Finnish grammar
Template:Short description Template:Refimprove
The Finnish language is spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns elsewhere. Unlike the Indo-European languages spoken in neighbouring countries, such as Swedish and Norwegian, which are North Germanic languages, or Russian, which is a Slavic language, Finnish is a Uralic language of the Finnic languages group. Typologically, Finnish is agglutinative.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> As in some other Uralic languages, Finnish has vowel harmony, and like other Finnic languages, it has consonant gradation.
Pronouns
[edit]The pronouns are inflected in the Finnish language much in the same way that their referent nouns are.
Personal pronouns
[edit]Personal pronouns are used to refer to human beings only. Personal pronouns in Standard Finnish in the nominative case are listed in the following table:
Personal pronouns Finnish English Singular Template:Lang I Template:Lang you/thou Template:Lang he/she/they Plural Template:Lang we Template:Lang you/yous(e)/y'all/you lot/ye Template:Lang they Polite Template:Lang you
Because Finnish verbs are inflected for person and number, in Finnish standard language subject pronouns are not required, and the first and second-person pronouns are usually omitted except when used for emphasis. In the third person, however, the pronoun is required: Template:Lang '(s)he goes'. In spoken Finnish, all pronouns are generally used, even without emphatic meaning.
In colloquial Finnish, the inanimate pronouns Template:Lang and Template:Lang are very commonly used in place of the singular and plural animate third-person pronouns, respectively. Use of Template:Lang and Template:Lang is mostly restricted to writing and formal or markedly polite speech as this clear distinction has never occurred naturallyTemplate:Clarify in the language. Do note the animals are marked as less animate and are therefore never referred to as Template:Lang or Template:Lang. Template:Lang and Template:Lang are usually replaced with colloquial forms. The most common variants are Template:Lang and Template:Lang, though, in some dialects Template:Lang and Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang or Template:Lang and Template:Lang are used. On the other hand, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang lack reduced colloquial forms, so variants such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, and Template:Lang of some eastern varieties are dialectal. Some common verbs, such as Template:Lang "to be" and Template:Lang "to come", exhibit similarly reduced colloquial forms:
Personal pronouns Written/formal Spoken/colloquial Singular Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Plural Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Polite Template:Lang Template:Lang
The second-person plural can be used as a polite form when addressing one person, as in some Indo-European languages. However, this usage is diminishing in Finnish society.
Demonstrative pronouns
[edit]The demonstratives are used of non-human animate entities and inanimate objects. However, Template:Lang and Template:Lang is often used to refer to humans in colloquial Finnish. (This usage is quite correct in a demonstrative sense, i.e. when qualified by the relative pronoun Template:Lang, and in fact, it is hypercorrect to replace a demonstrative Template:Lang or Template:Lang with Template:Lang or Template:Lang just because the antecedent is human.) Furthermore, the demonstratives are used to refer to group nouns and the number of the pronoun must correlate with the number of its referent.
Demonstrative pronouns Finnish English Singular Template:Lang this Template:Lang that Template:Lang it/that Plural Template:Lang these Template:Lang those Template:Lang they/those
Interrogative pronouns Finnish English Template:Lang who, which (of many) Template:Lang who, which (of many) — old or dialectal word Template:Lang what, which (of many) Template:Lang which (of two) Template:Lang which (of two) — old or dialectal word
Template:Lang is now archaic, but its inflected forms are used instead of those of Template:Lang: Template:Lang instead of Template:Lang ("whom"): Template:Lang "Whom do you love?"
Relative pronouns Pronoun Example English Template:Lang
(refers to preceding word)Template:Lang "they are (singular), s/he is the only one whom (I) remember" Template:Lang
(refers to preceding clause/sentence or
to a pronoun or a superlative that refers to a thing)Template:Lang "it is the only thing that (I) remember"
Reciprocal pronouns Pronoun Example English toinen Template:Lang "they love each other" (plural) Template:Lang "they love one another" (dual)
Reflexive pronouns Pronoun Suffix Example English Template:Lang plus corresponding possessive suffix Template:Lang "(I) made myself some tea"
A large group that entails all of the pronouns that do not fall into any of the categories above. Notice that there are no negative pronouns, such as "nobody"; rather, the positive pronoun is negated with the negative verb Template:Lang. No double negatives are possible.
Indefinite pronouns Finnish English Template:Lang (uninflected) every, each Template:Lang every, everyone Template:Lang some, someone (person) Template:Lang either one Template:Lang some, something (animal, thing) Template:Lang each one Template:Lang both (old or dialectal) Template:Lang both Template:Lang each thing (dialectal) Template:Lang anyone (old or poetic) Template:Lang (Template:Abbr), Template:Lang (oblique) anyone → Template:Lang no one Template:Lang either one → Template:Lang neither one Template:Lang anything → Template:Lang nothing Template:Lang (Template:Abbr), Template:Lang (oblique) the ordinal pronoun (representing first, second, etc.)
Each pronoun declines. However, the endings Template:Lang and Template:Lang are clitics, and case endings are placed before them, e.g. Template:Lang "any", Template:Lang "from any". There are irregular nominatives. As indicated, Template:Lang is an irregular nominative; the regular root is Template:Lang with Template:Lang, e.g. Template:Lang "(not) anyone", Template:Lang "from (not) anyone".
English lacks a direct equivalent to the pronoun Template:Lang; it would be "that-th", or "which-th" for questions. For example, Template:Lang "The reward depends on as-which-th one comes to the finish", or explicitly "The reward depends on in which position one comes to the finish". It would be difficult to translate the question Template:Lang, but, although far from proper English, the question How manyeth may give an English-speaking person an idea of the meaning.
Some indefinite adjectives are often perceived as indefinite pronouns. These include:
Indefinite adjectives Finnish English Template:Lang the only one Template:Lang some, certain, one Template:Lang few Template:Lang (non-reflexive) self Template:Lang all, everyone, everything Template:Lang both Template:Lang many Template:Lang other Template:Lang some, a few Template:Lang same Template:Lang (non-reciprocal, non-numeral use) another
Nouns
[edit]Finnish does not have grammatical gender, not even in personal pronouns: Template:Lang is 'he', 'she' or 'they' (singular) depending on the referent. There are no articles, neither definite nor indefinite.
Possessive suffixes
[edit]Cases
[edit]Template:Main Finnish has fifteen noun cases: four grammatical cases, six locative cases, two essive cases (three in some Eastern dialects), and three marginal cases.
Some notes about the cases listed in the table above:
- The locative cases are also used for grammatical function, such as benefactive, dative (often in the allative), and other functions.
- There is historically some difference of opinion as to the character and indeed existence (for most words) of the accusative case in modern Finnish. The recent, authoritative grammar Iso suomen kielioppi takes the position that only the personal pronouns and the personal interrogative pronoun Template:Lang have a true accusative case which is distinguished by the suffix Template:Lang. For nouns, adjectives, numerals, and other pronouns, there is no accusative case; instead, these words take the nominative or genitive in object positions (where they do not take the partitive). This differs from the more traditional view, to which many learners' grammars still adhere, that there are accusative forms that appear identical to the nominative or genitive. This traditional view is based on known diachronic phonological changes in the language.
