Grafle

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Finnish vs Hungarian

Finnish and Hungarian sit in the same corner of the writing-system map — Grafle's Latin group — and players mix them up constantly. Here's the fastest way to tell them apart.

The tell

Both love dotted vowels and long words, but Hungarian's double-acute ő/ű and gy/sz clusters give it away; Finnish doubles its vowels instead (aa, ää).

Side by side

Finnish

Kaikki ihmiset syntyvät vapaina ja tasavertaisina.

Hyvää huomenta, kuinka voit?

Ei kukaan ole seppä syntyessään.

Finnish's own tells

  • Long words full of doubled letters (kk, pp, ää) and lots of ä.
  • Almost never uses b, c, f or x — and no õ (that's Estonian).

On signs in:

  • Finland

Full guide to recognizing Finnish →

Hungarian

Minden emberi lény szabadon és egyenlő méltósággal születik.

Szia! Szép időnk van ma, ugye?

Az idő pénz, ahogy mondani szokták.

Hungarian's own tells

  • Double-acute ő and ű exist only in Hungarian.
  • Clusters sz, gy, ny and long words unlike any neighbor.

On signs in:

  • Hungary

Full guide to recognizing Hungarian →

More lookalike pairs