This second edition of "Finnish: An Essential Grammar" is grounded in fundamental insights of modern linguistics and incorporates some of the latest achievements in the description of written and spoken Finnish. It gives not only a systematic account of the structures of the written language, but also features the characteristics of colloquial Finnish. No prior knowledge is assumed on the part of the reader and grammatical rules are clearly explained without jargon. Features of this book include: pronunciation guide, including the tendencies in present-day colloquial Finnish; thorough descriptions of morphology (word structure) and syntax (sentence structure); clear rules and an abundance of concrete examples; inflection tables; subject index; and, internet addresses to online software for grammatical analysis of Finnish. This is the ideal reference source both for those studying Finnish independently and for students in schools, colleges, universities and adult classes of all types.