- Marginal cases are mostly used in writing, or in the case of the instructive, in fixed expressions such as Vedä pyyhe molemmin käsin ('Pull the paper towel using both hands')
- A noun in the comitative case is always followed by a possessive suffix. However, as is typical in Finnish, an adjective does not take possessive suffixes: Template:Lang "A man with his luxurious house(s)", with comitative Template:Lang on both the adjective and noun, but the third person possessive suffix Template:Lang on the noun only.
- Regarding the illative suffix Template:Lang: "V" stands in for a preceding (short) vowel: Template:Lang yields Template:Lang, but Template:Lang yields Template:Lang.
Relationship between locative cases
[edit]As in other Uralic languages, locative cases in Finnish can be classified according to three criteria: the spatial position (interior or surface), the motion status (stationary or moving), and within the latter, the direction of the movement (approaching or departing). The classification captures a morphophonological pattern that distinguishes interior and surface spatial position; long consonants (Template:IPA in Template:Lang / Template:Lang and Template:IPA in Template:Lang / Template:Lang) express stationary motion, whereas a Template:IPA expresses "movement from". The table below shows these relationships schematically:
| Spatial position | Motion status | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Stationary | Moving | ||
| approaching | departing | ||
| Interior | inessive ('in') Template:Lang |
illative ('into') Template:Lang |
elative ('out of') Template:Lang |
| Surface | adessive ('on') Template:Lang |
allative ('onto') Template:Lang |
ablative ('off from') Template:Lang |
Plurals
[edit]Finnish nominal plurals are often marked by Template:Lang (though Template:Lang is a suppletive variant in the nominative and accusative, as is common in Uralic languages). Singular and plural numbers cross-cut the distinctions in grammatical cases, and several number/case combinations have somewhat idiosyncratic uses. Several of these deserve special mention.
Nominative/accusative plural
[edit]The nominative plural is used for definite count nouns that are subjects, while the plural object of a telic verb bears the accusative plural. The syncretic suffix that covers both uses is Template:Lang. This suffix can only appear in the word-final position; i.e. it is omitted when a possessive suffix is present.Template:Clarify
Nominative plural Finnish English Template:Lang "The dogs were in the room" Template:Lang "The rooms were large" Template:Lang "I too saw the dogs"
Numerals
[edit]Template:Details When a noun is modified by a numeral not equal to one, and the numeral is in the nominative singular, the noun bears the partitive singular. Otherwise, the noun and the numeral agree with each other in number and case.
Following numerals Finnish English Template:Lang "there were two dogs in the room" Template:Lang "the house had three rooms" Template:Lang "I bought a computer for a thousand euros" Template:Lang "I need two pairs of shoes"
Inflected plural
[edit]This uses the stem of the partitive plural inflected with the same set of endings as for singular nouns. The suffix is Template:Lang, and it suppresses long vowels; it may only appear before another suffix.
Inflected plural Finnish English Template:Lang → Template:Lang '(some) rooms' → Template:Lang 'in rooms'
As a combined example of plurals
Inflected plural Finnish English Template:Lang 'the bird is in the tree' → Template:Lang 'the birds are in the trees'
Inflection of pronouns
[edit]The personal pronouns are inflected in the same way as nouns, and can be found in most of the same cases as nouns. For example:
Inflection of pronouns Finnish Case Example English Template:Lang nominative 'I' Template:Lang genitive ('my, mine') Template:Lang 'this house is mine' Template:Lang 'this is my house' Template:Lang accusative Template:Lang 's/he knows me' Template:Lang partitive Template:Lang 's/he loves me' Template:Lang inessive Template:Lang 'this provokes (Template:Abbr awakens) anger in me' Template:Lang elative Template:Lang 's/he was talking about/of me'. Also used idiomatically to mean 'in my opinion'. Template:Lang illative Template:Lang 's/he believed in me' Template:Lang adessive Template:Lang 'I've got some money' (lit.'On me there's money') Template:Lang ablative Template:Lang 's/he took some money from/off me'. Template:Lang allative Template:Lang 'give me some money' Template:Lang essive Template:Lang 'If I were you, I wouldn't do it' (Template:Abbr 'as you') Template:Lang translative Template:Lang 's/he is often mistaken for me'
Noun/adjective stem types
[edit]The stem of a word is the part to which inflectional endings are affixed. For most noun and adjective types, the nominative case is identical to the basic stem (the nominative is unmarked).
Vowel stems
[edit]A word with a vowel stem is one that ends in a vowel in the nominative, and retains a final vowel in all forms. The stem vowel can however change in certain inflected forms:
The change of original (pre-Proto-Finnic) final *e to Template:Lang means that the stem vowel of a word ending in Template:Lang cannot be determined from the nominative alone; one of the inflected forms must be consulted. However, most old inherited words ending in Template:Lang decline as e-stems (or consonants stems, see below), while modern loans, where Template:Lang frequently is added for phonotactic reasons (as in the case of Template:Lang), always decline as i-stems.
Consonant stems
[edit]A word with a consonant stem is one where case suffixes can in some cases be affixed directly after the last consonant for at least some forms. Words with consonant stems come in three broad classes.
The first class of consonant-stem words largely resemble e-stems, but allow elision of the stem vowel in the partitive singular, and for certain words, plural genitive. In the later case, this involves a special allomorph Template:Lang, employing the plural marker Template:Lang rather than Template:Lang/Template:Lang.
The final consonant in words of this class must be one of h, l, m, n, r, s, t. Other remarks for e-stem words still apply.
English stem singular Template:Abbr [[Genitive case|Template:Abbr]] Template:Abbr [[Partitive case|Template:Abbr]] plural Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Notes goat Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang wind Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang broth Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang m → n before t. sound Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang bow Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang
Words of this type may have somewhat irregular declension due to additional historical changes:
English stem singular Template:Abbr [[Genitive case|Template:Abbr]] Template:Abbr [[Partitive case|Template:Abbr]] plural Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Notes child Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang The first consonant in a cluster of three is lost: Cs + t → st. knife Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang hand Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang ti becomes si. (Variation of t/d, nt/nn is regular and due to consonant gradation.) nail Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang two Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang In addition to the previous changes, kt and ktt become ht/hd.
For some words of this type, modern Finnish displays a tendency of development from consonant-stems to e-stems. For example, the partitive singular of the word Template:Lang "bird cherry" may be Template:Lang (consonant stem) or Template:Lang (vowel stem).
Another class of consonant-stem words end in a consonant even in the nominative; if a stem vowel is required for phonotactic reasons, e again appears. In Modern Finnish, only dental and alveolar consonants /l n r s t/) occur word-finally but previously words ending in /ʃ~ʂ h k m/ were possible as well.
English stem singular Template:Abbr [[Genitive case|Template:Abbr]] Template:Abbr [[Partitive case|Template:Abbr]] plural Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Template:Abbr Notes joint Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang core Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang m → n when word-final or before t. perch Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang sister Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang, Template:Lang Template:Lang beer Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang t disappears in vowel-stem forms due to consonant gradation.
Nouns ending in -s
[edit]Vocalization or lenition is found in addition to any possible consonant gradation, e.g. Template:Lang (nominative) ~ Template:Lang (genitive), or Template:Lang ~ Template:Lang. The illatives are marked thus: Template:Lang, Template:Lang.
