Verbs in the Finnish language can be divided into six main groups depending on the stem type, both for formal analysis and for teaching the language to non-native speakers. All six types have the same set of personal endings, but the stems assume different suffixes and undergo slightly different changes when inflected.
The article on Finnish language grammar has more about verbs and other aspects of Finnish grammar.
Tables of conjugation Tables of conjugation are given here for the regular type I verb, (to speak), as used in the formal, written language. Verb conjugation in everyday spoken language is somewhat different.
Basic tenses in the indicative mood indicative mood active voice present tense imperfect (past) present perfect pluperfect (past perfect) per. no. pron. affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative 1st sg. 2nd 3rd 1st pl. 2nd 3rd passive voice The present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect correspond fairly well to English: 'speaks', 'spoke', 'has spoken', and 'had spoken', in the active voice, or 'it is spoken', 'it was spoken', 'it has been spoken', and 'it had been spoken', in the passive voice. The auxiliary verb used for negation, usually with the naked stem of the main verb but with the past participle in the negative imperfect. Finnish lacks a true future tense so, normally, the present tense is used for future time as well.
Conditional and potential mood conditional mood potential mood active voice present tense perfect present tense perfect per. no. pron. affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative 1st sg. minä puhuisin en puhuisi olisin puhunut en olisi puhunut puhunen en puhune lienen puhunut en liene puhunut 2nd sinä puhuisit et puhuisi olisit puhunut et olisi puhunut puhunet et puhune lienet puhunut et liene puhunut 3rd hän puhuisi ei puhuisi olisi puhunut ei olisi puhunut puhunee ei puhune lienee puhunut ei liene puhunut 1st pl. me puhuisimme emme puhuisi olisimme puhuneet emme olisi puhuneet puhunemme emme puhune lienemme puhuneet emme liene puhuneet 2nd te puhuisitte ette puhuisi olisitte puhuneet ette olisi puhuneet puhunette ette puhune lienette puhuneet ette liene puhuneet 3rd he puhuisivat eivät puhuisi olisivat puhuneet eivät olisi puhuneet puhunevat eivät puhune lienevät puhuneet eivät liene puhuneet passive voice puhuttaisiin ei puhuttaisi olisi puhuttu ei olisi puhuttu puhuttaneen ei puhuttane lienee puhuttu ei liene puhuttu The conditional mood corresponds mostly to 'would' or 'should', or to the past subjunctive, in English, although Finnish lacks a subjunctive mood. The potential mood is rather rare, and corresponds to 'may' or 'might' in English. The perfect forms of these moods are easily understood as 'would have', 'should have', 'might have', etc.
Imperative mood and miscellaneous tenses imperative mood indicative mood active voice present tense perfect present prospective imperfect prospective per. no. pron. affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative affirmative negative 1st sg. minä — — — — olen puhuva en ole puhuva olin puhuva en ollut puhuva 2nd sinä puhu älä puhu ole puhunut älä ole puhunut olet puhuva et ole puhuva olit puhuva et ollut puhuva 3rd hän puhukoon älköön puhuko olkoon puhunut älköön olko puhunut on puhuva ei ole puhuva oli puhuva ei ollut puhuva 1st pl. me puhukaamme älkäämme puhuko olkaamme puhuneet älkäämme olko puhuneet — — — — 2nd te puhukaa älkää puhuko olkaa puhuneet älkää olko puhuneet — — — — 3rd he puhukoot älkööt puhuko olkoot puhuneet älkööt olko puhuneet — — — — passive voice puhuttakoon ei puhuttako—älköön puhuttako olkoon puhuttu älköön olko puhuttu on puhuttava ei ole puhuttava oli puhuttava ei ollut puhuttava
The first and third person imperative forms here correspond to English 'let us speak', 'let him not speak', 'let it not be spoken', etc. The perfect imperative is still valid, if somewhat awkward and contrived, as it is in English: 'let it (not) have been spoken'. The first person plural imperative sounds rather formal and archaic; thus, in everyday speech, the passive present indicative, , is used, but it may not quite be considered correct. There are many variations of the imperative forms: in old writings, one may also see the forms or for the second person plural, for the third person plural, or for the passive. In the passive or third person, the imperative is sometimes used for the present or perfect subjunctive of other languages, a mood lacking in Finnish.
The present prospective and the imperfect prospective correspond best to 'I am to speak' and 'I was to speak' in English. It is not correct Finnish to use these tenses in the plural: the plural form of the present participle, , would be confusing if used in this sense, as it is too similar to the third person plural present indicative. Despite the apparently equivalent use of the present participle, the grammatical aspect of these tenses is prospective rather than continuous or progressive as in English.
Verbs of obligation in the agent construction
Verbs of obligation such as (must), (need to), (ought to), and (shall) are often used in the agent form of construction, in which the verb is not conjugated for person but is in the impersonal third person singular. Here: the person or persons bearing the obligation are regarded as the 'agent' (not the subject) and in the genitive case the verb of obligation is in the impersonal third person singular regardless of the plurality and person of the agent. this is followed by another verb or verb phrase in which the verb is in the short from first infinitive (the dictionary form) and which is then regarded as the sentence's subject.Pirjo Leino: Suomen kielioppi pg 114 Infinitive Subject. Otava 1989
Thus: = they must speak with me = I must speak with them = you don't need to do that = thou shalt not kill Note the archaic use of the instructive case of the third infinitive. A common error, even for native Finns, is to confuse this with the illative case, , which would be incorrect. Now, the first infinitive is used with . = you should come tomorrow.
