There are seven persons for finite verb forms in Finnish: first-person singular/plural, second-person singular/plural, third-person singular/plural and impersonal (sometimes called "passive"). Asecond-person polite form exists as well, although it mostly uses second-person plural forms.
The semantics of the impersonal/passive are of the action being carried by someone or some people, but without specifying who that is or they are. This is different from passive or automative verbs: for example,hän löysi avaimen(“he found the key”)(personal),avain löydettiin(“the key was found (by someone), someone found the key”)(impersonal; emphasizes that someone found the key, without specifying how),avain löytyi(“the key was found”)(automative, emphasizes that the key was found and is no longer missing, but does not specify how).
In colloquial language, the impersonal form has almost completely replaced the first-person plural form (me ajamme →me ajetaan) and quite often the third-person singular form is used in place of third-person plural as well (he ajavat →he/ne ajaa).
So-called impersonal or monopersonal verbs are only used in the third person and only often in the singular number (i.e. third-person singular). Some verbs are only impersonal with certain senses, e.g.pitää is impersonal when it is used to mean "have to, must".
There are two simple tenses: present (or rather nonpast, as it can also be used for future actions) and past ("imperfect", even though it can also function as a preterite). Two further compound tenses exist: perfect and pluperfect (past perfect), formed using the past participles and the present and past forms respectively ofolla as an auxiliary. Only the indicative mood has past and pluperfect forms. The present, past, perfect and pluperfect largely correspond to their English equivalents.
There are also two more tenses, which can be described as the present or pastprospective. These use present participles instead of past participles, like the corresponding perfect and pluperfect forms (except that in the plural, the singular form of the participle may also be used instead of the plural). However, these forms are restricted to formal or literary contexts and are not that common, so they are not shown in the inflection tables. A short example forajaa in the first person and indicative mood areolen ajava(“I am to drive”),olin ajava(“I was to drive”).
The verbei is used to express negation. It inflects in person, number and mood (indicative or imperative); all forms are listed on its entry. The indicative forms begin withe- and express denial (you are not), while the imperative forms begin withä- and express prohibition (don't be!). The indicative forms ofei are used in the other moods (conditional and potential).ei does not have infinitive forms. It is also used to change the meaning of some pronouns, such askukaan andmikään and adverbs, such askoskaan,ikinä,välttämättä.
There are four verb moods in (standard) Finnish.
The English translations provided in the tables below are only approximate.
The most common and basic verb mood, used e.g. for statements of fact.
| Inflection ofajaa, indicative present and perfect tenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | perfect | |||
| affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | |
| 1st sing. | ajan "I drive" | en aja "I do not drive" | olen ajanut "I have driven" | en ole ajanut "I have not driven" |
| 2nd sing. | ajat "you drive" | et aja "you do not drive" | olet ajanut "you have driven" | et ole ajanut "you have not driven" |
| 3rd sing. | ajaa "drives" | ei aja "does not drive" | on ajanut "has driven" | ei ole ajanut "has not driven" |
| 1st plur. | ajamme "we drive" | emme aja "we do not drive" | olemme ajaneet "we have driven" | emme ole ajaneet "we have not driven" |
| 2nd plur. | ajatte "you drive" | ette aja "you do not drive" | olette ajaneet "you have driven" | ette ole ajaneet "you have not driven" |
| 3rd plur. | ajavat "they drive" | eivät aja "they do not drive" | ovat ajaneet "they have driven" | eivät ole ajaneet "they have not driven" |
| pass./impr. | ajetaan "is (being) driven" | ei ajeta "is not (being) driven" | on ajettu1) "has been driven" | ei ole ajettu1) "has not been driven" |