-nen nouns
[edit]This is a very large class of words which includes common nouns (for example Template:Lang 'woman'), many proper names, and many common adjectives. Adding Template:Lang to a noun is a very productive mechanism for creating adjectives (Template:Lang 'dirt, filth' → Template:Lang 'dirty'; Template:Lang 'joy' → Template:Lang 'merry, happy'; Template:Lang 'plastic' → Template:Lang 'made of plastic'/'plastic-like' ). It can also function as a diminutive ending.
The form behaves as if it ended in Template:Lang, with the exception of the nominative, where it is Template:Lang. Thus, the stem for these words removes the Template:Lang and adds Template:Lang after which the inflectional ending is added:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'in the plastic bag' Template:Lang 'two plastic toys' Template:Lang 'into the plastic box'
Here are some of the diminutive forms that are in use:
Finnish Stemming from English Template:Lang Template:Lang 'a small hand' (affectionate) Template:Lang Template:Lang 'birdie', 'a small bird' Template:Lang Template:Lang 'lad' Template:Lang Template:Lang 'booklet' Template:Lang Template:Lang 'a little flower' Template:Lang Template:Lang 'a little child'
A special class of Finnish nouns in -nen are surnames. Some of these are very old and often their original meaning is not readily apparent to a modern speaker. Many were later coined on the -nen pattern and these often have the suffix added to a word meaning a natural feature. Some representative examples are:
Finnish From word English Template:Lang Template:Lang blacksmith (of a blacksmith's family) Template:Lang Template:Lang 'deaf' (of a deaf man's family) Template:Lang Template:Lang 'sorrowful, melancholic'; alternatively male name Template:Lang as short for Leonard Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang... Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang 'the family from by the stream (Template:Lang), river (Template:Lang), lake (Template:Lang), peninsula (Template:Lang)' Template:Lang [A family name assimilated from the name of the farmhouse, after the householder's name 'Mikko'] Template:Lang possible origin Template:Lang, a South Karelian surnameTemplate:Source? Template:Lang from Template:Lang, originating to Germanic male name LydeckeTemplate:Source?
The suffix Template:Lang also occurs in place-names. Many place-names ending with Template:Lang assume a plural form when inflected. For instance, the illative of Template:Lang is Template:Lang instead of singular Template:Lang.
-e nouns
[edit]Most present-day -e nouns derive from older *-eh (<*-eš) or *-ek stems in which the consonant has been lost, which also explains why words in this class behave differently from the -i/-e class, which underwent word-final vowel raising in the nominative singular, such as *saare > saari ('island') but saaren, saarella, etc. ('island's', 'on the island'). Class -e word-final consonant does not survive in any form of the paradigm, although the existence of a consonant is still seen in that the nominative singular form (citation form) shows weak gradation, and strong grade vowel stem to which most case suffixes are applied.
E-stem words have an additional e in the inflected stem: Template:Lang 'family' (< *pereh via metathesis), but Template:Lang, so Template:Lang, Template:Lang, etc.; which represents the historical loss of a medial consonant.
| perhe | liike | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Phase 1
*pereš(e-) |
Phase 2
*pereh(e-) |
Now | Phase 1
*liik'ek : *liikkege- |
Phase 2
*liikeh : *liikkehe- |
Now |
| nominative | *pereš | *pereh | perhe | *liik'ek | *liikeh | liike |
| genitive | *pereše-n | *perehe-n | perheen | *liikkeg-en | *liikkehe-n | liikkeen |
| illative | *pereše-sen | *perehe-se(he)n | perheeseen | *liikkege-sen | *liikkehe-se(he)n | liikkeeseen |
However, in some dialects, the much older *-š and *-k stems have shifted to Template:Lang and Template:Lang instead, for instance in Pohjanmaa dialect *weneš > venes for standard vene ('boat') and *kastëk > kastet for standard kaste ('dew').
The partitive stem behaves yet differently due to a loss of word-medial -e- in some contexts before the change from *-k- to *-h- took place, in which the consonant has been assimilated to a Template:Lang before it occurred in the context for being lost. Other case endings are suffixed to the strong grade/vowel stem.
-e nouns case Template:Lang 'room' Template:Lang 'device' partitive Template:Abbr Template:Lang
'two rooms'Template:Lang
'two devices'
More of this phenomenon is discussed in Finnish Phonology: Sandhi.
Adjectives
[edit]Adjectives in Finnish are inflected in exactly the same way as nouns, and an adjective must agree in number and case with the noun it is modifying.
For example, here are some adjectives:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'big' Template:Lang 'small' Template:Lang 'red'
And here are some examples of adjectives inflected to agree with nouns:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'in front of the big house' Template:Lang 'two small houses' Template:Lang 'in the red house'
Notice that the adjectives undergo the same sorts of stem changes when they are inflected as nouns do.
Comparative formation
[edit]The comparative of the adjective is formed by adding Template:Lang to the inflecting stem. For example:
Finnish English Finnish English Template:Lang 'big' Template:Lang 'bigger' Template:Lang 'small' Template:Lang 'smaller' Template:Lang 'red' Template:Lang 'redder'
Since the comparative adjective is still an adjective, it must be inflected to agree with the noun it modifies. To make the inflecting stem of the comparative, the Template:Lang ending loses its final i. If the syllable context calls for a weak consonant, the Template:Lang becomes Template:Lang. Then Template:Lang is added before the actual case ending (or Template:Lang in plural). This should become clear with a few examples:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'in front of the bigger house' Template:Lang 'two smaller houses' Template:Lang 'in the redder house' Template:Lang 'in the redder houses'
Superlative formation
[edit]The superlative of the adjective is formed by adding Template:Lang to the inflecting stem. For example:
Superlative formation Finnish English Finnish English Template:Lang 'big' Template:Lang 'biggest' Template:Lang 'red' Template:Lang 'reddest'
Note that because the superlative marker vowel is Template:Lang, the same kind of changes can occur with vowel stems as happen in verb imperfects, and noun inflecting plurals:
Finnish English Finnish English Template:Lang 'small' Template:Lang (not *Template:Lang) 'smallest'
Since the superlative adjective is still an adjective, it must be inflected to agree with the noun it modifies. The Template:Lang becomes either Template:Lang or Template:Lang (plural Template:Lang or Template:Lang) depending on whether the syllable context calls for a weak or strong consonant. Here are the examples:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'in front of the biggest house' Template:Lang 'the two smallest houses' Template:Lang 'in the reddest house' Template:Lang 'in the reddest houses'
Irregular forms
[edit]The most important irregular form is:
Main irregular form Finnish English Template:Lang 'good, better, best'
The form Template:Lang "good" is not found in standard Finnish, but can be found in the Southern Ostrobothnian dialect.
Notice also:
More irregular forms Finnish Hypothetic regular English Template:Lang Template:Lang 'long, longer, longest' Template:Lang Template:Lang 'short, shorter, shortest'
(although the standard forms are also used)
There are a small number of other irregular comparative and superlative forms, such as:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'new, newer, newest'
Where the inflecting stem is Template:Lang but the superlative is Template:Lang = 'newest'.
Adpositions
[edit]Postpositions are more common in Finnish than prepositions. Both postpositions and prepositions can be combined with either a noun or a possessive suffix to form a postpositional phrase.
