asunto

Asunto is a masculine noun in Spanish that denotes a matter, affair, subject, or issue. It refers to the topic of discussion, a task to be addressed, or a concrete matter in question. The term is used across general and formal contexts, including legal or administrative issues. In written communications it commonly appears in phrases such as "el asunto de hoy," "un asunto pendiente," or as the subject line of a letter or email (for example, "Asunto: Reunión de mañana"). In legal and bureaucratic language, asunto can designate a case or file to be processed.

In Finnish, asunto primarily means dwelling or apartment. It is used for a housing unit, whether rented or owned, and commonly appears in terms such as vuokra-asunto (rental apartment) and omistusasunto (owner-occupied flat). Related housing terms include asuntolaina (mortgage), asuntomarkkinat (housing market), and asuntopolitiikka (housing policy). By contrast, Finnish uses asia or kysymys to mean "matter" in general, so asunto is most common for physical housing rather than abstract matters.

Cross-linguistic note: the two meanings are unrelated in origin and are not cognate, but they share the same spelling in Spanish and Finnish. This can cause confusion for language learners who encounter the word without context. When translating, it is important to rely on the surrounding elements to determine whether asunto refers to a matter in Spanish or to a dwelling in Finnish.