| 1) The non-standard "double passive"ollaan ajettu,ei olla ajettu (passive voiceollaan,ei olla + passive past participleajettu) is common in colloquial speech. | ||||
| Inflection ofajaa, indicative past and pluperfect tenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| past | pluperfect | |||
| affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | |
| 1st sing. | ajoin "I drove" | en ajanut "I did not drive" | olin ajanut "I had driven" | en ollut ajanut "I had not driven" |
| 2nd sing. | ajoit "you drove" | et ajanut "you did not drive" | olit ajanut "you had driven" | et ollut ajanut "you had not driven" |
| 3rd sing. | ajoi "(he/she/it) drove" | ei ajanut "(he/she/it) did not drive" | oli ajanut "(he/she/it) had driven" | ei ollut ajanut "(he/she/it) had not driven" |
| 1st plur. | ajoimme "we drove" | emme ajaneet "we did not drive" | olimme ajaneet "we had driven" | emme olleet ajaneet "we had not driven" |
| 2nd plur. | ajoitte "you drove" | ette ajaneet "you did not drive" | olitte ajaneet "you had driven" | ette olleet ajaneet "you had not driven" |
| 3rd plur. | ajoivat "they drove" | eivät ajaneet "they did not drive" | olivat ajaneet "they had driven" | eivät olleet ajaneet "they had not driven" |
| pass./impr. | ajettiin "was (being) driven" | ei ajettu "was not (being) driven" | oli ajettu1) "had been driven" | ei ollut ajettu1) "had not been driven" |
| 1) The non-standard "double passive"oltiin ajettu,ei oltu ajettu (passive voiceoltiin,ei olla + passive past participleajettu) is common in colloquial speech. | ||||
Used for actions that are conditional, i.e. that hinge on a condition or prerequirement. Often corresponds to Englishwould:ajaisin jos voisin(“I would drive if I could”).
The second-person forms, when combined with the interrogative clitic-ko, can be used to form polite requests (similar to English "could you do ...?").
| Inflection ofajaa, conditional present and perfect tenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | perfect | |||
| affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | |
| 1st sing. | ajaisin "I would drive" | en ajaisi "I would not drive" | olisin ajanut "I would have driven" | en olisi ajanut "I would not have driven" |
| 2nd sing. | ajaisit "you would drive" | et ajaisi "you would not drive" | olisit ajanut "you would have driven" | et olisi ajanut "you would not have driven" |
| 3rd sing. | ajaisi "(he/she/it) would drive" | ei ajaisi "(he/she/it) would not drive" | olisi ajanut "(he/she/it) would have driven" | ei olisi ajanut "(he/she/it) would not have driven" |
| 1st plur. | ajaisimme "we would drive" | emme ajaisi "we would not drive" | olisimme ajaneet "we would have driven" | emme olisi ajaneet "we would not have driven" |
| 2nd plur. | ajaisitte "you would drive" | ette ajaisi "you would not drive" | olisitte ajaneet "you would have driven" | ette olisi ajaneet "you would not have driven" |
| 3rd plur. | ajaisivat "they would drive" | eivät ajaisi "they would not drive" | olisivat ajaneet "they would have driven" | eivät olisi ajaneet "they would not have driven" |
| pass./impr. | ajettaisiin "would be driven" | ei ajettaisi "would not be driven" | olisi ajettu1) "would have been driven" | ei olisi ajettu1) "would not have been driven" |
| 1) The non-standard "double passive"oltaisiin ajettu,ei oltaisi ajettu (passive voiceoltaisiin,ei oltaisi + passive past participleajettu) is common in colloquial speech. | ||||
Used to express commands. In the third person and with the passive/impersonal forms, the meaning is ratheroptative ("let them do X").
In modern Finnish, the third-person and passive/impersonal forms are most often used to express either acquiescence or resignation (e.g."no ajakoon sitten"(“well fine, let him/her/them drive then”)), or disregard or indifference for what is or isn't done (e.g."ajakoon, ei sillä minulle ole väliä"(“well then let him/her/it drive, it doesn't matter to me”)).
The first-person plural imperative is used as ahortative ("let's do ..."), but, outside of literary Finnish, is usually replaced with the present passive/impersonal form (ajakaamme →ajetaan).
The imperative connegative forms ending in-ko,-kö should not be confused with the (interrogative) clitic-ko.
