miten

Miten is a Finnish interrogative adverb meaning "how." It is used to ask about the manner, method, degree, or condition of something, and it can introduce both direct questions and subordinate clauses. In everyday Finnish, miten is the default word for questions about process or instruction, while eikä the more formal or literary equivalent is usein kuinka.

In direct questions, miten typically appears at the start of the clause: Miten tämä toimii? How does this work? It can also be used in questions about steps or procedures, such as Miten päästä sisään? How do I get in? For questions embedded in a larger sentence, miten follows verbs of knowing or asking: En tiedä, miten tämä toimii. Haluaisin tietää, miten tämä toimii. A common short response is Miten niin?, meaning "How so?" or "What do you mean?"

Miten is versatile across registers. It forms many everyday expressions and is essential for giving or requesting explanations and instructions. It often contrasts with kuinka, which is more formal or literary, while miten dominates spoken language.

Translations of miten are straightforward: "how" in English; similar expressions exist in many languages but vary in form and tone. In Finnish language teaching, miten is typically introduced early as the standard interrogative for questions about method or manner.

See also: kuinka, kuinka, kysymyslauseet.