Konttorin

Konttori is a Finnish noun meaning an office or a place where administrative work takes place. It can refer to a physical room or building used for work, an entire office floor, or more generally to the administrative unit within a company or public body. The genitive form konttorin is used to indicate possession, as in konttorin tilat (the office’s facilities), konttorin henkilöstö (the office staff), or konttorin johtaja (the head of the office).

Etymology and usage context: Konttori is borrowed from Swedish kontor, which has broader use across Scandinavian languages to denote an office. In Finnish usage, konttori often refers to a specific office space or local office location, while toimisto is the more general term for an office or workplace. The two terms are closely related and can overlap depending on context.

Nuance in modern Finnish: In everyday language, konttori may carry a slightly more tangible sense of a physical workplace or a distinct administrative unit within an organization, whereas toimisto is commonly used for offices in a broader sense or for the concept of a workplace. With changes in work culture, such as coworking or virtual offices, the exact meaning of konttori can vary by speaker and setting.

See also: toimisto, virasto, toimipaikka, konttorityyppinen termi.