Lessons on Finnish Grammar
in English
Vuokko Heikura
Books
Lessons on Finnish Grammar in English Vuokko Heikon

Lessons on Finnish Grammar
in English

Vuokko Heikura
Lessons on Finnish Grammar
in English
"Oppitunteja suomen kieliopista englanniksi"
Books

Lessons on Finnish Grammar in English
6th impr. edition 2013
Author: Vuokko Heikura
Publisher: VEA Books, Helsinki
© 2013 Vuokko Heikura
All rights to text, photos and tables reserved by the author. No part
of this publication may be reproduced in any way, or translated in
whole or in part without written permission of the author, except for
brief excerpts for one's own use when learning or teaching Finnish.
ISBN 978-952-67875-1-0 (sid.), hard covered
Hansaprint Oy, Vantaa 2013

5
CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11
INTRODUCTION 12
1. For the Reader 12
2. For Finnish Teachers 15
3. Abbreviations and symbols in this book 16
4. Short index of the main Chapters of Lessons 17
Illustration: Index of the photos in this book 18
I 	WRITING AND READING 19
1. ALPHABET AND WORDS 19
1.1 One sound, one letter 19
1.2 Vowels 21
1.3 Diphthongs 23
1.4 Vowel harmony 25
1.5 Consonants 26
1.6 A consonant sound, not shown in writing 30
1.7 Syllables 33
1.8 Shortening and prolonging habits in speech 34
2. MORE ABOUT THE HABITS IN SPEECH 37
2.1 The normal word order and place of stress 37
2.2 How do you spell your name to a Finn? 38
2.3 Useful words for your pronouncing exercises 40
II INFLECTING NOUNS 43
1. GENERAL REMARKS 43
1.1 No articles, no gender 43
1.2 We use case endings rather than prepositions 43

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1.3 We use postpositions rather than prepositions 45
1.4 We add suffixes onto each other 46
2. GRADATION 47
2.1 Gradation, concerning both nouns and verbs 47
2.2 The principal parts will show if it is a word that
obeys a gradation 48
2.3 About stems for nouns 49
2.4 The types of gradation, strong and week 50
2.5 The types of syllables, open or closed 52
2.6 Vowel changes, at the beginning and at the end 54
3. THE FINNISH CASES CASE BY CASE 55
3.1 The number of Finnish cases 55
3.2 The purpose of the pattern tables 58
3.3 Talo ("'house') inflected in cases 60
3.4 Two model phrases inflected in cases 60
3.5 There are several types of nouns that end in "-i" 64
3.6 Inflection of nouns ending in a consonant 65
4. PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE SUFFIXES 67
4.1 The personal pronouns and kuka ("Who'?)
inflected in cases 67
4.2 The personal pronouns se, ne ('it, they') and
some others in demonstrative use 69
4.3 Possessive pronouns and suffixes
- 	an important system 71
4.4 Possessive suffixes can occur
without any pronouns 75
4.5 The pronouns itse, kumpikin and toinen 77
5. COMPARISON 79
III VERBS IN ACTIVE FINITE FORMS 83
1. FINITE, NON-FINITE-ACTIVE, PASSIVE 83

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2. TENSES - THE PRESENT TENSE 86
3. THREE PAST TENSE FORMS 87
4. THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF VERBS 89
5. MOODS, THE WAY OF HAPPENING 90
5.1 The indicative and the conditional moods, "-isi-" 90
5.2 The potential mood "-ne-" is less important 91
6. SUBJECTLESS AND MONOPERSONAL USE 92
7. FORMING QUESTIONS 95
7.1 A suffix "-kO" is used for questioning 95
7.2 Interrogatives and subordinated questions 96
7.3 A little conjunction vai ('or') is used in questions 98
8. NEGATIVE FORMS OF VERBS 99
8.1 A special negative verb is used 99
8.2 Negation can be contained in conjunctions and suffixes 100
9. ACTIVE IMPERATIVE FORMS 102
9.1 Positive and negative imperative forms 102
9.2 The form of object together with command forms 104
IV VERBS IN PASSIVE FINITE FORMS 107
1. PASSIVE MOODS AND TENSES 107
2. "ME" PASSIVE IN COLLOQUIAL USE 110
3. PASSIVE IMPERATIVE FORMS 112

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V 	USING THE INFLECTED FORMS
OF NOUNS 113
1. GENERAL REMARKS 113
2. NOMINATIVE, GENITIVE AND PARTITIVE 115
2.1 Subjects in nominative, and objects
in genitive or partitive 115
2.2 Subjects in genitive, and objects in nominative
or partitive (pitää, täytyy, pakko sentences) 117
2.3 Subjects in nominative or partitive 118
2.4 Three cases for objects 121
2.5 Three cases for predicate complements 123
2.6 Genitive plural endings 124
2.7 Genitive attributes in the genitive case 125
3. ESSIVE, ABESSIVE AND TRANSLATIVE 125
4. THE SIX LOCAL CASES 126
4.1 The local use of the six local cases 126
4.2 The six local cases in special use 128
5. COMITATIVE AND INSTRUCTIVE 131
5.1 Comitative, Case number 13,'in the company of 131
5.2 Instructive, Case number 14,'by means of 132
6. MORE ABOUT THE FINNISH WORDS 134
6.1 From shorter words to longer words; derivation 134
6.2 Compound nouns 138
6.3 Model sentences where things are compared 141
6.4 More numerals and other useful words 142
6.5 About singular and plural forms with numerals 145
6.6 Politeness through pronouns, endings, phrases 146
6.7 About Finnish names and titles 148

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VI THE NON-FINITE FORMS OF VERBS 151
1. THE FOUR FINNISH INFINITIVES 151
1.1 Two forms of the 1st infinitive 151
a) The basic form of verbs, the shorter form "-A" 151
b) The longer form "-ksi" of the 1st infinitive
instead of että ('that’) clauses - 154
1.2 Two forms of the 2nd infinitive 154
a) The 2nd infinitive ’’-essA" and other temporal
constructions instead of kun ('when') clauses 154
b) The 2nd infinitive ”-en" instead of ja ("and’) clauses 156
1.3 The 3rd infinitive M-mA-M is inflected in many cases 157
1.4 The 4th infinitive "-minen" is a clear noun 158
2. PRESENT AND PAST TENSE PARTICIPLES 161
2.1 The active participles M-vA" and "-nUt" 161
a) The adjectival present tense participle "-vA" 161
b) The adjectival past tense participle "-nUt" 163
c) The use of participles for shortening of että ('that’) clauses 164
d) An "as though” ending "-vinA" + possessive suffix 166
2.2 The passive participles "-(t)tAvA" and "-(t)tU" 166
a) The passive present tense participle "-(t)tAvA" as an adjective 166
b) The passive present tense participle can express necessity 167
c) The passive past tense participle f’-(t)tU’’ as an adjective 168
d) The passive past tense participle instead of kun (’when’) clauses — 169
e) Constructions with tehtyä, tehdyksi, tehneeksi (’done1) 170
3. THE AGENTIAL PARTICIPLE "-MA" 171
3.1 It replaces a relative joka (“that, which') sentence 171

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3.2 From the agential participle we get "-mAtOn" 172
3.3 An "almost" ending "-mAisillA" + possessive suffix 173
3.4 Some nouns have the same ending "-mA" 173
An extra exercise: Can you read recipes in Finnish? 174
VII EXCERCISES WITH NOUNS
AND VERBS 175
Exercise 1 - Single nouns 175
Exercise 2 - Prepositions and postpositions
that require a certain case 178
Exercise 3 - Verbs that require a certain case 179
Exercise 4 - Verbs, listed with their principal parts
Two lists of verbs with six or seven principal parts 185
4.a) Finnish verbs in alphabetical order 187
4.b) Verb types, numbered according to
Suomen kielen perussanakirja 189
VIII EXERCISES WITH STORIES 191
1. Review of terms and principles 191
2. Two first stories 192
3. About punctuation and commas 197
4. Four more stories 198
CLOSING WORDS 201
Tables nos. 1-5 (Index) 202
TABLES Nos. 1 - 5 203

