Appendix:Finnish verb phrases

In Finnish verb phrases, the object (in the neutral word order) generally comes after the final inflected verb of the verb phrase and before any adverbials:

antaa jonkun mennä: mennä is not inflected, so the object comes before it.

The adverbial after the verb is shifted to before the verb in participle forms (but not in e.g. perfect forms even though they use the participle forms as part of them) and often also in the action noun:

jättää väliin → väliin jättävä

Action nouns (such as those formed with -minen) will usually change the neutral word order and possibly also word forms:

• An object will generally be placed in front of the verb, and if it is in the accusative or partitive case, be turned into the genitive case:

  ampua tykillä kärpästä → kärpäsen ampuminen tykillä (or kärpäsen tykillä ampuminen)

• If there is no object (or sometimes even when there is), but there is an adverbial, it will also generally be placed in front of the verb too:

  heittää leijonille → leijonille heittäminen

  • One exception to this are similes formed with kuin, which usually stay after the verb (despite the fact that they do move before the verb in participle forms).
• A verb phrase with a fixed subject will generally have it turn into the genitive case too:

  hymy hyytyy → hymyn hyytyminen