# "bad habit"



## akana

How would you say "bad habit" in Finnish? My dictionary suggests only tapa and tottumus, but I get very little google hits for paha tapa.

Smoking is a bad habit.
_Tupakoiminen on paha tapa.
_
You don't want to get into the bad habit of leaving everything to the last minute.
_Et haluaisi päästä pahaan tapaan, jossa jätät kaiken viimeksi hetkeksi._


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## sakvaka

Yes, it's _paha tapa_. However, your second sentence needs some additional twisting. As 'be in the habit of doing sth' is translated as 'jllk olla tapa tehdä jtk', we'd rather say

_Sinulla on paha tapa jättää kaikki viime tippaan!_


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## akana

Kiitos, Sakvaka. So, to differentiate between bad manners, would you just use plural?

I have a bad habit.
_Minulla on paha tapa.
_
I have bad manners.
_Minulla on pahat tavat.

_Also, after I posted this thread, I thought of "huono tapa." Would this sound more natural?


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## Gavril

akana said:


> Kiitos, Sakvaka. So, to differentiate between bad manners, would you just use plural?
> 
> I have a bad habit.
> _Minulla on paha tapa.
> _
> I have bad manners.
> _Minulla on pahat tavat._


According to my dictionary, _(käytös)tavat_ = manners, and _hyvä/huono käytös = _good/bad manners.





> Also, after I posted this thread, I thought of "huono tapa." Would this sound more natural?



Good question -- let's see what sakvaka and the other Finns have to say.


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## Hakro

This is how we normally use the words _paha_ and _huono_:_
Minulla on paha tapa._ 
_Sinulla on huonot käytöstavat._
_Minulla on huono tapa._
_Sinulla on pahat käytöstavat._

Note that _paha tapa_ is often used ironically: _"Minulla on paha tapa tulla ajoissa töihin."_


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