There is no equivalent of this type of construction in English.
The verb can only be used in this construction and therefore has no other personal forms. The other verbs can carry personal endings in other forms of construction with the normal subject, verb, and object, in which the obligation is less strong or in which the verb takes on a different meaning altogether.
= I need help; expressing need without obligation = I like him/her; verb has a different meaning
Infinitives and participles In Finnish there are five infinitive forms,Savolainen, Erkki. Verkkokielioppi: 2.5.2.2.1 Infinitiivit Finn Lectura 2001 with past and present participles for both active and passive voices.Savolainen, Erkki. Verkkokielioppi: 2.5.2.2.2 Partisiipit Finn Lectura 2001
Infinitive I The first infinitive is the dictionary form of the verb (to speak), stem , and it corresponds in meaning and function to the English infinitive introduced by the particle 'to'. The suffix of the first infinitive depends on the type of the verb stem. With so-called "vowel" stems, (see verbs of Type I, below), the first infinitive suffix is ‑a/‑ä, whereas with "consonantal" stems, (types IV-VI), the suffix is most often ‑ta/‑tä. With vowel stems that consist of a single open syllable ending in a long vowel or a diphthong or longer stems that end in such syllables, (type II), the infinitive suffix is ‑da/‑dä: = 'to get', = 'to eat', = 'to react'. The first infinitive of consonantal stems always has the weak consonant grade in the stem, e.g., (to flee), stem .
It can be used in a sentence similarly to the English infinitive and stand for a subject or a direct object, without any additional inflection. It is also governed by modal verbs like (might) or (be able to): = 'might go'; = 'can fetch'.
It has a so-called "long form", with the ending of the nominal translative case and an obligatory possessive suffix. The long form is usually associated with the literary register. It connotes either extent or intent: = to remember = 'as far as I can remember' (extent), or 'in order that I might remember' (intent), lit. 'for my remembering'. = to see = 'as far as he/she/it/they can see' (extent), 'so that they could see' (intent).
In spoken Finnish, intent is often expressed with the short form infinitive, if the subject is implicit or understood by context, or more explicitly with a subordinate clause containing a conditional verb: . Nevertheless, the long form is still used to signify extent; another example: = 'to know', = 'as far as I know'.
The first infinitive generally takes on no inflected forms. It appears only in the short (dictionary) form and in the long form, and the long form is not used without a possessive suffix.
Infinitive II The second infinitive may be formed from the first infinitive by replacing the final 'a/ä' with an 'e'. It occurs in the instructive and inessive cases. If the second infinitive has a subject, the subject is put in the genitive case; in the inessive case, the second infinitive also accepts a possessive suffix if it is appropriate.
The instructive form conveys manner of action corresponding approximately with '‑ing' or '‑ingly' in English, less commonly with '/' in Swedish and very commonly with '' in French. It is parallel in function and meaning to the Russian adverbial participle (as opposed to the adjectival participle): , 'knowingly' (instructive) = knowing that he would have to speak = = . = thus speaking (instructive).
The inessive form conveys coterminal action: something happening at the same time as something else. More properly, it is seen as some action whose accomplishment simultaneously brings about the accomplishment of something else. It corresponds approximately in English to the use of 'when', 'while', or the somewhat archaic or British 'whilst'; strict coterminality is still expressed in English with 'in' or 'by', the present participle '-ing' and any subject in the possessive case in a manner analogous to the Finnish, like in French with '' and the present participle :
= 'in dying' or 'while dying' = (inessive) = . = the thief struck whilst the victim was eating breakfast
The inessive of this infinitive also has a passive form: = 'in being known', said of some fact.
Infinitive III The third infinitive is formed by adding the ending -ma/mä to the hard grade of the present stem. It is a noun in its own right, denoting "the act" of a verb. It is fully declinable as a noun, but some of the cases have special or commonly understood meanings.
The illative of the third infinitive is a common inchoative, governed by such verbs as and : = he began to preach = you don't go and advise him The elative is used in the sense of forbidding or discouraging an action: = the boys were forbidden from smoking
The adessive is used to tell how the action is done. = the waste was destroyed by burning
Agentive participle In Finnish, the passive participle cannot be used when the agent is expressed. Finnish uses forms ending in -ma/mä that are formally identical to the third infinitive. Some authors include it as one of the uses of the third infinitive; others list it under the special name "agentive participle". The agentive participle is never used when the agent is not expressed, and it must be used in all situations that one wishes to use the passive and express the agent: = the house was painted by Pekka = the house painted by Pekka = the house was painted by you As expected for a participle, it agrees with the head noun; in the following, the ending -mia and (letters) are in the partitive plural: = (some of) the letters written by the boy to his friends last week from Japan = I couldn't type with the finger I burned = when we did it the way you advised, all went well
Infinitive IV