Postpositions
[edit]Postpositions indicate place, time, cause, consequence or relation. In postpositional phrases the noun is usually in genitive:
Postpositions Finnish English Template:Lang 'under the table' Template:Lang 'after Christmas' Template:Lang 'for the sake of the children' Template:Lang 'on behalf of somebody'
The noun (or pronoun) can be omitted when there is a possessive suffix:
Finnish English Template:Lang '(I) am next to (you)' or
'(I) am by (your) side'
As with verbs, the pronoun cannot be omitted in the third person (singular or plural):
- Template:Lang "I was with you"
- but Template:Lang "I was with him/her"
- Template:Lang "I will come with you (plural or polite)"
- but Template:Lang "I will come with them"
Prepositions
[edit]There are few important prepositions in Finnish. In prepositional phrases the noun is always in the partitive:
Prepositions Finnish English Template:Lang before Christmas Template:Lang without you
Some postpositions can also be used as prepositions:
Postpositions as prepositions Postposition Preposition English Template:Lang Template:Lang in the middle of the village
Using postpositions as prepositions is not strictly incorrect and occurs in poetry, as in, for example, the song "Template:Lang" "under a maple tree", instead the usual Template:Lang.
Verbs
[edit]Template:Main Template:Wiktionary Finnish verbs are usually divided into seven groups depending on the stem type. All seven types have the same set of endings, but the stems undergo (slightly) different changes when inflected.
There are very few irregular verbs in Finnish. In fact, only Template:Lang = 'to be' has two irregular forms Template:Lang "is" and Template:Lang "are (Template:Abbr)"; other forms follow from the stem Template:Lang; e.g. Template:Lang ← Template:Lang "you are", Template:Lang ← Template:Lang "let it be". A handful of verbs, including Template:Lang "to see", Template:Lang "to do/make", and Template:Lang "to run" have rare consonant mutation patterns which are not derivable from the infinitive. In spoken Finnish, some frequently used verbs (Template:Lang) have irregular stems (Template:Lang, instead of Template:Lang ("go, come, be, put"), respectively).
Finnish does not have a separate verb for possession (compare English "to have"). Possession is indicated in other ways, mainly by genitives and existential clauses. For animate possessors, the adessive case is used with Template:Lang, for example Template:Lang = 'the dog has a tail' – literally 'on the dog is a tail', or in English grammar, "There is a tail on the dog". This is similar to Irish and Welsh forms such as "There is a hunger on me".
Tense-aspect forms
[edit]Finnish verbs have present, imperfect, perfect and pluperfect tense-aspect forms.
- Present (nonpast): corresponds to English present and future tense forms. For the latter, a time qualifier may need to be used to avoid ambiguity. The present is formed with using the personal suffixes only. For example, Template:Lang "I take" (from Template:Lang, "to take").
- Imperfect: actually a preterite, but called "imperfect" for historical reasons; corresponds to English past continuous and past simple, indicating a past action which is complete but might have been a point event, a temporally extended event, or a repeated event. The imperfect is formed with the suffix Template:Lang in addition to the personal suffixes, e.g. Template:Lang "I took".
- Perfect: corresponds to the English present perfect ("I have eaten") in most of its usages, but can carry more sense than in English of a past action with present effects. The form uses the verb Template:Lang "to be" in the present tense as an auxiliary verb. Personal suffixes are added to the auxiliary, while the main verb is in the Template:Lang participle form. For example, Template:Lang "I have taken", where Template:Lang is the auxiliary verb stem, Template:Lang is the personal suffix for "I", Template:Lang is the stem for the main verb, and Template:Lang is the participle marker.
- Pluperfect: corresponds to the English past perfect ("I had visited") in its usage. Similarly to perfect, the verb Template:Lang is used in the past tense as an auxiliary verb. For example, Template:Lang "I had taken".
As stated above, Finnish has no grammatical future tense. To indicate futurity, a Finnish speaker may use forms that are, by some, deprecated as ungrammatical. One is the use of the verb Template:Lang, 'to come', as it were as an auxiliary: Template:Lang 'This is going to be a problem', cf Swedish Template:Lang. Another, less common and now archaic, is to use the verb Template:Lang, 'to be', with the present passive participle of the main verb: Template:Lang 'For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord' (Luke 1:15).
Voices
[edit]Finnish has two possible verb voices: active and passive. The active voice corresponds with the active voice of English, but the Finnish passive voice has some important differences from the English passive voice.
Passive voice
[edit]The so-called Finnish passive is impersonal and unipersonal, that is, it only appears in one form regardless of who is implicitly understood to be the performer of the action. In that respect, it could be described as a "fourth person" since there is no way of connecting the action performed with a particular agent (except for some nonstandard forms; see below). It is called "passive" for historical reasons in imitation of Swedish and Latin grammars, but this term is in fact incorrect because the object of an active sentence remains an object in the equivalent Finnish "passive" sentence, in other words, the Finnish "passive" sentence is in fact active. In languages with true passives, an active sentence's object becomes the subject in the equivalent passive sentence. Active: Template:Lang "we will arrest him" => passive: Template:Lang "he will be arrested".
Consider the example: Template:Lang "the house will be painted". The time when the house is being painted could be added: Template:Lang "the house will be painted in November". The colour and method could be added: Template:Lang "the house will be painted red with a brush". But nothing can be said about the person who will do the painting; there is no simple way to say "the house will be painted by Jim". There is a calque, evidently from Swedish, Template:Lang "by the action of", that can be used to introduce the agent: Template:Lang, approximately "The house will be painted by the action of Jim". This type of expression is considered prescriptively incorrect, but it may be found wherever direct translations from Swedish, English, etc. are made, especially in legal texts, and has traditionally been a typical feature of Finnish "officialese".Template:Citation needed An alternative form, passive + ablative, also a calque from Swedish, was once common but is now archaic.
Notice also that the object is in the form of the accusative that has the same form as the nominative case (which is true of all words except for the personal pronouns). Verbs which govern the partitive case continue to do so in the passive, and where the object of the action is a personal pronoun in the accusative, that goes into its special accusative form: Template:Lang "I/you/(s)he/we/you/they was/were forgotten". Whether the object of a passive verb should be termed the subject of the clause has been debated, but traditionally Finnish grammars have considered a passive clause to have no subject.
Use of the passive voice is not as common in Finnish as in Germanic languages; sentences in the active voice are preferred, if possible. Confusion may result, as the agent is lost and becomes ambiguous. For instance, a bad translation of the English "the PIN code is asked for by the device when..." into Template:Lang raises the question "who asks?", whereas Template:Lang ("the device asks for the PIN code when...") is unambiguous. Nevertheless, this usage of the passive is common in Finnish, particularly in literary and official contexts. Occasionally this leads to extreme cases such as Template:Lang "it is wanted that the municipal board be dismissed", implying that a popular uprising could be near, when this suggestion could also be made by a political group in the town council consisting of only a few or theoretically (very unlikely because misleading) even a single person.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
It can also be said that in the Finnish passive the agent is always human and never mentioned. A sentence such as 'the tree was blown down' would translate poorly into Finnish if the passive were used, since it would suggest the image of a group of people trying to blow the tree down.
Colloquially, the first-person plural indicative and imperative are replaced by the passive, e.g. Template:Lang ("we'll go to our place") and Template:Lang ("let us go to our place") are replaced by Template:Lang (see spoken Finnish).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Because of its vagueness about who is performing the action, the passive can also translate the English "one does (something)", "(something) is generally done", as in Template:Lang "they say that..."
Formation of the passive is dealt with in the article on Finnish verb conjugation.
