Handbook of Finnish, 2nd edition, section 13 Numerals:

Decimal numbers

Finnish uses the comma, Finnish pilkku, as the decimal separator, though in many contexts, the period, Finnish piste, is used due to the influence of English. A number like 4,2 is read neljä pilkku kaksi.

A decimal part consisting of more than one digit is usually read as an integer, e.g. 5,23 as viisi pilkku kaksikymmentäkolme. Reading the digits individually, e.g. viisi pilkku kaksi kolme, is also possible – and usual for long decimal parts.

In older style, the decimal part is read as a fractional number, e.g. 4,2 as neljä ja kaksi kymmenesosaa (four and two tenths) or longer neljä kokonaista (ja) kaksi kymmenesosaa. For longer decimal numbers, this method is inconvenient; e.g. 5,23 would be viisi ja kaksi­kymmentä­kolme sadasosaa.


© 2015, 2025, 2026 Jukka K. Korpela, jukkakk@gmail.com. This book was last updated June 7, 2026.