Appendix:Finnish verb forms

• Verbs are lemmatized under the first infinitive form, the standard dictionary form for Finnish verbs.
  • First infinitives cause gemination at the end of the word (marked by /ˣ/, usually but not necessarily manifesting as a glottal stop; see Appendix:Finnish pronunciation § Final gemination), but this does not necessarily apply to other forms; it does not, for instance, apply to third-person singular present indicative forms, even if the spelling is identical (as they are for some types of verbs).

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"). A second-person polite form exists as well, although it mostly uses second-person plural forms.

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).

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 of olla 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 past prospective. 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 for ajaa in the first person and indicative mood are olen ajava (“I am to drive”), olin ajava (“I was to drive”).

The verb ei 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 with e- and express denial (you are not), while the imperative forms begin with ä- and express prohibition (don't be!). The indicative forms of ei 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 as kukaan and mikään and adverbs, such as koskaan, ikinä, välttämättä.

There are four verb moods in 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 of ajaa, 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 ajettu "has been driven"	ei ole ajettu1) "has not been driven"
1) The non-standard "double passive" ei olla ajettu (passive voice ei olla + passive past participle ajettu) is common in colloquial speech.

Inflection of ajaa, 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 ajettu "had been driven"	ei ollut ajettu1) "had not been driven"
1) The non-standard "double passive" ei oltu ajettu (passive voice ei olla + passive past participle ajettu) is common in colloquial speech.

Used for actions that are conditional, i.e. that hinge on a condition or prerequirement. Often corresponds to English would: 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 of ajaa, 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 ajettu "would have been driven"	ei olisi ajettu "would not have been driven"

Used to express commands. In the third person and with the passive/impersonal forms, the meaning is rather optative ("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 a hortative ("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 a jussive sense.

Inflection of ajaa, 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 English may, probably, it is possible that etc.

Mostly confined to literary Finnish. Adverbs like kai, luultavasti, ehkä etc. are often used instead: lienee ajanut → on kai ajanut.

Inflection of ajaa, 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 of ajaa, 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 epic Kalevala. 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 and MAINEN infinitive respectively, after their endings.

¹ Always used with a personal/possessive suffix.

² Also used with a possessive suffix with a modal sense ("as one X"), although this use is now quite formal.

Tein sen tieteni. ― I did it knowingly (as I knew).

³ The 'fourth infinitive' is a term for certain special uses of the verbal noun in specific contexts; see the section below.

The most common form for complement verbs (those used with an auxiliary), corresponding roughly to English "to do". It is also the dictionary form. It triggers final gemination.

se pitää tehdä ― it must be done

alan tehdä ― I'll start to do

helppo tehdä ― easy to do

onko oikein tehdä niin? ― is it right to do so?

tiedätkö mitä tehdä? ― do you know what to do?

työtä jota tehdä ― some work to do

The first infinitive is also used in the so-called koloratiivirakenne:

hän vain seistä nökötti pihalla ― he just stood there in the yard

When used with olla (almost always in the past tense), it refers to actions that almost happened, similar to the so-called 'fifth infinitive'. An adverb like vähällä may also be used, and is practically required when olla is in the present tense to talk about an imminent action.

olin tehdä virheen ― I was (about) to make a mistake

The "long" first infinitive, or more properly the translative form of the first infinitive, has the translative suffix ending (-ksi) followed by a possessive suffix, which is required. It generally means "in order to do X", as part of the so called "final construct".

kertoakseni sen minun pitää ensin... ― in order to tell it, I must first...

When used with olla, 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).

tulee kun on tullakseen ― it'll come when it'll come

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 receives possessive 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":

saapuessani kotiin... ― as I was coming home...

miehen saapuessa kotiin... ― as the man was coming home...

The passive inessive form means "as/while X is/was being done":

sitä syötäessä... ― as it is being eaten...

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:

lähdimme ravintolaan kävellen ― we left to the restaurant by walking (on foot) (adessive of the third infinitive would work here)

näin ollen ― this being the case

koira juoksi häntä heiluen ― the dog ran with its tail wagging

tietäen ― knowingly

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 the agent participle and of the -ma noun, if they exist for the verb in question.

