# sister-in-law



## the pensive wombat

Hei!

I have started to teach myself Finnish. I am definitely a beginner!

What word do I use to describe my sisters-in-law: that is, my wife's sisters? Is it *käly* or *nato*?

Paljon kiitoksia.


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## Gavril

According to the dictionary at suomisanakirja.fi, *nato* is a dialect word meaning "husband's sister" (I'm not sure which particular dialects use it). The standard Finnish word for "sister-in-law" is *käly*.


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## Hakro

Nykysuomen sanakirja explains these word in a slightly different way, but most important is that neither *nato* nor *käly* are commonly used nowadays (except *Nato* for North Atlantic Treaty Organization). 

Wife's sisters are simply *vaimon sisaret *.


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## the pensive wombat

Thank you both. Then is the singular - my wife's sister - *vaimon sisar *and/or *vaimon sisko*?


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## Hakro

Both _sisar_ and _sisko_ are commonly used but _sisko_ is regarded as a spoken language word.


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## the pensive wombat

Hakro said:


> Both _sisar_ and _sisko_ are commonly used but _sisko_ is regarded as a spoken language word.




Thanks.


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## Tuuliska

I wouldn't call s_isko_ a spoken language word. That makes it sound like it's only used in spoken language when it's perfectly normal in written language as well. On the other hand, I'd say _sisar_ is a bit old-fashioned. Not so much that I wouldn't use it at all but definitely more marked than _sisko_.

Also, I still use _käly_ and _nato_ but this could be a regional thing. I'm not originally from Helsinki or any big urban area. Admittedly, even I would say it's safer to use _vaimon siskot_, especially with younger people.


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## Hakro

Tuuliska said:


> I wouldn't call s_isko_ a spoken language word. That makes it sound like it's only used in spoken language when it's perfectly normal in written language as well. On the other hand, I'd say _sisar_ is a bit old-fashioned. Not so much that I wouldn't use it at all but definitely more marked than _sisko_.


_Nykysuomen sanakirja_ calls _sisko_ as a spoken language word. But, you're right, _Nykysuomen sanakirja_ is a bit old-fashioned today. On  the other hand, I would never use _sisko_ in any official texts.


> Also, I still use _käly_ and _nato_ but this could be a regional thing.


That's funny, because in my ear these words are much more old-fashioned than _sisar_, although I also use them every now and then.


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## the pensive wombat

Hakro said:


> _Nykysuomen sanakirja_ calls _sisko_ as a spoken language word. But, you're right, _Nykysuomen sanakirja_ is a bit old-fashioned today. On  the other hand, I would never use _sisko_ in any official texts.
> 
> That's funny, because in my ear these words are much more old-fashioned than _sisar_, although I also use them every now and then.




Thank you both. The software I'm using to teach myself Finnish gives *sisko* as the word for sister and does not offer *sisar. *However, *sisar* does appear in the compounds *sisarentytär *and *sisarenpoika *- 'niece' and 'nephew'.

In English, we are imprecise about these relationships and don't make the distinctions that you do: *veljenpoika* and  *sisarenpoika *are both 'nephew'.


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## Tuuliska

Hakro said:


> That's funny, because in my ear these words are much more old-fashioned than _sisar__, although I also use them every now and then._



Actually I agree that they sound old-fashioned too. But unlike _sisar_, they don't have any newer alternatives. Or no simple one word alternatives at least.



the pensive wombat said:


> In English, we are imprecise about these relationships and don't make the distinctions that you do: *veljenpoika* and  *sisarenpoika *are both 'nephew'.



Yep. And in Finnish "uncle" is also different depending on whether it's your mother's brother (_eno_) or your father's (_setä_). Though there are sometimes mistakes in this in fiction, like with Donald Duck and his nephews: they are called _veljenpojat _and they call him _setä _even though it should be _sisarenpojat _and _eno_, but the translators apparently didn't know originally that he was their uncle from their mother's side.

Still, Finnish is nowhere near as specific about the family words than some other languages. Even Swedish because it differentiates between _faster _and _moster _too.


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## the pensive wombat

Thank you, Tuuliska. I didn't know *eno.*


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