# Referring "kiitos" and "ole hyvä" to English analogs



## Just Sasha

Terve!

Sorry for dumb question Please help me understand these tangled meanings.


Dictionary says that beside 'thank you',
'Kiitos' may be used as a polite request to something, like

kahvia, kiitos - coffee, please



BUT can we say
kahvia, ole hyvä
or not, and why?


Also, it seems they are not applicable vice versa:
We can say 'Ole hyvä ja auta', but I never heard 'kiitos auta' and I assume it's weird at least, if not wrong. Why? Is first option idiomatic?


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## Hakro

Hi Sasha,

Your question isn't dumb at all. Finnish and English simply use different expressions. I'll try to explain.

In modern English "please" is a polite request: "Please give me a cup of coffee." Originally it was something like "if you please" (French _s'il vous plaît_) – it wasn't a request. In Finnish it would be maybe "jos teille sopii".

When somebody asks, "Do you want coffee or tea?"
- an anglosaxon answers, "coffee, (if you) please", meaning something like "I'll take coffee if it's OK for you".
- a Finn answers, "kahvia, kiitos" meaning something like "I'll take coffee, thank you for your offer".

The Finnish expression "ole hyvä" means a polite request. You can ask "kaada minulle kahvia, ole hyvä." But you can't answer to an offer, "kahvia, ole hyvä".

When asking for help, it's correct to say "ole hyvä ja auta". But when somebody offers you help, "can I help you?", you'll answer "kyllä kiitos" or for example "kiitos, auta minut ulos täältä".

So in Finnish "ole hyvä" means asking, "kiitos" means answering.

Hope this helps. Maybe other Finns have different explanations.


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## Grumpy Old Man

Hakro said:


> Maybe other Finns have different explanations.


Not really different but I'd like to add that "kahvia, ole hyvä" is also possible for a person to say when he/she *offers* and pours coffee to someone.


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## Just Sasha

Yes, now it's quite clear.
Kiitos


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## Määränpää

It seems to me that _ole hyvä _is used in *requests* when the speaker is hierarchically superior to the addressee, or at least somehow in control. In desperate pleas, I would expect to hear _ole kiltti _instead.


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## Hakro

Määränpää said:


> It seems to me that _ole hyvä _is used in *requests* when the speaker is hierarchically superior to the addressee, or at least somehow in control. In desperate pleas, I would expect to hear _ole kiltti _instead.


What about "Herra johtaja, ole / olkaa hyvä ja palkkaa / palkatkaa minut, sillä tarvitsen todella tämän työpaikan."

I would say _ole kiltti_ only to kids. To adults I could possibly say _ole ystävällinen_.


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