Inessive form

The inessive form refers to an ongoing action as a state of being:

olla nukkumassa ― to be (in the process of) sleeping

käydä juomassa ― to visit (a place) to drink

hän on syömässä ravintolassa ― (s)he's eating at a restaurant

Sometimes it is used alone, but this kind of usage is highly associated with newspaper headlines:

hanke suistumassa kaaokseen! ― project about to plunge into chaos!

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:

olin käymässä nukkumaan, kun... ― I was about to go to sleep, when...

kuulin, että olet alkamassa kirjoittaa kirjaa. ― I heard that you are about to start writing a book.

Elative form

The elative form mostly refers to leaving the state in which one is doing something:

palata syömästä ― to come back from eating

lakata satamasta ― to stop raining

but has some special uses too:

kieltää juoksemasta kadulle ― to forbid to run into the street

varo herättämästä häntä ― beware of waking him up

Illative form

The illative form refers to entering the state in which one is doing something:

mennä nukkumaan ― to go to sleep

ruveta puhumaan ― to begin to speak

saada suostumaan ― to get (someone) to agree (to do/be something)

tulla olemaan ― to be going to be / will be

valmis lähtemään ― ready to leave

Adessive form

The adessive form refers to an action as a means of doing something, "by doing X":

jano lähtee juomalla ― the thirst goes away by drinking

hävittää polttamalla ― to dispose of by burning

Abessive form

The abessive form means "without doing X" (when used with olla, 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"):

aiotko lähteä täältä syömättä? ― are you going to leave without eating?

olen ollut jo kuukauden syömättä herkkuja ― I've avoided eating sweets for a month now

olla tekemättä ― to not be done, be left undone

Instructive forms

The instructive forms, which are archaic, are used in commands or prohibitions.

sinun pitää lähtemän ― you must leave

se pitää tehtämän ― it must be done

The term "fourth infinitive" is used in many (particular older) grammars for certain uses of the verbal noun formed with -minen (see below).

The first use is with the verb olla (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:

se on tekeminen ― it must be done

sitä ei ole tekemistä ― it must not be done

This use has been lexicalized in some phrases:

jos sitä on uskominen ― if it is to be believed

sinne ei ole menemistä ― one must not go there

sitä ei käy kieltäminen ― it can't be denied

The second use is with the verb itself to mark an action that is being done continuously/for a long time:

Hän ajoi ajamistaan. ― He drove and drove. / He kept on driving and driving.

Used in the literary language, rare in colloquial Finnish. Always in the adessive case, and always takes a possessive suffix aligning with the person.

Most often used with olla 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.

olin ostamaisillani sen, kun... ― I was about to buy it, when...

It can also be used with olla in the present tense, in which case it has a more general sense of "to be about to X":

olen ostamaisillani sen ― I am about to buy it

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":

heilua putoamaisillaan ― to swing as if one were to fall (down/off)

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 include propinquative and proximative. Arguably it could also be called a "long third infinitive", given that it is etymologically closely related to it.

These are kinds of absolute constructs (lauseenvastike), alongside participle constructs:

• inessive of the second infinitive (+ possible possessive suffix): as X is/was doing... (present "temporal construct")

  saapuessani kotiin... ― as I was coming home...

  pormestarin puhuessa... ― as the mayor was speaking...

  sitä syötäessä... ― as it is being eaten...

• instructive of the active second infinitive: by/while doing... ("modal construct")

  lähdemme ravintolaan kävellen ― we'll leave to the restaurant by walking (on foot)

  Kaisa odotti bussia lukien ― Kaisa was reading while waiting for the bus

• long first infinitive + possessive suffix: in order to do ("final construct")

  lähdimme Lappiin tavataksemme joulupukin ― we went to Lapland (in order) to meet Santa Claus

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 of ajava (present active participle of ajaa)
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 of ajettava (present passive participle of ajaa)
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 of ajanut (past active participle of ajaa)
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 of ajettu (past passive participle of ajaa)
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; see Appendix:Finnish participles § Agent participles.

Inflection of ajama (agent participle of ajaa)
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 of ajamaton (negative participle of ajaa)
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 or action 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 verb ajaa has the regular action noun ajaminen, as well as ajo (with the suffix -o). They are used somewhat differently (see the corresponding entries).