As first-person plural
[edit]In modern colloquial Finnish, the passive form of the verb is used instead of the active first-person plural in the indicative and the imperative, to the almost complete exclusion of the standard verb forms. For example, in the indicative, the standard form is Template:Lang 'we are going', but the colloquial form is Template:Lang. Without the personal pronoun Template:Lang, the passive alone replaces the first-person plural imperative, as in Template:Lang 'Let's go!'. In colloquial speech, the pronoun Template:Lang cannot be omitted without confusion, unlike when using the standard forms Template:Lang (indicative) and Template:Lang (imperative).
Zero person
[edit]The so-called "zero person" is a construct in which a verb appears in the third-person singular with no subject, and the identity of the subject must be understood from the context. Typically the implied subject is either the speaker or their interlocutor, or the statement is intended in a general sense. The zero person has some similarity to the English use of the formal subject Template:Lang.
- Template:Lang "In the sauna, one sweats"
- Template:Lang "If you arrive in good time, you get a better seat"
Indicative
[edit]The indicative is the form of the verb used for making statements or asking simple questions. In the verb morphology sections, the mood referred to will be the indicative unless otherwise stated.
Conditional
[edit]The conditional mood expresses the idea that the action or state expressed by the verb may or may not actually happen. As in English, the Finnish conditional is used in conditional sentences (for example "I would tell you if I knew") and in polite requests (for example "I would like some coffee").
In the former case, and unlike in English, the conditional must be used in both halves of the Finnish sentence:
- Template:Lang = *"I would understand if you would speak more slowly".
The characteristic morphology of the Finnish conditional is 'isi' inserted between the verb stem and the personal ending. This can result in a closed syllable becoming open and so trigger consonant gradation:
- Template:Lang = 'I know', Template:Lang = 'I would know'.
- Template:Lang = 'I want', Template:Lang = 'I would like'.
Conditional forms exist for both active and passive voices, and for present tense and perfect.
The conditional can be used for added politeness when offering, requesting, or pleading: Template:Lang 'Would you like some coffee?'; Template:Lang 'May I have that red one?'; Template:Lang 'I do wish you would tell me'.
Imperative
[edit]The imperative mood is used to express commands. In Finnish, there is only one tense form (the present-future). The possible variants of Finnish imperatives are:
- 1st, 2nd or 3rd person
- singular or plural
- active or passive
- positive or negative
Active, 2nd-person imperatives
[edit]These are the most common forms of the imperative: "Do this", "Don't do that".
The singular imperative is simply the verb's present tense without any personal ending (that is, remove the Template:Lang from the first-person-singular form):
Active, 2nd-person imperatives Finnish English Template:Lang 'come!' Template:Lang 'eat!' Template:Lang 'note!'
To make this negative, Template:Lang (which is the active imperative singular 2nd person of the negative verb) is placed before the positive form:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'don't say!' Template:Lang 'don't go!' Template:Lang 'don't lie!'
(from Template:Lang "to lie", type II)
To form the plural, add Template:Lang or Template:Lang to the verb's stem:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'come!' Template:Lang 'drink!' Template:Lang 'measure!'
(from Template:Lang "to measure", type IV)
To make this negative, Template:Lang (which is the active imperative present plural 2nd person of the negative verb) is placed before the positive form and the suffix Template:Lang or Template:Lang is added to the verb stem:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'don't say!' Template:Lang 'don't go!' Template:Lang 'don't offer!'
Note that 2nd-person-plural imperatives can also be used as polite imperatives when referring to one person.
The Finnish language has no simple equivalent to the English "please". The Finnish equivalent is to use either Template:Lang or Template:Lang = 'be good', but it is generally omitted. Politeness is normally conveyed by tone of voice, facial expression, and use of conditional verbs and partitive nouns. For example, Template:Lang means "could you", in the polite plural, and is used much like English "Could you..." sentences: Template:Lang "could you help me, please?"
Also, familiar (and not necessarily so polite) expressions can be added to imperatives, e.g. Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang. These are hard to translate exactly, but extensively used by Finnish speakers themselves. Template:Lang implies expectation, that is, it has been settled already and requires no discussion; Template:Lang has the Template:Lang which indicates insistence, and Template:Lang means approximated "indeed".
Passive imperatives
[edit]Passive imperatives Finnish English Template:Lang let (something) be done Template:Lang let (something) not be done Template:Lang let (something) have been done Template:Lang let (something) not have been done
3rd-person imperatives
[edit]The 3rd-person imperatives behave as if they were jussive; besides being used for commands, they can also be used to express permission. In colloquial language, they are most often used to express disregard to what one might or might not do, and the singular and plural forms are often confused.
3rd-person imperatives Finnish English Template:Lang 'let it (him, her) be' Template:Lang 'let them do' Template:Lang 'let him not forget', 'he'd better not forget' Template:Lang 'let them not forget'
1st-person-plural imperatives
[edit]1st-person-plural imperatives Finnish English Template:Lang 'let's go' Template:Lang 'let us not do', 'we better not do'
The 1st-person imperative sounds archaic, and a form resembling the passive indicative is often used instead: Template:Lang = 'let's go!'
Optative
[edit]The optative mood is an archaic or poetic variant of the imperative mood that expresses hopes or wishes. It is not used in normal language. Although it in principle has all forms, it is encountered mainly in the 2nd person singular forms -:os/-:ös (replacement of /k/ with the gemination of the previous consonant).
Optative Finnish English Template:Lang if only/that/would you were Template:Lang may you be greeted Template:Lang may you run Template:Lang may you use
Optatives are rare even in original archaic poems, and the forms used to express the optative are different from standard Finnish. An example of a true optative is ruvetkommas tappelohon "let's go and start fighting". However, when compiling the Kalevala, Elias Lönnrot tripled the number of optatives, by changing these dialectal forms in the original poems to the standard optative.<ref>https://journal.fi/virittaja/article/download/36182/31643/91848</ref>
Potential
[edit]The potential mood is used to express that the action or state expressed by the verb is possible but not certain. It is relatively rare in modern Finnish, especially in speech. Most commonly it is used in news reports and in official written proposals in meetings. It has only the present tense and perfect. The potential has no specific counterpart in English, but can be translated by adding "possibly" (or occasionally "probably") to the verb.
The characteristic morphology of the Finnish potential is Template:Lang, inserted between the verb stem and the personal ending. Before this affix, continuants assimilate progressively (Template:Lang → Template:Lang) and stops regressively (Template:Lang → Template:Lang). The verb Template:Lang 'to be' in the potential has the special suppletive form Template:Lang, e.g. the potential of Template:Lang 'has been fetched' is Template:Lang 'may have been fetched'.
Potential forms exists for both active and passive voices, and for present tense and perfect:
Potential Finnish English Template:Lang I may be/it's possible that I am Template:Lang she may wash/she is [likely] to wash Template:Lang she may fix/she is [likely] to fix Template:Lang it is possible that they are mourning/will mourn Template:Lang it will probably be washed (by someone) Template:Lang you may have seen Template:Lang possibly may not have been given (by someone)
In some dialects Template:Lang ('may come') is an indicative form verb (Template:Lang 'comes'). This is not a potential form, but rather due to secondary gemination.
Eventive
[edit]No longer used in modern Finnish, the eventive mood is used in the Kalevala. It is a combination of the potential and the conditional. It is also used in some dialects of Estonian.
