--- title: "terveydeksi" translation: "For your health." type: "word" category: "interjection" url: "https://finnishirl.com/words/terveydeksi" canonical: "https://finnishirl.com/words/terveydeksi" published: "2026-10-22" updated: "2026-10-22" author: "Andrey the Nomad" site: "Finnish IRL" license: "https://finnishirl.com/terms#ip" --- # terveydeksi URL: https://finnishirl.com/words/terveydeksi Translation: For your health. Pronunciation: /ˈterveydeksi/ Category: interjection Archetypes: greeting, move Region: Finland Register: neutral, and slightly warm Literal meaning: For health. The translative case of terveys, health. Tone and safety: Safe with anyone. The one place it lands wrong is a raised glass. Published: 2026-10-22 Quick answer: - Terveydeksi means for your health. It answers a sneeze, and it answers a thank-you for something that was eaten or drunk. - The second use is the one nobody warns you about. You say kiitos for the coffee and it comes straight back at you, where English would say you're welcome. - Terveys is health, and the translative ending -ksi turns it into for health. There is no verb in it. Finnish builds several of its fixed wishes this way. - Where it came from is not settled, and two Finnish institutions disagree. One account has it built on the model of other languages, with German (für) Gesundheit as the template; the other has it as a protective wish of its own, traced back through Latin prosit. Prosit is still what you will hear after a sneeze on the Swedish-speaking coast. What it means: - May it be for your health. It answers a sneeze, and it answers a thank-you for something that was eaten or drunk. - The second use catches learners out. You finish the coffee, you say kiitos, and the answer comes back as a word built out of health. - There is no verb and no subject. The meaning is carried by -ksi on the end of a noun, the same ending that makes onneksi and kiitokseksi. How Finns use it: - After a sneeze, from whoever is nearest. It is normal to hear it and normal to hear nothing: a sneeze in an open-plan office, on a tram or among strangers often passes with nobody saying anything, and that silence is not a judgement on your sneeze. - Kiitos at the end of a meal or a coffee, and this comes straight back from whoever made it, in the slot English fills with you're welcome. It leans older: a host in their sixties produces it without thinking, while a twenty-something is as likely to answer ei kestä or just joo. - In a lunch canteen, from the staff when a customer thanks them for the meal on the way out. Behind a café counter it is rarer, and a barista handing a coffee over answers kiitos with ole hyvä. - Rarely written. It belongs to the moment it happens in, and the one place it survives in text is the thank-you message the morning after somebody fed you. Common mistake: - Raising a glass with it. Finnish has kippis for that, and something with health in it sounds like a translation of a toast from another language. - Waiting for the food version to come from the cook before the meal. That slot is hyvää ruokahalua; this one answers the thanks at the end. - Saying it when somebody thanks you for something that was not eaten. Thanks for a lift or a favour takes ei kestä or ole hyvä, and health has no business in either. - Answering a sneeze with it and then expecting a conversation. The exchange is two words long and closes itself. Examples - The two jobs terveydeksi does: - After a sneeze, from whoever is nearest, with the question tacked on. Terveydeksi! Onks sulla flunssa? - Bless you! Have you got a cold? - The second job, and the one that catches learners out. It answers the thanks at the end. - Kiitos ruoasta. - Terveydeksi. - "Thanks for the food." "You're welcome." Examples - Explaining terveydeksi, and where it is not said: - Explaining it to somebody who has just arrived and heard it twice. Sano terveydeksi, jos joku aivastaa. - Say terveydeksi if somebody sneezes. - A sneeze among strangers often passes with nobody saying anything, and that is not a judgement. Terveydeksi sanotaan harvemmin ratikassa ku kotona. - You hear terveydeksi less often on the tram than at home. Examples - terveydeksi in writing, and where it lands wrong: - The one place it survives in writing: the message the morning after somebody fed you. - Kiitos eilisestä. - Terveydeksi! - "Thanks for last night." "You're welcome!" - The one place it lands wrong. Something with health in it reads as a translated toast. Lasia nostaessa se on kippis, ei terveydeksi. - Raising a glass it's kippis, not terveydeksi. Mini dialogue: A: Atsiuh! B: Terveydeksi. A: Kiitos. Toi pöly tuolla käytävällä. B: Nii, mäkin aivastin äsken. FAQ: Q: What does terveydeksi mean? A: For your health. It is what Finns say when somebody sneezes, and also what a host says when somebody thanks them for food or drink. Q: Is terveydeksi a toast? A: No. Raising a glass takes kippis, or malja if the occasion is formal. Using this one with a glass in hand sounds like a toast carried over from another language. Q: What do I say back? A: Kiitos. It is a wish like any other, and thanks is the whole reply. Q: Do Finns always say something when you sneeze? A: No. It is normal to hear it and normal to hear nothing, particularly in a large room or among strangers. Silence there is not a judgement on your sneeze. Q: Is it the same as hyvää ruokahalua? A: No, and the two sit at opposite ends of the meal. Hyvää ruokahalua is said before people eat. This one answers the thanks afterwards. Q: Why does it end in -ksi? A: It is the translative case on terveys, health - roughly into health, or for health. Finnish builds several fixed wishes this way, with a case ending doing the work a verb would do in English. Related words: kiitos, hyvaa-ruokahalua, kippis, moi, anteeks, ei-se-mitaan Sources: - Terveydeksi! - tiesitkö, miksi aivastamiseen reagoidaan näin? (MTV Uutiset): https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/terveydeksi-tiesitko-miksi-aivastamiseen-reagoidaan-nain/8497588 - Bless you on käännetty terveydeksi (Kysy kirjastonhoitajalta): https://www.kirjastot.fi/kysy/bless-you-on-kaannetty-terveydeksi?language_content_entity=fi - Terve vaan ja terveydeksi (Kirkko ja kaupunki): https://www.kirkkojakaupunki.fi/-/terve-vaan-ja-terveydeksi-tervehtiessa-ja-maljaa-nostaessa-kaytetyt-sanat-tuntuvat-taas-erityisen-ajankohtaiselta - Kielitoimiston sanakirja: terveydeksi (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://www.kielitoimistonsanakirja.fi/#/terveydeksi - VISK § 1235: Paikallissijat (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kaino.kotus.fi/visk/sisallys.php?p=1235 - Puhetta pitäjistä (Kotimaisten kielten keskus): https://kotus.fi/sanakirjat/suomen-murteiden-sanakirja/murreaanitteita/puhetta-pitajista/