--- title: "ratikka" book_form: "raitiovaunu" translation: "Tram." type: "word" category: "puhekieli" url: "https://finnishirl.com/words/ratikka" canonical: "https://finnishirl.com/words/ratikka" published: "2026-10-17" updated: "2026-10-17" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "Finnish IRL" license: "https://finnishirl.com/terms#ip" --- # ratikka URL: https://finnishirl.com/words/ratikka Book form (kirjakieli): raitiovaunu Translation: Tram. Pronunciation: /ˈrɑtikːɑ/ Category: puhekieli Archetypes: survival, spoken Region: Helsinki and Tampere Register: neutral spoken Finnish Literal meaning: Clipped from raitiovaunu, tram carriage. Tone and safety: Safe everywhere. The written form is raitiovaunu. Published: 2026-10-17 Quick answer: - Ratikka is the everyday word for a tram. The official term is raitiovaunu, and you will hear it in announcements and almost nowhere else. - Helsinki stopped being Finland's only tram city in 2021, when Tampere opened its own network and started calling it a ratikka too. - The lines are not called by their numbers. Line 3 is kolmonen, line 7 is seiska, line 9 is ysi, line 10 is kymppi. Ratikka kolme is not something anyone says. What it means: - A ratikka is a tram. The word is a clipping of raitiovaunu, which is the term on the timetable, in the by-laws and in the recorded announcement, and which almost nobody uses in conversation. - Helsinki alone has four spoken names for the thing: ratikka, raitsikka, spåra and skuru. The city's own history service lists all four and none of them is raitiovaunu. Book form vs spoken form: - Raitiovaunu is written and announced. Ratikka is spoken. Both are standard Finnish and neither is slang. - Spåra is the older Helsinki slang word, from Swedish spårvagn. Plenty of people still say it, and it carries a Helsinki accent that ratikka does not. Skuru and raitsikka sit in the same layer and have aged further. - The pub tram that runs tourists around the centre in summer is called SpåraKOFF, welding that slang word to the name of the Sinebrychoff brewery. It is now most of what keeps the spelling in public view. How Finns use it: - For the vehicle, and never with a bare number attached. Lines get their own names built out of the numeral: kolmonen, nelonen, vitonen, kutonen, and the irregular seiska, kasi, ysi and kymppi. Kolmonen menee sinne, the three goes there. - The bus and the metro are separate words. Helsinki has all three, Tampere has trams and buses, and most of the country has buses only. - With the adessive for travelling by one: mennä ratikalla. Ratikkapysäkki is a tram stop, ratikkakuski is the driver. Tone and safety: - No register risk at all. A driver, a passenger and a news bulletin will all say ratikka in speech. Common mistake: - Saying ratikka kolme. It is kolmonen, and the bare number gives you away immediately. - Assuming ratikka means Helsinki. Tampere has had one since 2021 and calls it exactly the same thing. - Reaching for spåra to sound local. Picking it up on purpose sounds like an outsider trying. - Saying mennä ratikkaan for travelling by tram. Into the tram is ratikkaan, by tram is ratikalla. Examples - Coming by ratikka, and naming the line: - The adessive for travelling by one. Into a tram is ratikkaan, by tram is ratikalla. Mä tuun ratikalla. - I'll come by tram. (written: Minä tulen raitiovaunulla.) - Lines get names built out of the numeral. Never the bare number. Kolmonen menee sinne. - The number three goes there. Examples - The ratikka stop, and the irregular numbers: - The adessive again, this time on the stop rather than the vehicle. Nähdään ratikkapysäkillä. - See you at the tram stop. - The irregular ones. Seiska, kasi, ysi and kymppi do not follow the pattern the others do. Ysi on jo lähteny, otetaan seiska. - The nine's already gone, let's take the seven. Examples - Where else there is a ratikka, and getting off one: - Ratikka does not mean Helsinki. Tampere calls it exactly the same thing. Tampereella on ollu ratikka vuodesta 2021. - Tampere has had a tram since 2021. - The elative for getting off one. Three cases, three different journeys. Mä jäin ratikasta väärällä pysäkillä. - I got off the tram at the wrong stop. Mini dialogue: A: Mikä ratikka menee Kallioon? B: Kolmonen. Tai ysi. A: Sanoiksä kolme? B: Kolmonen. Kukaan ei sano ratikka kolme. FAQ: Q: What does ratikka mean? A: Tram. It is the everyday word; the official one is raitiovaunu. Q: Which Finnish cities have trams? A: Helsinki and Tampere. Tampere's network opened on 9 August 2021, ending 49 years in which Helsinki was the only tram city in the country. Q: How do Finns refer to tram lines? A: By a noun built from the number. Line 3 is kolmonen, line 4 nelonen, line 5 vitonen, line 7 seiska, line 9 ysi, line 10 kymppi. Ratikka kolme is not how anyone says it. Q: What is spåra? A: Older Helsinki slang for a tram, from Swedish spårvagn, usually written spåra. Still used, and it marks the speaker as Helsinki in a way ratikka does not. Skuru and raitsikka are the more dated pair. Q: How do you say by tram? A: Ratikalla, with the adessive. Ratikkaan means into the tram. Q: Is ratikka slang? A: No, it is ordinary spoken Finnish, used by drivers and newsreaders alike. Raitiovaunu is the written and announced form. Related words: stadi, duuni, onks Sources: - Spora - many modes of transport (Helsingin kaupunki, City of Helsinki history service): https://historia.hel.fi/en/ilmiot/many-modes-of-transport/spora - Tampere Tram service turns 5, 79 million passenger journeys made (Tampereen Raitiotie Oy): https://www.tampereenratikka.fi/en/tampere-tram-service-turns-5-79-million-passenger-journeys-made/ - SpåraKOFF (Raflaamo): https://www.raflaamo.fi/en/restaurant/helsinki/sparakoff - Kielitoimiston sanakirja: raitiovaunu, ratikka (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/raitiovaunu - Trams carry the future in Helsinki and elsewhere in Finland (thisisFINLAND, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland): https://finland.fi/life-society/trams-carry-the-future-in-helsinki-and-elsewhere-in-finland/ - History of public transport in Helsinki (Kaupunkiliikenne Oy, City Transport Ltd): https://kaupunkiliikenne.fi/en/metropolitan-area-transport-ltd/history/ - Kielitoimiston ohjepankki (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/