Eventive Finnish English Template:Lang 'I probably would walk'
Infinitives
[edit]Finnish verbs are described as having four, sometimes five infinitives:
First infinitive
[edit]The first infinitive short form of a verb is the citation form found in dictionaries. It is not unmarked; its overt marking is always the suffix Template:Lang or Template:Lang, though sometimes there are modifications (which may be regarded as stem or ending modifications depending on personal preference).
Verb stem Finnish infinitive English infinitive Template:Lang Template:Lang to say Template:Lang Template:Lang to know Template:Lang Template:Lang to read
When the stem is itself a single syllable or is of two or more syllables ending in Template:Lang or Template:Lang, the suffix is Template:Lang or Template:Lang, respectively. (This represents the historically older form of the suffix, from which the Template:Lang has been lost in most environments.)
Verb stem Finnish infinitive English infinitive Template:Lang Template:Lang to bring Template:Lang Template:Lang to stay Template:Lang Template:Lang to vacuum Template:Lang Template:Lang to hesitate
If the stem ends in one of the consonants Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, then the final consonant is doubled before adding the infinitive Template:Lang or Template:Lang. In the case of a stem ending in the consonant Template:Lang, the infinitive ending gains the consonant Template:Lang, becoming Template:Lang or Template:Lang. (These consonant stems take a linking vowel Template:Lang when forming the present tense, or Template:Lang when forming the imperfect, e.g. Template:Lang 'to wash': Template:Lang 'I wash' : Template:Lang 'I washed'). Stems ending in Template:Lang, followed by a link vowel in the present or imperfect, drop the Template:Lang from the stem before adding the infinitive marker Template:Lang or Template:Lang.
Verb stem Finnish infinitive English infinitive Template:Lang Template:Lang to go Template:Lang Template:Lang to be Template:Lang Template:Lang to bite Template:Lang Template:Lang to wash Template:Lang Template:Lang to mention
Some verbs have so called "alternating stems" or multiple stems with weak-strong consonant gradation between them. It depends on the verb if the infinitive is in the strong or weak form. These have long vowel stems in the present/future tense, which already ends with Template:Lang or Template:Lang. These verbs drop the Template:Lang which is present in the present tense stem and replace it with Template:Lang in the first infinitive stem followed by the standard Template:Lang or Template:Lang first infinitive marker. The Template:Lang dropping to Template:Lang weakens a preceding Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang so that a weak grade is seen in the first infinitive form. This often creates difficulties for the non-Finn when trying to determine the infinitive (in order to access the translation in a dictionary) when encountering an inflected form. Inflected forms are generally strong except when the stem ending contains a double consonant and there is only a single vowel separating this from the last stem Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang.
Inflected Finnish English Finnish infinitive English infinitive Note Template:Lang I am falling Template:Lang to fall down Template:Lang strong grade Template:Lang I fell down Template:Lang to fall down Template:Lang strong grade Template:Lang I have fallen down Template:Lang to fall down Template:Lang weak grade (Template:Lang forces weak grade) Template:Lang they'll assemble Template:Lang to assemble Template:Lang strong grade Template:Lang we'll assemble Template:Lang to assemble Template:Lang strong grade (Template:Lang does not cause weakness because Template:Lang is not a diphthong)
Some verbs lose elements of their stems when forming the first infinitive. Some verbs stem have contracted endings in the first infinitive. Stems ending Template:Lang/Template:Lang in the present/imperfect drop the Template:Lang and replace it with Template:Lang, and where applicable, trigger the weak grade in the infinitive stem. The contracted infinitive ending Template:Lang/Template:Lang have Template:Lang/Template:Lang verbs take the infinitive stem Template:Lang/Template:Lang. These contracted verbs may also be subject to consonant weakening when forming the infinitive
e.g. Template:Lang 'to mention' has the longer conjugated stem Template:Lang as in Template:Lang 'I'll mention tomorrow that...'
e.g. Template:Lang 'to flee' has the longer conjugated stem Template:Lang as in Template:Lang 'we fled from Afghanistan'
The first infinitive long form is the translative plus a possessive suffix (rare in spoken language).
Finnish English Template:Lang '...(s/he) phoned in order to say...' Template:Lang (idiomatic) 'as far as we know' Template:Lang 'in order for me to be able to read'
The first infinitive only has an active form.
Second infinitive
[edit]The second infinitive is used to express aspects of actions relating to the time when an action takes place or the manner in which an action happens. In equivalent English phrases these time aspects can often be expressed using "when", "while" or "whilst" and the manner aspects using the word "by" or else the gerund, which is formed by adding "-ing" to English verb to express manner.
It is recognizable by the letter Template:Lang in place of the usual Template:Lang or Template:Lang as the infinitive marker. It is only ever used with one of two case makers; the inessive Template:Lang indicating time or the instructive Template:Lang indicating manner. Finnish phrases using the second infinitive can often be rendered in English using the gerund.
The second infinitive is formed by replacing the final Template:Lang of the first infinitive with Template:Lang then adding the appropriate inflectional ending. If the vowel before the Template:Lang is already an Template:Lang, this becomes Template:Lang (see example from Template:Lang 'to read').
The cases in which the second infinitive can appear are:
Second infinitive Finnish English Active inessive (while someone is in the act of) Template:Lang 'when doing' Template:Lang 'when saying' Active inessive + possessive suffix (while themselves in the act of) Template:Lang 'while he is/was reading' Template:Lang 'while you are/were saying' Passive inessive (when or while in the act of something being done) Template:Lang 'when saying' Template:Lang 'when doing' Template:Lang 'when reading' Active instructive (by means of/while in the act of) Template:Lang 'by doing' Template:Lang 'by saying' Template:Lang 'by reading' Template:Lang 'she came into the room crying'
The inessive form is mostly seen in written forms of language because spoken forms usually express the same idea in longer form using two clauses linked by the word Template:Lang ("when"). The instructive is even rarer and mostly exists nowadays in set phrases (for example Template:Lang = 'in other words').
If the person performing the action of the verb is the same as the person in the equivalent relative clause, then the verb uses the appropriate personal possessive suffix on the verb for the person. If the person in the main clause is different from that in the relative clause then this is indicated by with the person in the genitive and the verb is unmarked for person.
Second infinitive inessive Equivalent Template:Lang phrase English translation Template:Lang Template:Lang when I was in England, I went into many pubs Template:Lang Template:Lang when they were in England, they went into many pubs Template:Lang Template:Lang when Jaakko was in England, Laura went to Spain
Third infinitive
[edit]This corresponds to the English gerund ("verb + -ing" form), and behaves as a noun in Finnish in that it can be inflected, but only in a limited number of cases. It is used to refer to a particular act or occasion of the verb's action.
The third infinitive is formed by taking the verb stem with its consonant in the strong form, then adding Template:Lang followed by the case inflection.
The cases in which the third infinitive can appear are:
Case Finnish English inessive Template:Lang '(in the act of) reading' Example: Template:Lang 's/he's reading in the library' elative Template:Lang '(from just having been) reading' illative Template:Lang '(about to be / with the intention of) reading' adessive Template:Lang '(by) reading' abessive Template:Lang '(without) reading'
A rare and archaic form of the third infinitive which occurs with the verb Template:Lang:
Case Finnish English instructive Template:Lang 'you must not read'
The third infinitive instructive is usually replaced with the first infinitive short form in modern Finnish.