The imperative perfect forms are only used in ajussive sense.
| Inflection ofajaa, imperative present and perfect tenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | perfect | |||
| affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | |
| 2nd sing. | aja "drive!" | älä aja "do not drive!" | — | — |
| 3rd sing. | ajakoon "let him/her/it drive" | älköön ajako "let him/her/it not drive" | olkoon ajanut "let (he/she/it) have driven" | älköön olko ajanut "let (he/she/it) not have driven" |
| 1st plur. | ajakaamme "let us drive" | älkäämme ajako "let us not drive" | — | — |
| 2nd plur. | ajakaa "drive!" | älkää ajako "do not drive!" | — | — |
| 3rd plur. | ajakoot "let them drive" | älkööt ajako "let them not drive" | olkoot ajaneet "let them have driven" | älkööt olko ajaneet "let them not have driven" |
| pass./impr. | ajettakoon "let it be driven" | älköön ajettako "let it not be driven" | olkoon ajettu "let it have been driven" | älköön olko ajettu "let it not have been driven" |
Used for verbs that are not entirely certain, but which are probable. Corresponds to Englishmay,probably,it ispossible that etc.
Mostly confined to literary Finnish. Adverbs likekai,luultavasti,ehkä etc. are often used instead:lienee ajanut →on kai ajanut.
| Inflection ofajaa, potential present and perfect tenses | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | perfect | |||
| affirmative | negative | affirmative | negative | |
| 1st sing. | ajanen "I might drive" | en ajane "I might not drive" | lienen ajanut "I might have driven" | en liene ajanut "I might not have driven" |
| 2nd sing. | ajanet "you might drive" | et ajane "you might not drive" | lienet ajanut "you might have driven" | et liene ajanut "you might not have driven" |
| 3rd sing. | ajanee "(he/she/it) might drive" | ei ajane "(he/she/it) might not drive" | lienee ajanut "he/she/it might have driven" | ei liene ajanut "he/she/it might not have driven" |
| 1st plur. | ajanemme "we might drive" | emme ajane "we might not drive" | lienemme ajaneet "we might have driven" | emme liene ajaneet "we might not have driven" |
| 2nd plur. | ajanette "you might drive" | ette ajane "you might not drive" | lienette ajaneet "you might have driven" | ette liene ajaneet "you might not have driven" |
| 3rd plur. | ajanevat "they might drive" | eivät ajane "they might not drive" | lienevät ajaneet "they might have driven" | eivät liene ajaneet "they might not have driven" |
| pass./impr. | ajettaneen "might be driven" | ei ajettane "might not be driven" | lienee ajettu "might have been driven" | ei liene ajettu "might not have been driven" |
These moods are not part of standard language.
Poetic and archaic. Similar to imperative, but less forceful. Only a few personal forms are used; third-person forms coincide with those of the imperative mood.
| Inflection ofajaa, optative present tense | ||
|---|---|---|
| affirmative | negative | |
| 2nd sing. | ajaos "drive!" | ällös aja "do not drive!" |
| 3rd sing. | ajakoon "let him/her/it drive" | älköön ajako "let him/her/it not drive" |
| 2nd plur. | ajakaatte "drive!" | älkäätte ajako "do not drive!" |
| 3rd plur. | ajakoot "let them drive" | älkööt ajako "let them not drive" |
Rare and poetic; used in the Finnish national epicKalevala. Combination of conditional and potential:ajan(“I drive”) →ajaneisin(“I probably would drive”). Sporadically found in general usage as well, but with a literary nuance and not accepted as part of the standard language.