11
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When I started writing my first book about the Finnish language in English,
1 pretended to write a long letter to my foreign pen friend. In fact, I wrote to
my own amusement, but also in the hope that I somehow possibly could
contribute to the ways in which we Finns teach Finnish to foreigners.
In February 2002, I luckily got a partner, Ms. Anna Maria Toivonen, MA,
from Tampere, who volunteered to help me to develop my view of a
grammar book further. On the basis of her many years of experience as a
Finnish teacher, she delivered me useful comments and suggestions. 1 am
still grateful for her editorial work during our co-operation, which already
resulted in an improved issue of the book I had published in July 2001.
She still helped me get a Finnish version of the book published in spring
2003, and let that again be translated further into Russian and published in
autumn 2003.
My thanks may also go to the several unnamed persons who helped me with
the advice and encouragement. Among them I remember especially those
who proofread my texts in English and in Finnish. However, they are no
way responsible of the shortcomings that can be found in this book. They
worked in different phases and remained innocent of what I finally issued.
1 am also grateful to the foreigners who were willing to test-read my first
English manuscripts in winter and in spring 2001. You had come to Finland
from Italy, China, Turkey, Canada, Brazil, the U.S.A., Japan and Finland-
thank you for your contribution to the birth of this book, and for your wishes
of success! Your interest and the good learning results that some of you
have achieved, especially the young man from Turkey, fortified my belief
that this kind of an overview on the Finnish grammar would be needed and
would help many foreigners in Finland.
I also remember with gratitude those who promised early in advance to buy
my books, namely the representatives of Suomen 4H-liitto ry and Suomi-
Seura-Finland Society ry. In Oct. 2001, the Association of Finnish
nonfiction writers-Suomen tietokirjailijat ry, accepted my membership. In Dec.
2002, in the bulletin "Virke" of the Association of Finnish language
teachers, there was a positive review on my book that was then called
"Lessons in Finnish Grammar”. Thanks to Ms. Sari Päivärinne, MA! - And
finally, thanks to my family members for their patience and support.

12
INTRODUCTION
1. 	For the Reader
Is it true that Finnish is a difficult language? Finnish is a logical language,
and therefore, it is not more difficult than languages in general. In some
respects, it is an easy language. First of all, there is the absence of articles
and gender. Furthermore, the rules of writing and pronunciation are easier
than in many other languages, such as English, French and Russian.
Foreigners are used to complain that all Finns they meet in Finland speak
English to them. Some Finns themselves even say to them that it is not
necessary for a foreigner to try to learn Finnish because it is "so difficult".
That's a wrong attitude. That is why many foreigners who continue living in
Finland, do not mind studying Finnish at all for many years. But it is sure
that they would feel more at home here if they learn Finnish at least so much
that they can understand most of the written and the spoken language, and
know how to consult a dictionary to find the words' meanings in their own
language.
I suppose that many of the young trainers and exchange students who come
to Finland for a short time will return to their home countries disappointed
since they did not learn Finnish at all or learned only a few words.
I cannot promise foreigners that they learn to speak Finnish just by reading
this book. I only promise that readers will get a good overview of the
language and a sound basis on which it is easier to continue. For those who
have attended language courses or otherwise manage the basic grammar, I
recommend that they supply the Finnish version of this book and read it in
order to refresh their knowledge, and learn Finnish more and deeper.
I wrote the first version of this book in English hoping that my text could
be read as easily as a letter or a novel. You can read my books in your own
way by skipping some sections if you want. But then you may miss a
sentence that contains an important principle or explanation.
It is, of course, possible that you don't find all the explanations here, even if
you read carefully. Then you must study some traditional grammar or text
books, as well as consulting dictionaries or asking a native Finn.

13
Readers of this book will first learn to master the Finnish endings or suffixes
quite mechanically with the help of some model words and phrases. The
more you know about the surprising regularity of endings that repeat
themselves, the more you learn to guess the meanings and even produce Finnish
words yourself. And please note that Finns understand your purpose.
You must work hard in the beginning when learning to pronounce and
remember words, and to recognise them in their different forms. First you
may think that Finns have words of their own for almost everything. But
gradually it becomes easier for you because Finnish words are "transparent"
and build "families" as you will see when turning pages of your dictionary.
Short words get a new meaning when some certain syllables are added
either into the middle or to the end of them.
You will first note the dissimilarities between Finnish and other modem
languages, but as you learn more, you will see that there are many features
in the system and the wordings that resemble the European way of thinking
and speaking after all. It is partly a question of cultural loan words that we
have got from our Indo-European neighbours during thousands of years.
Some scientists do believe that the Indo-European and the Finno-Ugric
languages have a common root. You will find information about the Finno-
Ugric languages and people for instance at www.ugri.net,
1 hope that the Finnish language will begin to fascinate you. The written
sources such as newspapers and books are useful, but of course it would be
desirable that one who really wants to learn a new language can also start
speaking it with natives. Most Finns are overjoyed when they note that a
foreigner is willing to learn Finnish and is able to speak it a little already.
The generally spoken form of Finnish is understood everywhere in the
country: Thanks to the education system and the press, radio and TV, which
have given us a model how to speak Finnish clearly and in a form that it
does not differ too much from the written form.
The background knowledge of the written language that you get here will
not disturb but help you in your life among Finns. I will present you some
features of the spoken language: For instance our habits of shortening and
prolonging words, and how we are used to speak in the "me passive". We
say me puhutaan instead of the literary form me puhumme, which means
'we speak'.

14
My way of presenting and explaining the Finnish grammar may differ a
little from the traditional way of teaching Finnish in text books, but the
basic content is as it is presented in Finnish grammars for Finns themselves.
The main principles of the Finnish language are handled first. Finally, in
the last Chapter VIII, there are some short stories which you should be able
to read and understand with the help of a dictionary. When studying the
stories, you can test yourself and see if you already master the principles of
the grammar. The stories are authentic. I did not simplify them whatsoever.
Naturally, you will find the task hard in the beginning, and you wish that
you had a native Finn to help you when learning to pronounce words and
understand sentences. I admit that you must be highly motivated. Perhaps
you have a good school background if you are studying Finnish about this
book alone. In any case you will need a good bilingual Finnish - English -
Finnish dictionary.
After having read all the Lessons of this book you should have reached the
stage that you manage with the quite complicated but logical structure of the
Finnish language. The more you continue reading new texts in Finnish, the
more you will understand the special nature of this language. You will
notice that any little thing that was mentioned about the Finnish language
here was useful to know when you will encounter it in speech or in any text,
for instance, in comic strips {sarjakuvat).
It was my idea for this book that learners will search and find suitable texts
for their further exercises in real life. If you are looking for "easy readers",
you should ask for books in plain language {selkokieli) in a library. For
instance, there is a nice issue of Kalevala available in plain language. You
could find that book and more material written in plain language at these
addresses: www.selko.fi and www.papunet.net/seIko.
The Internet offers a lot of written and also spoken modem Finnish. In
bookshops and libraries you can find literary books recorded on CD
{äänikirja 'talking book'). Furthermore, I recommend that you should watch the
Finnish TV because foreign languages are not dubbed. You will hear the
original speech and can read the subtitles simultaneously. Finns do not
desire dubbing. First of all, we assume that all adults can read, and secondly,
dubbing would amuse us. Only children's' programs are spoken in Finnish.

