Finnish IRL
ihan - an older woman tasting from a pot at a Finnish kitchen stove under warm lamplight, rain on the window

ihan

/ˈihɑn/

Quite. Completely. Really. It strengthens and it weakens, and the word does not tell you which

Quick answer

Ihan intensifies. Ihan sama is completely the same. It also softens: ihan hyvä is only quite good.

  • Which one it is comes from intonation and from the word it sits in front of, not from ihan itself.
  • Ihan hyvä flat is fine, nothing special. Ihan hyvä with weight on ihan is genuinely good.

What ihan means

Ihan means wholly or entirely. That is the strengthening sense, and it is the one the dictionary leads with.

In front of a mild positive such as hyvä, kiva or ok, it does the opposite. Ihan hyvä is not completely good. It is fine, it will do.

How Finns actually use ihan

Strengthening, in front of anything absolute or strong: ihan sama, ihan varma, ihan totta, and equally ihan kamala, ihan surkea, ihan mahdotonta. Strong negatives get strengthened too.

Softening, in front of an evaluation: ihan hyvä, ihan kiva, ihan ok. Here it lowers the temperature.

As a lone answer, meaning good enough: - Miten meni? - Ihan hyvin.

Ihan jees is the under-35 version, and it means the same thing with a loan word in the middle.

ihan in a sentence

  • Se oli ihan hyvä. It was fine.
  • Mulle on ihan sama. It makes no difference to me at all.
  • Toi on ihan totta. That's completely true.

ihan in a conversation

Millanen leffa oli?
Ihan hyvä.
Eli ei kummonen.
No, kyl mä katoin sen loppuun.

The mistake everyone makes with ihan

Translating ihan hyvä as very good and taking it as high praise. On a flat delivery it means fine.

Assuming it always intensifies because the dictionary says wholly. In front of a mild positive it does the reverse.

Questions people ask about ihan

What does ihan mean?

Wholly or entirely when it strengthens, and quite or fairly when it softens. The word itself does not tell you which.

Does ihan hyvä mean very good?

Usually not. On a flat delivery it means fine or good enough. With weight on ihan it becomes genuinely good.

How do I know if ihan is strengthening or softening?

By the strength of the word after it. Absolutes and strong adjectives - sama, varma, totta, kamala - get strengthened. Mild positives - hyvä, kiva, ok - get downtoned.

What is ihan jees?

The same as ihan hyvä with an English loan in the middle. Common under 35.

How do I say something is genuinely good?

Tosi hyvä, or tosi hyvä juttu. Leaving ihan out is the clearest way to be unambiguous.

Is ihan a bad word?

Safe. Getting the strength wrong is the risk, not offence.

ihan sama - a young man at a kitchen table lifting one shoulder at his partner's mother without looking up from his phone, rain on the window
ihan sama "Whatever" - and it lands harder than the translation suggests
ei hassumpaa - two men standing by a barbecue at a Finnish summer cottage, one giving the smallest possible shrug of contentment, a lake behind them
ei hassumpaa "Nothing more foolish" is how a Finn tells you things are going well
no - an older man on a park bench starting a story to the woman beside him, one hand lifting, green summer trees behind
no It looks like English "no" and means the opposite of a refusal
niinku - a woman explaining something to a younger colleague across a Finnish canteen table with one hand circling in the air, snow outside the window
niinku written niin kuin Finns are teased for this one and say it anyway

Sources for ihan

  1. VISK § 830 - implications brought by a particle Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - How a particle changes what a sentence implies without changing what it says.
  2. VISK § 797 - what dialogue particles are Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The class of small words that do this kind of work in Finnish.
  3. VISK § 1201 - answering with a verb or a particle Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - Why ihan hyvin works as a complete answer to a question.
  4. VISK § 793 - grammatical tradition and a new grouping Iso suomen kielioppi, Kotimaisten kielten keskus - Where intensifying particles sit among the other kinds.
  5. Kielitoimiston sanakirja: ihan Kotimaisten kielten keskus - The dictionary's own senses, which lead with the strengthening one.

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