Note that the Template:Lang form without a case ending is called the 'agent participle' (see #Participles below). The agent participle can also be inflected in all cases, producing forms which look similar to the third infinitive.
Fourth infinitive
[edit]The fourth infinitive has the stem ending Template:Lang and indicates obligation, but it is quite rare in Finnish today. This is because there are other words like Template:Lang and Template:Lang that can convey this meaning.
For example
Fourth Infinitive Finnish English Template:Lang 'There is no going there' i.e. 'One must not go there'
Though not an infinitive, a much more common Template:Lang verbal stem ending is the noun construct which gives the name of the activity described by the verb. This is rather similar to the English verbal noun '-ing' form, and therefore as a noun, this form can inflect just like any other noun.
Template:Lang noun formation Finnish English Template:Lang 'reading is fun' Template:Lang 'I hate reading' Template:Lang 'I enjoy reading'
Fifth infinitive
[edit]This is a fairly rare form which has the meaning 'on the point of ...ing / just about to ...'
Fifth infinitive Finnish English Template:Lang 'I was just about to read'
Verb conjugation
[edit]For full details of how verbs are conjugated in Finnish, please refer to the Finnish verb conjugation article.
Participles
[edit]Finnish verbs have past and present participles, both with passive and active forms, and an 'agent' participle. Participles can be used in different ways than ordinary adjectives and they can have an object.
Past passive participle
[edit]This is formed in the same way as the passive perfect or passive past-perfect forms, by taking the passive past form, removing the Template:Lang ending and replacing it with Template:Lang (depending on vowel harmony)
Finnish English Template:Lang 'after you went home'
[[[:Template:Abbr]] II participle Template:Abbr Template:Abbr + Template:Abbr suffix]
Past active participle
[edit]Basically this is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding Template:Lang (depending on vowel harmony) and in some cases Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang. For example:
1st infinitive active past participle Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang
However, depending on the verb's stem type, assimilation can occur with the consonant of the stem ending.
In type II verbs, and Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang in the stem ending is assimilated to the consonant in the participle ending (as also happens in formation of the first infinitive, although Template:Lang stem endings take an extra Template:Lang in the first infinitive)
1st Infinitive Stem Active past participle Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang
The assimilation causes the final consonant cluster to be strengthened which in turn can weaken a strong cluster if one exists in the stem. See Template:Lang above.
In verbs of types IV, V and VI, the Template:Lang at the end of the stem is assimilated to the Template:Lang:
1st infinitive Stem Active past participle Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang Template:Lang (Template:Lang) Template:Lang
Present passive participle
[edit]The present passive participle can be constructed from the past passive form of the verb. The Template:Lang ending of the past passive is replaced with Template:Lang, which can be inflected in the same way as the present active participle. For example:
Infinitive Past passive Passive participle English Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang which is to be given Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang which is to be eaten Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang which is to be told
It is possible to translate this participle in several related ways e.g. Template:Lang 'which must be/is to be said', 'which can be said', 'which will be said' or 'which is said'. Here are some sentences and phrases further illustrating the formation and use of the present passive participle:
Finnish English Template:Lang Drinkable water Template:Lang Do you have anything to say? Template:Lang Is there anything to eat on the table? Or even, Is there anything edible on the table?
This participle can also be used in other ways. If used with the appropriate third-person singular form of the verb Template:Lang and with the subject in the genitive it can express necessity or obligation.
- Template:Lang 'I must leave'
- Template:Lang 'They would have to go'
Inflected in the inessive plural, it can be used in conjunction with the verb 'to be' to indicate that something can or cannot be done.
- Template:Lang 'Is Pekka available?'/'Is Pekka able to be met with?'
Present active participle
[edit]This participle is formed simply by finding the 3rd person plural form of the verb and removing -t, and acts as an adjective describing what the object or subject of the sentence is doing, for example:
Present active participle Finnish English Template:Lang 'sleeping dog' Template:Lang 'blinding light' Template:Lang 'I pretended to be reading'
[[[:Template:Abbr]] I participle Template:Abbr essive + Template:Abbr suffix]
Agent participle
[edit]The agent participle is formed in a similar way as the third infinitive (see above), adding -ma or -mä to the verb stem. It allows the property of being a target of an action to be formatted as an adjective-like attribute. Like adjectives, it can be inflected in all cases. For example, Template:Lang "a man-made formation". The party performing the action is indicated by the use of genitive, or by a possessive suffix. This is reflected in English, too: Template:Lang – "of man's making", or Template:Lang "book of my writing". For example:
Agent participle Finnish English Template:Lang the book read by the girl Template:Lang (partitive) the book read by the girl Template:Lang in the book read by the girl etc.
It is not required for the action to be in the past, although the examples above are. Rather, the construction simply specifies the subject, the object and the action, with no reference to time. For an example in the future, consider: Template:Lang "tomorrow, as the instrument you will be using is...". Here, Template:Lang "that which is used" describes, i.e. is an attribute to Template:Lang "instrument". (Notice the case agreement between Template:Lang and Template:Lang.) The suffix Template:Lang "your" specifies the person "owning" the action, i.e. who does it, thus Template:Lang is "that which was used by you(Template:Abbr)", and Template:Lang is "as that which was used by you".
It is also possible to give the actor with a pronoun, e.g. Template:Lang "that which was used by you". In standard language, the pronoun Template:Lang "your" is not necessary, but the possessive suffix is. In inexact spoken usage, this goes vice versa; the possessive suffix is optional, and used typically only for the second-person singular, e.g. Template:Lang.
Negation of verbs
[edit]Present indicative
[edit]Verbs are negated by using a negative verb in front of the stem from the present tense (in its 'weak' consonant form). This verb form used with the negative verb is called a connegative.
Present indicative Finnish English Finnish English Singular Template:Lang 'I know' → Template:Lang 'I don't know' Template:Lang 'you know' → Template:Lang 'you don't know' Template:Lang '(s)he knows' → Template:Lang '(s)he doesn't know' Plural Template:Lang 'we know' → Template:Lang 'we don't know' Template:Lang 'you know' → Template:Lang 'you don't know' Template:Lang 'they know' → Template:Lang 'they don't know'
Note that the inflection is on the negative verb, not on the main verb, and that the endings are regular apart from the 3rd-person forms.
Present passive
[edit]The negative is formed from the third-person singular "negative verb" Template:Lang and the present passive with the final Template:Lang removed:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'it is not spoken' Template:Lang 'it is not known'
Imperfect indicative
[edit]The negative is formed from the appropriate part of the negative verb followed by the nominative form (either singular or plural depending on the number of the verb's subject) of the active past participle. So for Template:Lang the pattern is:
Imperfect indicative Finnish English Singular Template:Lang 'I did not speak' Template:Lang 'you did not speak' Template:Lang '(s/he) did not speak' Plural Template:Lang 'we did not speak' Template:Lang 'you did not speak' Template:Lang 'they did not speak'
Note one exception: when the 'te' 2nd-person plural form is used in an honorific way to address one person, the singular form of the participle is used: Template:Lang = 'you (Template:Abbr polite) did not speak'.