15
In Finland you also have the opportunity to study Finnish by comparing the
bilingual or multilingual texts which you see and reach everywhere. Suomi-
Seura - Finnish Society ry, www.suomi-seura.fi, offers information and
news from Finland to Finns living abroad. The Research Institute for the
Languages of Finland or Kotimaisten kielten keskus, www.kotus.fi, knows
“everything” about the Finnish language, and they also sell books.
2. 	For Finnish Teachers
This book is the result of the learnings and thoughts about the Finnish
language that I have brooded the years of my life. For my thoughts I have
found the support especially from Kalevi Tarvainen's work Suomen kielen
lauseenjäsennys dependenssikieliopin mukaan (Oulu University, 1977).
Dependence grammar is a theory according to which the verb is the most
important word in a sentence, the core of its content.
Furthermore, I have based my courage for writing this kind of booklet on
the guidelines issued in 1994 for the Finnish schools by the Board of
Education in a book called Kieli ja sen kieliopit, opetuksen suuntaviivoja
(Edita 1988, ISBN 951-37-1384-9). On page 231 of it, there was the writers’
wish expressed that they remain awaiting new forms of experimental
grammars to appear for teaching Finnish as a foreign language.
This book was not originally aimed to be used by a teacher who has to teach
many foreign pupils in a classroom. I know that teachers are used to start
speaking Finnish to their pupils from the very beginning, and that they must
try to avoid offering "too much grammar". I had those "well educated"
people in my mind who have a job and do it well without speaking Finnish
at all. Perhaps they would like to learn Finnish but do not know whether
they can find a time for attending Finnish language courses regularly. They
would, of course, feel their living here more comfortable if they could at
least understand the language they see and hear around them. I hope that
that kind of immigrants will find this book of mine, and they start reading it
alone or with a Finnish friend as a teacher.
I 	regret the confusion caused by changing the title of the book and the titles
of its Finnish and Russian versions, as well, during the past ten years almost
every time when I issued a new one. I hope that this English version as
issued hard covered will remain the final one in English.

16
3. 	Abbreviations and symbols in this book
a, o, u, k, p, t Finnish alphabet letters are pointed out with boldface letters.
talo 'house' Finnish model words, phrases and sentences are mostly written
in italics. Translations follow within simple quotation marks.
onpa [ompa] Pronounced forms of words are given within square brackets in
the Finnish way and only to show, if there is something unusual.
[anna' olla] The apostrophe [anna'] represents a little stop. (See Chapter I, 1.6)
*tyt-tön The asterisk (*) shows that the form is unusable, ungrammatical.
(minä) olen Words which can be dropped are put within parenthesis.
Parenthesis can also be used for remarks and explanations.
se /sitä A slash between words or suffixes shows the alternatives.
kk - k A wavy line refers to the consonant gradation. (See Chapter II, 2.4)
> A forward arrow (>) means "from this form we get this".
< A backward arrow (<) means "this form originates from this".
"-n", "-lie" Case endings or other suffixes or meaningful markers that
always occur at the end of words in the same form, are pointed
out this way with small boldface letters within quotation marks.
A, O, U The three block letters A, O and U occur within the suffixes and
represent two alternative case endings or other parts of the words
to be chosen according to the vowel harmony (see Chapter I, 1.4).
Thus A = a/ä [a, ä], O = o/ö [o, ö], U = u/y [u, y]. For instance,
if a suffix is given "-ssA" the alternatives are -ssä and -ssä.
For "-(t)tU" the alternatives are -tu/-ty and -ttu/-tty.
V; VV Any vowel; two similar vowels (e.g. a, aa). A few times V = verb.
C Any consonant. (For consonants, see Chapter I, 1.5).
N Noun (substantive, adjective, pronoun or numeral).
NP Noun phrase. Noun phrases contain nouns.

17
sg. Singular, the form used when speaking of one person or thing,
pi. Plural, the form used when speaking of several persons or things,
p.sg., p.pi. The first letter "p.” in these connections is to be read ’’person",
poss. Possessive, showing possession or ownership,
e.g. For example, for instance, (< exempli gratia),
i.e. This is, that is, in other words, (< id est).
4. 	Short index of the main Chapters of Lessons
Chapter Concerning Page
I Writing and reading, (pronouncing) 19-
II Inflecting nouns, 43-
(the Finnish cases, quite mechanically at first)
III Verbs in active finite forms, 83-
(conjugating predicate verbs in active sentences)
IV Verbs in passive finite forms, (passive sentences) 107-
V Using the inflected nouns, 113-
(nominative, genitive, partitive, etc. in use)
VI The non-finite forms of verbs, 151-
(the rich stock of infinitives and participles)
VII Exercises with nouns and verbs, 175-
(exercises with words for repeating the Lessons)
VIII Exercises with stories 191-

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CLOSING WORDS 201
THE TABLE SECTION
Index of the Tables 202
Tables, Nos. 1, 2, 3,4 and 5 203-
ILLUSTRATION
In this book there are the following six pictures placed before the Chapters:
No.
Motif
Aihe
Place after Page &
before Chapter No.
Kuva 1
A road in Sotkamo
Tie Sotkamossa
18
Chapter I
Kuva 2
A cat walking
Kissa kävelee
42
Chapter II
Kuva 3
Haymaking
Heinäntekoa
82
Chapter III
Kuva 4
Finnish baseball
Pesäpalloa
112
Chapter V
Kuva 5
A summer house
Kesämökki
150
Chapter VI
Kuva 6
On skiing holiday
Hiihtolomalla
174
Chapter VII
Photo: O Vuokko Heikura

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Chapter 1,1.1
I WRITING AND READING
1. ALPHABET AND WORDS
1.1 	One sound, one letter
Finns claim that Finnish is written as it is spoken. Every Finnish sound can
be expressed with a letter in writing, and vice versa, every letter is a
representation of a sound of its own. Therefore, the letter a is pronounced
[a], o is [o], p is [p], s is [s], and so on. There are some exceptions of
the main rule, and later you will learn which they are.
The stress normally lies on the first vowel of every word, and on the first
word of every sentence.
The written words contain different letters in a line, and every letter has to
be read and pronounced as it is. None of the letters normally remains
unread. Short sounds are written with one letter, long sounds with two
identical letters. Vowels and consonants are treated similarly short and long.
Sounds like [a], [o], [p], [s], etc. are different sounds or phonemes, because
changing them affects the meaning. The Finnish words kala 'fish', gal_a
'piece', paha 'bad', raha 'money' may be enough to show you how the
meaning of a word changes wholly when one letter is replaced with another.
Thus, the consonant letters k, p, 1, r and h represent different sounds.
We write double letters (aa, kk), if we hear a vowel or a consonant last
longer than a short sound. These three word pairs, pal_o 'fire' and paUo 'ball',
pako 'escape' and pakko 'necessity', takka 'fireplace' and taakka 'burden',
show that duration of sounds is also something that makes words different
in meaning. Prolonging and shortening of sounds against the written form
will most likely result in another word and in another meaning.
A Finnish k is always [k], either it is short [k], as in koti 'home', laki 'law'
and maksu 'payment', or long [kk] as in kokki 'cook' and kukko 'cock'. The
Finnish k is pronounced as Englishmen pronounce c, k and ck in "cook",
"cock", "can" and "key" (but without any aspiration or push).
•D&A

