When it comes to addressing the recipient of an official message, choosing a form of address is a greater challenge in Finnish than in English. Like many European languages, we have both a singular form of “you,” sinä, and a plural form, te. Finnish authorities have slowly turned to the less formal sinä in recent years, but many individual writers still feel unsure about doing so.
In her doctoral thesis, Eveliina Tolvanen examined uses of the second person by both Finnish and Swedish pension agencies. Swedish use of their singular form, du, was already common in official letters in the 1970s; in Finland, sinä has appeared more recently.
The practise for forms of address is not straightforward in Finnish. Depending on the situation, writers tend to shift between the second person plural and singular–or to avoid direct personal reference altogether. One of Tolvanen’s findings is that Finnish texts directly address the reader in positive situations (“you will receive,” “you now have the opportunity”). In negative contexts, Finnish writers often avoid direct address through techniques like the passive voice (“applications will no longer be accepted”).
Why does this matter? According to Tolvanen, direct address creates a relationship between the writer and the reader. The effect is twofold: the form of address reflects the social relationship and also strengthens it. Informal address creates or fosters closeness between the parties; formal address emphasizes social distance. While informal address is often seen as an acknowledgement of equality, it can also be viewed as an artificial closeness or even an attempt to gloss over inequality.
The quality of interactions, especially between officials and the public, depends on a variety of language choices, and not simply on the form of address.