näin on!
[YES it IS LIKE THIS!]

Often said with a rather specific intonation, I can literally hear it in my ears…*

* Finnish people will undoubtedly know exactly what I am talking about here.

That is a very different job from:

Haluatko kahvia?

Joo.

One is an ordinary conversational response.

The other often adds emphasis, certainty or reassurance.

So…

You do not need to stop saying kyllä entirely.

But if you are having an ordinary everyday conversation,

let joo become your default “yes”.