Chapter 1,1.1
20
If you see one single consonant between two vowels (koti, laki, pah, pako),
you must not prolong the consonant, or the vowels around it, either.
If a word begins with one vowel, you must not prolong it either or make it a
diphthong (two different vowels, more about them in point 1.3 below).
In English you have diphthongs around the r in "area", ala in Finnish. Finns
pronounce that word like the French "ä la". Alla with two l's means 'below'.
Examples of other short Finnish words:
ero 'difference', elin 'organ', osa 'part', ovi 'door', ulos 'out', ylös
'up', alas 'down', alias 'basin, sink', apu 'help, appi 'father-in-law'
It is necessary for you to know how to pronounce the words, which you find
in your dictionary- otherwise you will not be able to use them, or recognise
them when you hear them. However, when you listen to Finns singing a
song, you will note that every now and then some normally short vowels in
a word sound long without any effect on the word's meaning. You must not
let that kind of prolonging confuse you.
When you read Finnish words, you must read carefully and remember every
single letter. But isn't it so and still worse in other languages, as well, e.g.
English and French? In those languages we must remember to write every
letter, but we must not pronounce them all, and we must learn two forms for
every word, the written form and the spoken form!
The Finnish alphabet:
A, a
B, b
C, c
D, d
E, e
F,
G, g
H, h
I, i
•U
K, k
L,
M, m
N, n
0, o
P, P
Q, q
R,
S, s
T, t
U, u
Y’v
W, w
x,
Y, y
Z, z
Ä, ä
Ä, ä
Ö, ö
Note: The amount of Finnish letters or alphabet is 29, when including also
the foreign letters f, q, w, x, z and a. Please learn to keep the alphabetical
order of letters well in mind.

21
Chapter I, 1.2
1.2 	Vowels
The Finnish vowels are eight: a, e, i, o, u, y, ä, ö. When the sounds
presented with these letters are long, they are written with two letters: aa,
ee, ii, oo, uu, yy, ää, öö. It is necessary to mark long sounds this way.
The vowels are grouped in three groups, front middle back
front, middle and back vowels, according y i u
to the place where the tongue lays when ö e o
the sounds are formed in the mouth. ä a
(i) An i sounds like your i in "in" and "it". A long ii you have in "eat"
and "be". Our i [i] is formed near the place where y is formed in the mouth,
but with inactive and open lips:
isi 'daddy', liikaa 'too much', viini 'wine', siipi 'wing', kiitos 'thank
you, thanks', näkemiin 'goodbye'
(e) You reach e, the other central vowel, when you lift your chin from
the ä position. You have the Finnish e in "yet" and "said". We have it short
in ei 'no', en '1 not' and et 'you not', and short and long in eteen 'to the front'.
(a) The back vowels a, o and u are all formed near the throat as in
these English words: "up", "on" and "look". In British English you have our
long aa in "laugh". When pronouncing an a in Finnish short or long, you
open your mouth and draw your tongue backwards:
ahaa 'aha', aamu 'morning', namu 'sweetie', aasi 'donkey, ass',
Assi (female name), Vaasa (a town), vasa 'reindeer fawn', laatu
'quality', latu 'ski track', maantie 'road'
(ä) The front vowel ä is formed equally but with a resting tongue, as in
your "act" and "cat", when you say these words:
ässä 'ace', tämä 'this', tässä 'here', hän 'he, she', hätä 'anxiety', sää
'weather', ääni 'voice, sound, noise', lääni 'province', täällä 'here',
väärä 'wrong'

Chapter I, 1.2
22
(ö) The front vowel ö you have prolonged in "her". We would write
"höö" (or "höör") when we hear it. We write likööri 'liqueur', insinööri
'engineer'.
(y) In "new" and "blue" you come close to the Finnish y that is the
same as the German "u" in "uber alles". In Finnish we have words such as
yli 'over' and yllä 'above'.
(o), (u) When pronouncing the vowel pairs o - ö and u - y, we don't round
our lips very visibly, but we move the kin and round the tongue moving it
from back to the front. The long Finnish oo you have long in "ought" and
"horse", and uu is such as in "loose". Try with these:
ooppera 'opera', uusi 'new', kuuma 'hot', huuto 'shouting', tori
'market square', tosi 'true', köhä 'dry cough', yskä 'cough', usko
'faith', yksi 'one, olut 'beer', tulot 'income', puku 'dress', kyky
'ability', tyyny 'pillow', kuulo 'hearing', ei tule kuuloonkaan! 'it
is out of the question'
(u), (y) Note especially that in hyvä 'good' and hyvää päivää 'good day,
hello' the y is pronounced short and stressed, with the upper lip inactive,
because of the following v. Please avoid making either u or y sound like the
Swedish sound, which is written with u. For example in "du", the meaning
of which is 'you', the Swedish sound is a sound between the Finnish u and y.
These are Finnish proper names with long vowels:
Aatami, Kaarina, Saara, Aaro, Aatu, Jaakko, Kustaa, Taavetti,
Marjaana, Eero, Eeva, Veera, Viivi, Iita, Iivari, Uuno, Liisa,
Miikka, Riitta, Siiri, Tuula, Tuulikki, Tyyne, Lyyli
These are verbs with long vowels:
tuulee 'it's windy', (hän) tulee 'he/she/it comes / is coming', saapua
rto arrive', saapuu '(he/it) is arriving', hiipii 'is tiptoeing', istuu 'is
sitting', itkee 'is crying', huutaa 'is shouting', katuu 'is regretting',
kaatuu 'is falling down', kiittää 'to thank, is thanking', saastuttaa
'is polluting', teeskentelee 'is pretending'

23
Chapter I, 1.3
1.3 	Diphthongs
After this training with short and long vowels, you can go on to combine
them. Combinations of two different vowels within the same syllable in a
word are called diphthongs. We have 17 diphthongs, and only some of
them are similar to the English diphthongs, as we hear them. The first vowel
of the Finnish combinations is stressed, and the latter vowel must also be
heard clearly. Nothing is swallowed.
This and the following page contain the Finnish diphthongs and some model
words to them for your practising. You can add words with comparable
sounds in other languages to the right, if you know some.
ei hei, seis!, eilen, keino, Heinola, eteinen Engl, day
hello, stop!, yesterday, means, Heinola, hall
ie tie, mies, sielu, siellä, vielä, kiero, hieno Span, quiero
road/way, man, soul, there, still/yet, crooked, fine
eu Eurooppa, peukalo, leuka, reuna, seura, korkeus
Europe, thumb, chin, edge/margin, company/society, height
iu viulu, hiukan, niukka, tiukka, liukas
violin, a little, scanty/short, tight/hard, slippery
au auto, sauna, Paula, vaunut, varaus, palautus Engl, out
car, sauna, Paula, wagon/waggon, reservation, returning
ou Oulu, joulu, koulutus, soutaja, kokous Engl, low
Oulu, Christmas, education, rower, meeting
äy täysi, käytävä, käynti, näytös, hylkäys
full, corridor, visit/walk, show/act, rejection
öy pöytä, köyhä, löytö, löyly, nöyrä, höylä
table, poor, find, steam in sauna, humble, plane
ai aika, aikaisin, vain, maito, paita, salainen Engl, eye
time, early, only, milk, shirt, secret
äi päivä, näin, äiti, kesäisin, epäilemättä
day, this way, mother, every summer, undoubtedly

Chapter I, 1.3
24
oi voi, oijoi!, oikein, soittaja, poika, koira Engl, boy
butter/oh!, oh dear!, right, player, boy, dog
öi öisin, töissä, söimme, löivät, epäröinti
every night, at job, we ate, they hit/beat, hesitation
ui uima-allas, puisto, huivi, kuitti, kuuluisa Engl. Louis
swimming-pool, park, scarf, receipt, famous
yi hyi!, hyinen, kysyi, syttyi, nykyinen, ärtyisä
fie!, icy, he asked, it took fire, current, irritable
uo Suomi, Puola, suola, tuolla, huono, ruoka
Finland, Poland, salt, there, bad, food
yö yö, työ, hyöty, pyörä, syöminen
night, work/job, use/profit, wheel/bicycle, eating
ey This 17th diphthong is very seldom. One example can be
given here: leyhytellä ’to fan something (with Something).
Now, please look once again at this set up and find 17 diphthongs there.
With your finger you can draw lines from e to i (eileri), from e to u (euro),
etc. Please note that for instance the combination eo is not among the
diphthongs.
front vowels mid vowels back vowels
y i u
ö e o
ä a
It would be most desirable now that you could ask a Finnish person to read
the above listed words and many others for you. If you are studying alone,
start by pronouncing both vowels in a diphthong separately and short, and
thereafter bound together.
Note: Even if I say that the vowels in a diphthong belong to one and the
same syllable, you will see that sometimes in a long word, a diphthong like
au and äy has been broken and syllabified.