There are anywhere from three to five groups of infinitives: first infinitive (I, with an additional long form), second infinitive (II) and third infinitive (III). Some definitions also include a fourth infinitive (IV) and fifth infinitive (V). There also exists a set of alternative names for all five:A infinitive,E infinitive,MA infinitive,MINEN infinitive andMAINEN infinitive respectively, after their endings.
| infinitive | voice | case | form | (approximate) translation | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | – | ajaa | to drive | ||
| I (long)1 | – | ajaakseni | For the purpose of me driving, in order for me to drive | ||
| – | ajaaksesi | for the purpose of you driving, in order for you to drive (singular) | |||
| – | ajaakseen | for the purpose of him/her driving, in order for him/her to drive | |||
| – | ajaaksensa | ||||
| – | ajaaksemme | for the purpose of us driving, in order for us to drive | |||
| – | ajaaksenne | for the purpose of you driving, in order for you to drive (plural) | |||
| – | ajaakseen | for the purpose of them driving, in order for them to drive | |||
| – | ajaaksensa | ||||
| II | active | inessive | ajaessa | when/while driving, as one is driving/as one drives | subject in the genitive case, (possible) object in the partitive case |
| instructive | ajaen2 | while/by driving | used as part of a larger verb phrase, so the subject is not directly mentioned. (possible) object in the partitive case | ||
| passive | inessive | ajettaessa | when one drives X; when something is being driven | (possible) object in the partitive case | |
| III | active | inessive | ajamassa | olin ajamassa: I was driving | most often used witholla |
| elative | ajamasta | lakkasin ajamasta: I stopped driving | most often used withtulla ("to come from doing X") or with verbs of stopping or ceasing | ||
| illative | ajamaan | lähdin ajamaan: I began driving, I went to drive | most often used withmennä(“to go”),lähteä(“to begin, go”) or with verbs of starting or beginning | ||
| adessive | ajamalla | by driving | object in accusative or partitive | ||
| abessive | ajamatta | without driving;olin ajamatta viikon(“I did not drive for a week”),tein sen ajamatta(“I did it without driving”) | |||
| instructive | ajaman | sinun on ajaman: you must drive | dated | ||
| passive | instructive | ajettaman | tätä autoa on ajettaman: one has to drive this car | dated | |
| IV3 | – | nominative | ajaminen | sinun on ajaminen: you must drive | dated |
| – | partitive | ajamista4 | sinne ei ole ajamista: one must not drive there | dated | |
| V1 | – | ajamaisillani | olin ajamaisillani: I was about to drive | literary | |
| – | ajamaisillasi | ...you were about to drive (singular) | literary | ||
| – | ajamaisillaan | ...he/she was about to drive | literary | ||
| – | ajamaisillansa | ||||
| – | ajamaisillamme | ...we were about to drive | literary | ||
| – | ajamaisillanne | ...you were about to drive (plural) | literary | ||
| – | ajamaisillaan | ...they were about to drive | literary | ||
| – | ajamaisillansa | ||||
The most common form for complement verbs (those used with an auxiliary), corresponding roughly to English "to do". It is used with many verbs and most nouns. It is also the dictionary form. It triggersfinal gemination.
The first infinitive is also used in the so-calledkoloratiivirakenne:
When used witholla (almost always in the past tense), it refers to actions that almost happened, similar to the so-called 'fifth infinitive'. An adverb likevähällä may also be used, and is practically required whenolla is in the present tense to talk about an imminent action.
The "long" first infinitive, or more properly the translative form of the first infinitive, has the translative suffix ending (-ksi) followed by apossessive suffix, which is required. It generally means "in order to do X", as part of the so called "final construct".
When used witholla, the long first infinitive tends to refer to a future event that may or may not happen, often in expressions involving uncertainty, and implying that whether and when it happens is beyond one's control (left up to fate).
The second infinitive has three forms. The inessive case has both active and passive forms, while the instructive only has the active form. The active inessive form regularly receivespossessive suffixes, but the instructive form only does so rarely, while the passive form cannot.
The active inessive form means "as/while X is/was doing Y":
The passive inessive form means "as/while X is/was being done":
Technically speaking the active form should replace an active form of a verb and the passive form a passive form of a verb, but the active form is occasionally, especially in less formal situations, indiscriminately used in place of the passive form.
The active instructive form means "by/while doing". It is quite similar to the adessive form of the third infinitive, but not quite synonymous in most cases, as it is often less about the means and more about describing the kind of action:
The third infinitive has six case forms: inessive, elative, illative, adessive, abessive and instructive. Only the instructive has both active and passive forms, while the other five cases only have active forms. Forms of the third infinitive are fairly common when chaining verbs.
