# In Russia



## Etcetera

_Split from here._

By the way, I've just thought about a nice feature of the Finnish language which I like immensely. In Finnish, в России is Venäjällä, which is actually на Руси.


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## Anatoli

Etcetera said:


> I'm not trying to state anything, mind you.
> By the way, I've just thought about a nice feature of the Finnish language which I like immensely. In Finnish, в России is Venäjässä, which is actually на Руси.



And "Venäjästä" means _from_ Russia

Just a friendly correction


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## Etcetera

Anatoli said:


> And "Venäjästä" means _from_ Russia
> 
> Just a friendly correction


I've googled both words, Venäjällä and Venäjässä, and both are used on the Net. 
I'll ask Dr Watson to come here and tell us if there's any difference between these two variants and which one is more preferable. 

To Jana: Maybe we could have another thread about how to say "in Russia" in Finnish? It seems to be slightly off-topic here.


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## Anatoli

Etcetera said:


> I've googled both words, Venäjällä and Venäjässä, and both are used on the Net.
> I'll ask Dr Watson to come here and tell us if there's any difference between these two variants and which one is more preferable.
> 
> To Jana: Maybe we could have another thread about how to say "in Russia" in Finnish? It seems to be slightly off-topic here.


Terve Etcetera,

Really, I didn't know! I used Finnish a ve-ve-ry long time ago (I learned it for a few weeks only but helped me to get by in Finland without English. Now I can't say anything  )

Kiitoxia!


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## DrWatson

Etcetera said:


> I've googled both words, Venäjällä and Venäjässä, and both are used on the Net.
> I'll ask Dr Watson to come here and tell us if there's any difference between these two variants and which one is more preferable.
> 
> To Jana: Maybe we could have another thread about how to say "in Russia" in Finnish? It seems to be slightly off-topic here.



I already sent a PM to Etcetera about this (because I didn't see this message I'm quoting now ) but I'll give an answer here too.

You're right. In Finnish Russia is the only exception when talking about going to, being in and leaving a country. When you're e.g. in Sweden, it's Ruotsi*ssa*, but when you're in Russia, it's Venäjä*llä* (lit. at/on Russia)

By the way, there are also some Finnish city names, which get the -lla/-llä ending, while others get -ssa/-ssä. I haven't found yet any rule which would determine the ending. There may be one but I'm not a linguist so I don't know about it (and this thread is about Slavic languages...)


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## Etcetera

DrWatson said:


> By the way, there are also some Finnish city names, which get the -lla/-llä ending, while others get -ssa/-ssä.


Tampere comes into my mind immediately.  So far it's the only Finnish city name known to me which gets the -lla ending. 

Thank you for coming here and clearing the matter out.


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## taikuri

> By the way, there are also some Finnish city names, which get the -lla/-llä ending, while others get -ssa/-ssä. I haven't found yet any rule which would determine the ending. There may be one but I'm not a linguist so I don't know about it (and this thread is about Slavic languages...)


 
I've been thinking about this one too! When I'm bored, I keep listing these names in my head... Kouvola*ssa*, Tamperee*lla*, Pori*ssa...*

Well, at least with this one the reason is clear: you say Lohja*lla* but you can't say Pohja*lla* even though the words are almost the same. It's just the meaning...


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## Etcetera

taikuri said:


> Well, at least with this one the reason is clear: you say Lohja*lla* but you can't say Pohja*lla* even though the words are almost the same. It's just the meaning...


Oh, yes! As our Finnish teacher tells us, Finnish isn't that difficult - it's very logical, the tricky thing is learning this logic. I tend to agree with her.


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## Hakro

DrWatson said:


> By the way, there are also some Finnish city names, which get the -lla/-llä ending, while others get -ssa/-ssä. I haven't found yet any rule which would determine the ending. There may be one but I'm not a linguist so I don't know about it.


There is absolutely no rule. You just have to know how the local people say. There are similar looking names that are used differently, for example Vantaa (-lla) and Laukaa (-ssa).
There's a full list of Finnish place names and the endings here.
There are also foreign names that can be used both ways, for example in Goa (in India) = either Goassa or Goalla, and in Cyprus = either Kyproksessa or Kyproksella.


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## Hakro

Etcetera said:


> I've googled both words, Venäjällä and Venäjässä, and both are used on the Net.


This is because _Venäjällä_ =_ in Russia_ (the country) but _venäjässä_ =_ in Russian_ (the language).


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## Etcetera

Hakro said:


> There's a full list of Finnish place names and the endings here.


What a great link! Paljon kiitoksia, Hakro.


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