25
Chapter I, 1.4
1.4 	Vowel harmony
The Finnish vowel harmony is a phenomenon which comes from the fact
that there are those three back and three front vowels, and that originally
Finnish words cannot contain both of them simultaneously. Thus, in speech
a word like olympialaiset 'the Olympic games' easily becomes "olumpia-
laiset". If you look again at the list of diphthongs, you see that there are
these vowel pairs according to vowel harmony:
au - äy, ou - öy, uo - yö, ai - äi, oi - öi, ui - yi
The middle vowels e and i can occur in a word together with front or back
vowels simultaneously. If there is the diphthong ei or ie in the first syllable,
the latter syllables mostly contain front vowels only. This means that the
last syllables or endings in a word cannot contain but vowels ä, ö and y, and
possibly also vowels e and i, if the word began with a front vowel.
Sieni is a word with front vowels (etuvokaalinen sana). Therefore, we pick
(poimimme) sieniä 'mushrooms'. Please remember that kieli 'language,
tongue', a word that you will account often, is such a word, too: opiskella
suomen kieltä to study Finnish', suomen kielellä 'in Finnish', vieraita kieliä
'foreign languages', suomenkielisiä kirjoja 'Finnish books'.
Other words with front vowels: seinä 'wall', lievä 'slight, mild', viljelijä
'farmer', kiire [e'] 'hurry, rush', peili 'mirror', hiiri 'mouse', leiri 'camp'.
Words with back vowels (because there is a back vowel in the basic form):
leima 'stamp', keino 'means', sielu 'soul, spirit', tieto 'knowledge'.
You may have been wondering what the capital letters A, O and U are for in
this book. They are used by me just because of the vowel harmony and in
order to save space, for instance, by writing "-11A" in stead of "-llä or -llä".
This way of showing that a Finnish case ending or suffix has two
alternatives in use, is a linquistic custom on the university level.
If the first vowel is a back vowel a, o or u, the syllables following after it
cannot contain any of the front vowels ä, ö or y. This way it goes: aamulla
'in the morning', päivällä 'by day', tuolla 'there', täällä 'here', tässä 'here'.
V&A

Chapter I, 1.4, 1.5
26
If a word seems to break the vowel harmony, it obviously is a compound
word. Examples of such compound nouns: aamupäivä 'forenoon', built
from aamu 'morning' and päivä 'day'; yliopisto 'university', built from yli
'upper, over' and opisto 'institute, school'; hätätapaus 'emergency',
määräaika 'deadline', tilapäisesti 'temporarily'.
If a compound noun happens to get similar vowels in the "seam", it is
necessary to put a hyphen (-) between to show that the vowels must not be
read long together but with a stop between them. Example words:
pinta-ala 'area', built from pinta 'surface' and ala 'area'; koti-ikävä
'homesickness', ala-arvoinen 'inferior', loma-asunto 'holiday home',
aamu-uninen 'late riser', esi-isä 'forefather, ancestor', ulko-ovi 'front
door'. - We shall revert to different compounds in Chapter V, 6.2.
1.5 	Consonants
The (short) Finnish consonants are d, g, h, j, k, 1, m, n, p, r, s, t and v.
These 13 consonant letters are pronounced and called by name as follows:
[dee, gee, hoo, jii, koo, äl, äm, än, pee, är, äs, tee, vee]
In addition, we have two consonant sounds that haven't got a letter
of their own, namely an “äng” sound [T|] and a light glottal sound ['].
The "äng" sound is written with n that is found before k and g. That sound
is found also in English words like "link" [lirjk] and "king". The word-final
['] sound is not marked at all in writing. I'm saving it to point 1.6, and shall
handle first the exceptional pronunciation of n and some other consonants.
Under this point you will learn more about the pronunciation of k, p, t and
v in comparision with g, b, d and f. Thereafter, we still have to handle j and
v in certain combinations where the pronunciation differs from the writing.
Sometimes we write n but pronounce it as m. In some words namely the
written combination np sounds like mp [mp]. This finesse does not serve
any special attention from you or anybody because the change happens
automatically in your mouth.

27
Chapter I, 1.5
The next list will contain consonants which are pronounced
in a special way when the Finnish language is concerned:
(nk), (ng) The written combinations nk and ng occur only in the middle of
Finnish words, and even then only between vowels. Helsinki [helsitjki] is a
good word. When inflected in the genitive case, it becomes Helsingin
[helsiT|r|in], Helsingin kaupunki 'the city of Helsinki'. The combination ng
is pronounced [r|T|], i.e. as a prolonged, double "-äng-" sound.
[r|T|] The "-äng-" sound [t|] occurs long in such words which have
the consonant combination nk in their basic form. When such a word is
used in some of its inflected or conjugated forms, there happens a change
from nk to ng. Kenkä [kerjkä] 'shoe' reads kengän [keT|T|än] in the genitive
case, and the meaning of kengässä [keT|T|ässä] is 'in a/the shoe'. In genuine
Finnish words the letter g is found in this combination ng [T|T|], only.
(gn) In a few loan words, for instance in magneetti 'magnet', signaali
'signal', the combination gn is pronounced as [r|n] (but not written "ngn").
(np) A written letter n can be pronounced as m [m] when it occurs
before p. Thus, onpa (= on 'is' + a confirming particle "-pA") is pronounced
[ompa]. Otherwise, the combination mp is very common in Finnish, for
instance kampa 'comb', lampi 'pond'. Ompi is a poetic word meaning 'it is'.
(mm) If we say two separate words quickly after each others, and the first
one ends in n, and the other begins with m, then the n assimilates to m in
speech, for instance en minä [emminä] 'I not'.
Assimilation with the next following sound happens also to the ligt glottal
sound that was mentioned before. The phenomenon is comparable with the
vowel harmony. Both features are useful as they make the pronunciation
easier with a minimal effort.
In Chapter II, point 3.6, something special will be mentioned about the word
sydän 'heart'. An m arises in its inflected forms but is pronounced like mm.
Finns are not used to keep k, p and t apart from the corresponding voiced
sounds g, b and d because those oppositions are not important in Finnish.