Forms of the third infinitive coincide with those of theagent participle and of the-ma noun, if they exist for the verb in question.
The inessive form refers to an ongoing action as a state of being:
Sometimes it is used alone, but this kind of usage is highly associated with newspaper headlines:
Occasionally, the nuance is rather of an action that is about to happen, not necessarily ongoing quite yet, or in the past tense, of an action that almost happened:
The elative form mostly refers to leaving the state in which one is doing something:
but has some special uses too:
The illative form refers to entering the state in which one is doing something:
They are also used with many adjectives, and in cases where an adjective is qualified by an adverbial to represent "to ..." (the corresponding passive structure uses the translative form of the passive present participle):
The adessive form refers to an action as a means of doing something, "by doing X":
The abessive form means "without doing X" (when used witholla, it literally means "to be without doing X", but with conscious actions is better translated as "to (intentionally, consciously) not do X", "to avoid doing X"):
The instructive forms, which are archaic, are used in commands or prohibitions.
The term "fourth infinitive" is used in many (particular older) grammars for certain uses of theverbal noun formed with-minen (see below).
The first use is with the verbolla (using the nominative singular in the affirmative and the partitive singular in the negative) to mean "one must do X" or "one must not do X". This use is largely restricted to formal language and is rare in modern and colloquial Finnish:
This use has been lexicalized in some phrases:
The second use is with the verb itself to mark an action that is being done continuously/for a long time:
Used in the literary language, rare in colloquial Finnish. Always in the adessive case, and always takes apossessive suffix aligning with the person.
Most often used witholla as a predicative adverbial to mean "as X was about to Y", which in the past sense usually implies an interruption that prevents X from doing Y.
It can also be used witholla in the present tense, in which case it has a more general sense of "to be about to X":
Less often but still at times encountered is use with other verbs. In those cases, it can generally be translated either as "as if X were about to Y" or sometimes even "as X is about to Y":
The term "fifth infinitive" remains common, although more recent views do not treat it as an infinitive, but as a kind of adverb. Other names for this form includepropinquative andproximative. Arguably it could also be called a "long third infinitive", given that it is etymologically closely related to it.
These are kinds ofabsolute constructs (lauseenvastike), alongsideparticiple constructs:
All participles can be inflected and used like adjectives. Many participles are in fact used as independent adjectives:syötävä(“edible”),kuollut(“dead”) etc.
Appendix:Finnish participles contains additional information on the usage of these participles and constructs using them. This page will only give a short description and example inflections.
"that does X", e.g.kovaa ajava auto(“fast driving car, car that drives fast”)
| Inflection ofajava (present active participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajava | ajavat |
| genitive | ajavan | ajavien |
| ajavain | ||
| partitive | ajavaa | ajavia |
| accusative | ajava | ajavat |
| ajavan | ||
| inessive | ajavassa | ajavissa |
| elative | ajavasta | ajavista |
| illative | ajavaan | ajaviin |
| adessive | ajavalla | ajavilla |
| ablative | ajavalta | ajavilta |
| allative | ajavalle | ajaville |
| essive | ajavana | ajavina |
| translative | ajavaksi | ajaviksi |
| abessive | ajavatta | ajavitta |
| instructive | — | ajavin |
| comitative | — | ajavine |
"that has X done to it" or "that can have X done to it", e.g.ajettava auto(“car to be driven, car that can be driven = drivable car”)
| Inflection ofajettava (present passive participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajettava | ajettavat |
| genitive | ajettavan | ajettavien |
| ajettavain | ||
| partitive | ajettavaa | ajettavia |
| accusative | ajettava | ajettavat |
| ajettavan | ||
| inessive | ajettavassa | ajettavissa |
| elative | ajettavasta | ajettavista |
| illative | ajettavaan | ajettaviin |
| adessive | ajettavalla | ajettavilla |
| ablative | ajettavalta | ajettavilta |
| allative | ajettavalle | ajettaville |
| essive | ajettavana | ajettavina |
| translative | ajettavaksi | ajettaviksi |
| abessive | ajettavatta | ajettavitta |
| instructive | — | ajettavin |
| comitative | — | ajettavine |
"that did X" or "that has done X", e.g.ohitsemme ajanut auto kääntyi vasemmalle(“the car that passed us turned left”).