Imperfect passive
[edit]The negative is formed from the third-person singular negative verb – 'ei' – and the nominative singular form of the passive present participle (compare this with the negative of the imperfect indicative):
Imperfect passive Finnish English Template:Lang 'it was not spoken' Template:Lang 'it was not known'
Note that in the spoken language, this form is used for the first-person plural. In this case, the personal pronoun is obligatory:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'we did not go'
Adverbs
[edit]A very common way of forming adverbs is by adding the ending Template:Lang to the inflecting form of the corresponding adjective:
Adverbs Finnish English Template:Lang 'quick, quickly' Template:Lang 'beautiful, beautifully' Template:Lang 'slow, slowly' Template:Lang 'easy, easily'
Adverbs modify verbs, not nouns, therefore they do not inflect. Template:Lang adverbs are not used to modify adjectives (such as to express degree) like Template:Lang adverbs might be in English; the genitive of adjectives is used for this purpose.
Comparative formation
[edit]The comparative form of the adverb has the ending Template:Lang.
Comparative formation Finnish English Template:Lang 'quick, quickly, more quickly/faster' Template:Lang 'beautiful, beautifully, more beautifully' Template:Lang 'slow, slowly, more slowly' Template:Lang 'easy, easily, more easily'
Superlative formation
[edit]The superlative form of the adverb has the ending Template:Lang.
Superlative formation Finnish English Template:Lang 'easy, easily, more easily, most easily'
Because of the Template:Lang, the stem vowel can change, similarly to superlative adjectives, or to avoid runs of three vowels:
Finnish English Template:Lang 'quick, quickly, more quickly/faster, fastest' Template:Lang 'beautiful, beautifully, more beautifully, most beautifully' Template:Lang 'slow, slowly, more slowly, most slowly'
Irregular forms
[edit]There are a number of irregular adverbs, including:
Irregular forms Finnish English Template:Lang 'good, well, better, best'
Numbers
[edit]The ordinary counting numbers (cardinals) from 0 to 10 are given in the table below. Cardinal numbers may be inflected and some of the inflected forms are irregular in form.
(*) sometimes Template:Lang (alternative form)
In colloquial spoken Finnish, the numerals usually appear in contracted forms.
To form teens, Template:Lang is added to the base number. Template:Lang is the partitive form of Template:Lang, meaning here "second group of ten". Hyphens are written here to separate morphemes. In Finnish text, hyphens are not written.
- "one of the second, two of the second, ... nine of the second"
- 11, 12, ... 19
In older Finnish, until about the early 20th Century, the same pattern was used up to one hundred: Template:Lang 'thirty-three'.
Sentence structure
[edit]Word order
[edit]Since Finnish is an agglutinative language, word order within sentences can be much freer than, for example, English. In English the strong subject–verb–object order typically indicates the function of a noun as either subject or object although some English structures allow this to be reversed. In Finnish sentences, however, the role of the noun is determined not by word order or sentence structure as in English but by case markings which indicate subject and object.
The most usual neutral order, however, is subject–verb–object. But usually what the speaker or writer is talking about is at the head of the sentence.
Finnish English Note Template:Lang 'the dog bit the man' we are talking of the dog and what it did Template:Lang 'the man was bitten by a/the dog' we are talking about the man and what it was that bit him, e.g. not a snake Template:Lang 'it was a dog that bit the man' we are confirming that it was a/the dog that bit the man, not some other animal
Here Template:Lang ('dog') is in the nominative form but Template:Lang ('man') is marked as object by the case marked form Template:Lang. This sentence is a bald statement of fact. Changing the word order changes the emphasis slightly but not the fundamental meaning of the sentence.
Finnish English Note Template:Lang 'I have money' a bald statement of fact Template:Lang 'money is something I do have' although I may not have something else Template:Lang 'The money is with me' I am telling you where the money is Template:Lang 'I've definitely got (the) money' I am confirming that I do have (the) money Template:Lang 'Yes, I do have (the) money' if having money has been questioned
Template:Lang here is the word Template:Lang (I) in a case form ending Template:Lang which when used with the verb Template:Lang (to be, expressed here in the form Template:Lang) expresses ownership. This is because Finnish does not have a verb form equivalent of the English word 'have'. Template:Lang is not considered the subject.
And finally, a classic example:
Finnish Translation Template:Lang 'I am the state' (matter-of-fact) Template:Lang 'Template:Lang' (French – attributed to Louis XIV)
Besides the word-order implications of turning a sentence into a question, there are some other circumstances where word-order is important:
Existential sentences
[edit]These are sentences which introduce a new subject – they often begin with 'there is' or 'there are' in English.
Finnish English Template:Lang 'there is a bed in the room'
The location of the thing whose existence is being stated comes first, followed by its stative verb, followed by the thing itself. Note how this is unlike the normal English equivalent, though English can also use the same order:
Finnish English Template:Lang '(in/out) there stood a man'
Forming questions
[edit]There are two main ways of forming a question – either using a specific question word, or by adding a Template:Lang suffix to one of the words in a sentence. A question word is placed first in the sentence, and a word with the interrogative suffix is also moved to this position:
Interrogatives (questions) Finnish English Template:Lang 'what is this?' Template:Lang 'this is a book' Template:Lang 'is this a book?' Template:Lang 'is this a book?' Template:Lang 'is this a book?' Template:Lang 'is this not a book?'
(note the Template:Lang goes on the negative verb)
Forming answers
[edit]The response to a question will of course depend on the situation, but grammatically the response to a question typically follows the grammatical structure in the question. Thus a question structured in the inessive case (e.g. Template:Lang 'in which town do you live?') will have an answer that is also in the inessive (e.g. Template:Lang 'in Espoo') unless special rules dictate otherwise. Questions which in English would be answered with 'yes' or 'no' replies are usually responded to by repeating the verb in either the affirmative or negative.
Interrogatives (questions) Finnish English Template:Lang 'which way are they headed?' Template:Lang 'towards Helsinki' Template:Lang 'have you got the key?' Template:Lang/Template:Lang 'yes'/'no' (Template:Abbr 'is'/'is not' in possession) Template:Lang 'are you guys going to the movies?' Template:Lang/Template:Lang 'yes'/'no' (Template:Abbr 'we are going'/'we are not going') Template:Lang 'Are you intending to go off without a hat?' Template:Lang 'Yes' (Template:Abbr 'I intend')
The words Template:Lang and Template:Lang are often shown in dictionaries as being equivalent to 'yes' and 'no', but the situation is a little more complicated than that. The typical response to a question which in English is answered 'yes' or 'no' is, as we see above, more usually answered by repeating the verb in either an affirmative or negative form in the appropriate person. The word 'kyllä' is rather a strong affirmation in response to a question and is similar to the word 'niin' which is an affirmation of a response to a statement of fact or belief. (However, in conversations, Template:Lang may even simply mean that the sentence was heard, not expressing any sort of concurrence. The same problem occurs with the colloquial Template:Lang "yeah".)
Kyllä and Niin Finnish English Template:Lang (question) 'Are you intending to go off without a hat?' Template:Lang 'Yes, I sure am' (Strong affirmation. I really do intend to go bareheaded) Template:Lang (statement) 'it is foolish to go out in wintertime without a hat' Template:Lang 'Yes indeed' (I agree with your statement)
The word Template:Lang is the negative verb form and has to be inflected for person and the verb itself is usually present, though not always.
- Template:Lang 'can you (speak) German?'
- Template:Lang ('no'; Template:Abbr 'I don't')
or better
- Template:Lang ('I can't')