Chapter I, 1.5
28
Therefore the Finnish "hard" consonants k, p and t may sound like [g, b, d]
to you. You must not feel sorry, if a Finn does not or does not care to
pronounce your name properly, if it contains a g, b or d. Finns do not take
the differences between k and g, p and b, t and d seriously.
In speech a word like bussi 'bus' becomes [pussi] even if pussi is 'bag'.
From some ancient neighbours we have got "bank" in the form of pankki,
and "gold" in the form of kulta 'gold, darling'. Penkki is the same word as
the English 'bench, seat', pallo is 'ball', and kaasu is 'gas'.
Genuine Finnish words do not contain the letters b, f or g, nor their
corresponding sounds. Therefore we know that baari 'bar', geeni 'gene',
faarao 'pharaoh\ filmi 'film', firma 'enterprise' and digitaalinen 'digital' are
new words, because they include these sounds. Firma can be heard [virma].
The letter d is found in the middle of Finnish words, only, namely between
vowels or in certain combinations together with a consonant. Genuine
Finnish words never begin with a d or end in a d, and not in b, f or g, either.
The letter and sound d replaces t when a consonant, for instance, the
genitive case ending "-n" is added. Examples where a t in the middle of
the word changes to d when the word is inflected in genitive:
aito 'genuine, native' > aidon; täti 'aunt ' > tädin; tähti 'star'
> 	tähden', kehto 'cradle' > kehdon; maito'milk'> maidon;
katu 'street' > kadun
Incidentally, it happens to be that kadun can also be a form of katua 'to be
sorry, repent", minä kadun sitä 'I regret it'. The phenomenon that makes
certain consonant pairs like t and d alternate, is called astevaihtelu, in
English "gradation". You will learn to master the consonant changes or
gradation in a separate point a little later, Chapter II, point 2.
It is useful for you to know that in careless speech Finns tend to
avoid the sound of d, drop it or replace it with another consonant.
Most of the Finnish regional dialects do not use d in speech, but dodge it
somehow. Äidin 'mother's' can be heard pronounced [äitin], meidän 'our,
ours' [meiän], [meijjän], tehdään 'it is made / let's do (it)' [tehhään]. My
examples originate from the district of Savo (Kuopio).

29
Chapter 1,1.5
The use of the letter d in writing has been a compromise once assumed
between usages of the people. Forms pronounced without d are dialectal
or colloquial, not usable everywhere and in writing. On this point the
individual persons have many ways of speaking. 1, of course, recommend
the literary forms with d to be used by a foreign learner.
Genuine Finnish words never begin with a group of consonants.
Words like blokki 'block', strategia 'strategy' and kriittinen 'critical' are new
words. Many modem words are very old loans, even if they look fully
Finnish: rata 'railway road, line' (strada in Italian), Ranska 'France', koulu
'school', Iasi 'glass' and Tukholma 'Stockholm'.
You will understand and memorise many Finnish words better, if you can
see a Latin, Swedish or German word behind them. Some Finnish words
are of Russian origin, but we cannot recognise them as such, if we don't
know Russian. You only need to bring a foreign consonant or a group of
consonants back to the beginning of a modem Finnish word, and drop a
word-final vowel "-i", "-a" or "-u" away, to understand that, for instance,
ranta 'strand, shore' must be a very old word that the ancient Finns have
assumed in a simplified form from their ancient neighbours.
We have one s sound, only, and it is rather sharp.
(s) The Finnish s, for instance in sairas 'sick' sounds like s in the
English word "sick", but in your ear the Finnish s may sound like the
English s in "she". The different s sounds in many other languages cause
difficulties to Finns when trying to leam to speak foreign languages well.
For instance, 'check' was loaned as shekki, but later it became allowed to
write and read sekki. A similar word is shokki. Nowadays it is sokki 'shock'.
Instead of sh [äshoo], you will sometimes see s [hattuässä].
We are eager to simplify the foreign words we are taking in use. Such a
lovely word was kontti 'knapsack, made of birch-bark', with which we soon
replaced "containers" in the field of marine traffic.
(j) Our j [j] is formed with a curved tongue, as in "you" and "usual" in
English. Finnish words: ja 'and\jo 'alreadyjoulu 'yule, Christmas', juhlat
'celebrations, party', jyvä 'grain', haju 'smell, odour', laaja 'wide'.

Chapter I, 1.5, 1.6
30
(v) The Finnish v is formed with teeth lightly against the lower lip.
You can train it with these words: verbi 'verb', valo 'light', vain 'only', lava
'platform, stage', kiva 'cool, cute', hyvä 'good'.
The letters j and v are pronounced long or double after some diphthongs.
The letter j is double [jj] in combination ij: leijona 'lion', armeija 'army',
Toijala, and girl's names Maija, Seija, Tuija.
A single v is heard double [vv] in combination uv: vauva 'baby',
sauvakävely 'Nordic walking' (with sticks), rouva 'Mrs.', Kouvola (a town),
neuvo 'advice' and neuvonta 'guidance'. - In colloquial use you can hear a
v sound between u and a in lauantai 'Saturday', but in writing there is no v.
1.6 	A consonant sound, not shown in writing
Among the consonants there is a glottal sound ['] which is not shown in
writing. This sound is formed in the throat and can be explained to be only
a little stop. It is part of native pronunciation, even if opinions of its
intensity may differ. However, this sound gives a backbone to the language.
Without it, for instance, commands are no commands, but perhaps
completely other words. It is a real sound, a linguistic phoneme, because it
is capable to differentiate words, and change their meanings.
I have chosen to present this sound ('] to you as a consonant
among consonants, and call it "loppuhenkonen" in Finnish.
Examples: A girl's name Anna is pronounced [anna], but if we are aimed to
command somebody to give us something, we use the verb antaa 'to give'
and say anna! [anna']. Tee is 'tea', but tee, tee se! [tee', teesse] 'do it' is a
command form from the verb tehdä 'to do, make'. In advertisements you
may see: Voita matka [voita' matka] 'take a jumey as a prize'. In that
command the verb is voittaa 'to win', but in a question otatko voita? 'do you
take (some) butter', there is the noun voi 'butter' in the partitive case.
The glottal consonant appears in speech at the end of certain words and
grammatical forms, and it becomes more real as soon as it assimilates itself
with an immediately following consonant.
•»6-4

31
Chapter I, 1.6
The glottal sound, not shown in writing, is also called jäännöslopuke, the
meaning of which is 'a remainder of something'. Other names are
loppukahdennus 'word-final doubling' and loppuhenkonen 'word-final aspiration'.
There are different historical reasons for its existence in speech. In ancient
times there was a real consonant at the places where it still appears like a
phantom. The appearance of this sound is a living phenomenon, and we can
test it if it appears there as soon as we drop a word-final consonant. For
instance milloin 'when' can be pronounced as short as [millo']. Milloin sinä
tulet? [millo' sä tuut] or [millossä tuut] 'when are you coming'?
Doubling of the consonants k, p, h to [kk, pp, hh] is clearly heard, if there is
a modifying particle ("-kin", "-kAAn", "-pA", "-hAn" or "-kO") added
to certain words and grammatical forms where the glottal sound appears.
With them the little stop ['] may not be enough as an advice.
When practising with the model phrases you can try to produce the glottal
sound in two ways, and choose the one which is easier for you: first a little
stop ['] between the words, and then a doubling of the following consonant.
The little stop is there, even if a vowel follows. If you try to learn Finnish
mainly from literal sources, you need a list of places where this sound
occurs. The list below is quite a complete presentation of the events.
You need not learn all of this finesse at the very beginning, but as noted, it
is an essential part of native pronunciation. You can revert to this list later,
after having learned more especially about the verbal conjugation.
The little stop |'|, or alternatively an assimilation, appears on the
following places before a consonant, and also before a vowel:
1)
After commands of the 2nd person sg. (which end in a short vowel)
Anna olla!
Anna sen olla!
Mene pois!
Tule tänne!
Tervetuloa!
Ole hvvä!
[anna' olla]
[anna' sen olla]
[mene' pois]
[tule' tänne]
[terve* tuloa]
[ole' hyvä]
Let it be!, never mind
Let it be, please leave it!
Go away!
Come here!
Welcome!
"Be good!", please,
here you have it