| Inflection ofajanut (past active participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajanut | ajaneet |
| genitive | ajaneen | ajaneiden |
| ajaneitten | ||
| partitive | ajanutta | ajaneita |
| accusative | ajanut | ajaneet |
| ajaneen | ||
| inessive | ajaneessa | ajaneissa |
| elative | ajaneesta | ajaneista |
| illative | ajaneeseen | ajaneisiin |
| ajaneihin | ||
| adessive | ajaneella | ajaneilla |
| ablative | ajaneelta | ajaneilta |
| allative | ajaneelle | ajaneille |
| essive | ajaneena | ajaneina |
| translative | ajaneeksi | ajaneiksi |
| abessive | ajaneetta | ajaneitta |
| instructive | — | ajanein |
| comitative | — | ajaneine |
"that had X done to it" or "that has had X done to it", e.g.tätä autoa on ajettu(“this car has been driven”)
| Inflection ofajettu (past passive participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajettu | ajetut |
| genitive | ajetun | ajettujen |
| partitive | ajettua | ajettuja |
| accusative | ajettu | ajetut |
| ajetun | ||
| inessive | ajetussa | ajetuissa |
| elative | ajetusta | ajetuista |
| illative | ajettun | ajettuihin |
| adessive | ajetulla | ajetuilla |
| ablative | ajetulta | ajetuilta |
| allative | ajetulle | ajetuille |
| essive | ajettuna | ajettuina |
| translative | ajetuksi | ajetuiksi |
| abessive | ajetutta | ajetuitta |
| instructive | — | ajetuin |
| comitative | — | ajettuine |
"done X by Y", e.g.minun ajamani auto(“the car I drove/have driven”). Not used with all verbs; seeAppendix:Finnish participles § Agent participles.
| Inflection ofajama (agent participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajama | ajamat |
| genitive | ajaman | ajamien |
| ajamain | ||
| partitive | ajamaa | ajamia |
| accusative | ajama | ajamat |
| ajaman | ||
| inessive | ajamassa | ajamissa |
| elative | ajamasta | ajamista |
| illative | ajamaan | ajamiin |
| adessive | ajamalla | ajamilla |
| ablative | ajamalta | ajamilta |
| allative | ajamalle | ajamille |
| essive | ajamana | ajamina |
| translative | ajamaksi | ajamiksi |
| abessive | ajamatta | ajamitta |
| instructive | — | ajamin |
| comitative | — | ajamine |
Negation of the other participles.
| Inflection ofajamaton (negative participle ofajaa) | ||
|---|---|---|
| case | singular | plural |
| nominative | ajamaton | ajamattomat |
| genitive | ajamattoman | ajamattomien |
| ajamatonten | ||
| partitive | ajamatonta | ajamattomia |
| accusative | ajamaton | ajamattomat |
| ajamattoman | ||
| inessive | ajamattomassa | ajamattomissa |
| elative | ajamattomasta | ajamattomista |
| illative | ajamattomaan | ajamattomiin |
| adessive | ajamattomalla | ajamattomilla |
| ablative | ajamattomalta | ajamattomilta |
| allative | ajamattomalle | ajamattomille |
| essive | ajamattomana | ajamattomina |
| translative | ajamattomaksi | ajamattomiksi |
| abessive | ajamattomatta | ajamattomitta |
| instructive | — | ajamattomin |
| comitative | — | ajamattomine |
The suffix-minen can be used to create a verbal noun oraction noun out of any verb. Other verbal noun suffixes also exist, but can only be used with specific conjugation classes, and often have a more lexicalized meaning (such as to refer to the result of an action, rather than the action itself).
For example, the verbajaa has the regular action nounajaminen, as well asajo (with the suffix-o). They are used somewhat differently (see the corresponding entries).