Chapter I, 1.6
32
At the end of certain negative forms of verbs
2)
En mene pois.
Hän ei ole vielä tullut.
Älä tule tänne!
Älkää olko huolissanne!
Minä en aio tulla.
[en mene' pois]
[ei ole’ vielä tullut]
[älä tule’ tänne]
[älkää olko' huolissanne]
[minä en aio' tulla]
1 don't go away
He/she hasn't come yet
Do not come here!
Don't worry!
I am not coming
3)
At the end of the 1st infinitive or basic forms of verbs,
such as olla 'to be'. haluta 'to wish. want'. saada fto get1
Ollako vai eikö olla? [ollakko vai eikö olla(')]
Haluatko ostaa sen? [haluatko ostaa' sen]
Minun pitää mennä kotiin, [mennä' kotiin]
En enää halua saada sitä, [halua' saada' sitä]
4)
To be or not to be?
Do you wish to buy it?
I must go home
I 	don't want to get it
any more
After every noun that ends in "-e" and
prolongs this ft-eft in genitive sg.. e.g. terve. terveen
Tervetuloa!
taideteos
taiteovi
tiedemies
lieveilmiö
liikekumppani
tuote-esittelv
kone käy
[terve' tuloa]
[taide' teos]
[taite' ovi]
[tiede' mies]
[lieve' ilmiö]
[liike' kumppani]
[tuote' esittely]
[kone' käy]
Welcome!
work of art
folding door
scientist
side effect, by-product
business partner
demonstration
a machine is working
5)
After some adverbs that end in ft-eft (connected with places)
tännekö?
taaksepäin
luoksepääsemätön
[tännekkö]
[taakseppäin]
[ luokseppääsemätön]
6)
After the allative case ending "-lie"
tytöllekin
Meille tulee vieraita,
toiselle puolelle katua
[tytöllekkin]
[meille' tulee vieraita]
[toiselle' puolelle' katua]
to here?
backwards
inaccessible
also to the girl
we shall have guests
to the other side of the street
7) 	After "-isi-". the marker of the conditional mood of verbs
En menisi pois. [en menisi' pois] I wouldn't go away

33
Chapter I, 1.6, 1.7
Jos hän olisi ollut siellä., [olisi* ollut siellä] if he/she had been there
Jospa hän tulisikin! [j0SPa hän tulisikkin] if only he would come
8) After the possessive suffix ending "-nsA" of 3rd person sg. and pi.
hänen/heidän lapsensakin [hänen/heidän lapsensakkin] also their child/children
alansa paras asiantuntija [alansa1 paras asiantuntija] the best expert
within his/her field
9) After adverbs ending in "-sti" and "-tse"
Tuo oli kivasti tehty! [tuo oli kivasti’ tehty] That was nicely done
puhelimitse, postitse by phone, by mail
1.7 Syllables
Words and syllables begin with a short or a long vowel or with a diphthong
or with a consonant. A genuine Finnish word never begins with more than
one consonant. Every syllable begins with one consonant, if it does not
begin with a vowel. All kind of combinations of vowels can occur in
Finnish words. Short sounds are written with one letter, long sounds with
two similar letters. These could be and are Finnish words in their basic or
inflected or conjugated forms, divided into syllables here:
a-la
area
ta-ka
back
al-la
below
tak-ka
fireplace
a-laa (partitive)
area
ta-kan (genitive)
fireplace
a-las
down
ta-kaa
from behind
au-la
hall
taak-ka
burden
lau-laa
to sing
taak-kaa (partitive)
burden
lau-loi
he/she sang
tiuk-kaan
tightly /1 press
Double consonants are divided to syllables in the middle of them. If some
successive vowels do not form a diphthong, they belong to different
syllables. (See again the list of diphthongs in point 1.3.) In lau-an-tai
'Saturday' we divide between au and a, because ua is not a diphthong.
Sanoa 'to say' is divided sa-no-a, and makeasti 'sweetly' is divided ma-ke-
as-ti because oa and ea are no diphthongs. If there is a combination of
several consonants in the middle of a word, the last of them belongs to the
next syllable, e.g. al-ku 'beginning', palk-ki-o 'fee', tent-ti 'examination',
tors-tai 'Thursday', myrs-ky 'storm'.
V&A

Chapter I, 1.7, 1.8
34
Similarly, a single consonant between vowels always belongs to the next
syllable, this way: ra-has-ta-ja 'conductor', saa-pu-mi-nen 'arrival'.
Note: It is useful to know how Finnish words are divided into syllables in
general. When you encounter a very long Finnish word you should divide it
into syllables, pronounce them step by step and then draw together. This
skill will help you to understand and remember new words better.
Compound nouns can be problematic, if the first part happens to end in a
consonant s and you don't note it at first sight, e.g. o-do-tus-ai-ka 'waiting
time, pregnancy'. - Compounds are handled in Chapter V, point 6.2.
1.8 	Shortening and prolonging habits in speech
Colloquially shortened and prolonged forms are heard in commonly spoken
language, but it is not a "must" to use them to show that you "know"
Finnish. They are not used in writing, except for instance in private letters.
A foreign learner should master the literary forms first. Therefore, this book
concentrates on teaching the literary form of modem standard Finnish.
However, it is useful for you to know something about the normal speech so
you need not to be surprised when you hear how people talk. Shortening of
words in speech is a normal tendency. In Finnish, for instance, the vowels i
and some word-final consonants and vowels tend to fall away.
Gradually, you will assume more and more of those forms you hear, but if
you start using colloquial or dialectal forms too early, the natives you meet
believe that you know Finnish more than you actually know. In addition,
about your efforts to use colloquial language, a native will hear where in
Finland you did learn your Finnish, and - note this! - a native may doubt
your ability to read and write Finnish, if you speak very colloquially and he
or she knows that you did not arrive here as a child. Practically, all adult
Finns can read and write their language.
Note: This was meant as a warning and as an advice to read books and
newspapers, and listen to Finns who pronounce Finnish clearly. The
newscasters on the radio and TV speak a clear standard language that people
understand in the whole country.
ve**

35
Chapter I, 1.8
It is always correct to speak Finnish as completely as it is written.
Young people may consider that the use of the standard or literal language is
hyper correct, but don't mind! Later, when you are seeking for a job, it is a
merit for you if you speak Finnish like an educated person.
The Finnish habit of shortening the words results in a lot of monosyllable
words, especially pronouns:
Literarv forms
Shortened forms in
informal conversation
minä
[mä]
I
sinä
[sä]
you
minun
[mun]
my, mine
sinun
[sun]
your, yours
minua
[mua]
me
sinua
[sua]
you
minut
[mut]
me
sinut
[sut]
you
minulla on
[mulla on, mullon]
I have
sinulla on
[sulia on, sullon]
you have
ei ole
[ei oo, eijjoo]
(it) is/has not
ei tule
[ei tuu]
(it) does not come
tämä
[tää]
this
nämä
[nää]
these
minut
[mut]
me
mutta
[mut]
but
tuossa
[tossa]
there (place where)
paljon
[paljo']
much of
milloin
[millon, millo']
when (time)
silloin
[siilon, siilo']
then (time)
sitten
[sitte', sit]
then, thereafter
punainen
[punane(n)]
red
kuin
[kun, kui', ku']
such as (comparing)
In addition in speech, we are used to drop the second component of
some two-vowel combinations and pronounce the first vowel long.
Such a simplifying process of vowel combinations mostly happens in the
second-last syllable of a word, but the first syllable can also be concerned.
1

Chapter I, 1.8
36
At the end of a word the simplifying process of the two-vowel
combinations mostly happens in speech to these four combinations, which are not
found among the diphthongs: oa, ea, ua and ia and their frontal counterparts
öä, eä, yä, iä according to the vowel harmony.
When the prolonging happens in the first syllable the vowel combination in
question can be one of the diphthongs uo, yö or ie. - Here you could repeat
the diphthongs which were handled in point 1.3 of this Chapter I.
Prolonging of vowel combinations in the second-last syllable:
1) oa, öä > [oo], [öö] (formula:) 0-A>00
Sanoa 'to say' becomes [sanoo], even if sanoo is the same
as the 3rd p.sg. form (sanoo = hän sanoo 'he says').
Maitoa 'milk' ( maito 'milk' in partitive) becomes [maitoo].
2) ua, yä: > [uuj, [yy] (formula:) U-A > UU
Minä haluan 'I want/wish' becomes [mä haluun].
Minä en halua ‘I don't want/wish (it)' becomes [mä en haluu].
Näkyä 'to be seen, appear' (the basic verb form) becomes [näkyy],
similar to the 3rd p.sg. (minä näyn, sinä näyt, hän/se näkvv).
3) ea, eä > [ee] (formula:) E-A > EE
Instead of makeasti 'sweetly' you hear [makeesti].
Hirveä 'terrible' becomes [hirvee], kipeä 'ill, sick' becomes [kipee].
4) ia, iä > [ii] (formula:) i-A > ii
"Aprillii! Syö sillii!" This can be heard on the first day of April.
Aprillia/aprillia, silliä ‘hedgehog’ would be the standard forms.
Prolonging of vowel combinations in the first syllable:
5) uo > [uu], yö > [yy], ie > [ii] (formula) UO > UU and ie > ii
juoda [juua'] 'to drink', syödä [syyä'] 'to eat', viedä [vii(jj)ä'] 'to
take, lead, export', tiedä! [tiiä'] (command form of tietää 'to know')
ve**

37
Chapter I, 1.8, 2.1
When the prolonging of uo, yö and i happens in the first syllable, the word
generally is a verb where the said combinations are followed by a d in the
second syllable. That d is usually disappears in speech. As I have noted
already, people tend to avoid d, and this is one of the places where it
happens. We also write kahdeksan (8), yhdeksän (9), but we are used to say
[kaheksan], [yheksän]. And the genitive form of the word äiti 'mother' is
mostly heard with t [äitin], not with d [äidin] as we write it.
2. MORE ABOUT THE HABITS IN SPEECH
2.1 The normal word order and place of stress
You always know how to stress a Finnish word because the main stress lies
on the first syllable. The third and the fifth syllables get a minor stress, e.g.
Väi-nä-möi-nen (the main hero of Kalevala), tu-le-vai-suus 'future'. The
very common suffix"-IAinen" always gets a strong side-stress: hel-sin-ki-
läi-nen 'a resident of Helsinki', paik-ka-kun-ta-lai-nen 'local resident'.
When reading sentences or clauses in a Finnish text you can always assume
that the first word and exactly the first syllable of it is stressed.
Note: The word sentence {lause) is mostly used for a full thought that in
writing ends in a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark.
Sentences contain phrases {fraasi, lauseke) which contain adjectives and
substantives ('nouns' in English) that can be inflected in cases as a group.
Normally the Finnish word order is the same as in English and other
European languages (namely SVOA = subject + verb + object + a statement
of time, place or manner), but in Finnish the order can be changed much
more freely than in English. The rather free word order is in Finnish needed
especially for forming questions with the help of a certain question suffix
"-kO" (= -ko/-kö). That is why we must be able to begin a sentence with
almost any word or phrase.
Also interrogative sentences begin with a stressed word as sentences
normally begin. That stressed word can be either an interrogative
conjunction like miksi 'why' or any word ending in the suffix "-kO".

38
Chapter I, 2.1, 2.2
In many other languages questions are formed by converting the order of
subject and predicate, and by emphasizing the tone towards the end of the
sentence. In Finnish a mere converted word order does not mean a question.
- 	In Chapter III, point 7, you will learn more about forming questions in
Finnish.
In Finnish the end of the sentence is the second important place where an
emphatic word or a surprise moment of the message, even the subject of the
sentence, can be placed without any emphasis or tone raising.
The possibility of varying the word order is one of the manners,
in which we compensate for the lack of definite and indefinite articles.
Minä teen sen huomenna. 1 shall do it tomorrow
Huomenna minä teen sen. Tomorrow 1 shall do it
Sen minä teen huomenna. It 1 shall do tomorrow
Teen minä sen huomenna. Do shall 1 it tomorrow
Note: The translations from Finnish into English only try to imitate the
Finnish word order.
2.2 	How do you spell your name to a Finn?
It is useful for a foreigner to know how to spell his or her own name in
Finnish. Finns have difficulties in catching the letters, if they are
pronounced to them in English. A misunderstanding and a confusion can
happen. When somebody asks you to spell your name, perhaps you hear
questions such as these:
Miten se kirjoitetaan? Voisitteko / voisitko luetella kirjaimet?
how do you spell it, would you please spell it out (list the letters)?
You could prepare yourself for this task, to spell your name to a Finn.
Please choose in advance some of the most common international or Finnish
proper nouns that you happen to know, and use the first capital letters of
them when you have to spell your name to a Finn. Do not use the English
names of the letters in that situation.

39
Chapter I, 2.2
If your name is e.g. Arthur, you could spell it to a Finn letter by letter in
Finnish as follows (niin kuin 'as in, like'):
A
[aa]
niin kuin Aatami (= Adam)
r
[är]
niin kuin Rooma (= Rome)
t
[tee]
niin kuin Turku
h
[hoo]
niin kuin Helsinki
u
[uu]
niinkuin U.S.A.
r
[är]
niin kuin Rooma (= Rome)
Most of the case endings begin with a consonant. When a foreign name or a
quoted loan word ends in a consonant we need to use the vowel i as a
binding vowel so that Finnish case endings can be added. We have many
old loan words such as posti 'post (office), mail', which carry an "-i" as their
permanent word-final vowel.
Therefore, if your name is Arthur it sounds like [artturi] and if you are Siv.
it sounds like Sivi [sivi] when your name is used in Finnish, e.g. Artturille
'to Arthur', Sivin kanssa 'with Siv'. If your name is e.g. Tom, you can inflect
it in Finnish cases and say Tomin in genitive sg., Tomia in partitive sg., etc.,
and also you can write so. Sometimes we use an apostrophe (') to show that
the i does not belong to the name.
Apostrophes (') are used when a Finnish case ending is added after a silent
consonant of some foreign names. If we have to say "to Glasgow" in
Finnish and we want that the diphthong ou of proper pronunciation is heard,
we can put an apostrophe before the case ending and write Glasgow'hun 'to
Glasgow', Glasgow'ssa 'in Glasgow'. - But, in my opinion, it must be
allowed to write and read also "Glasgowiin", "Glasgowissa".
The verb tavata 'to spell', tavaan 'I spell' is actually used only when we
mean the usage of listing letters and syllables (tavu 'syllable') using the old
method with which Finnish children have learned to read: the reading
process begins from letters and proceeds to syllables one after another until
the last syllable is cleared. Then we go back to the beginning and read the
word as a whole, this way: "aa-uu-au, tee-oo-to, auto".
It would be quite amusing to hear the verb tavata used in Finnish when
somebody is asked to tell (spell) his name: "Voisitteko tavata nimenne?"
V&A

40
Chapter I, 2.2, 2.3
Now let's repeat the letters in their alphabetical order in handwriting style:
A a
Bb
Co
Dd
Et
Ff
G g
tik
li
Jj
KL
Li
M M
N K
0*
Pp
R t
Tt
U a,
V<
Ä &
Ö«
The foreign letters q, w, x, z and ä were omitted above. The whole list was
presented under the point 1.1. You'll need it when consulting a dictionary.
2.3 	Useful words for your pronouncing exercises
The shortest Finnish words consist of two letters and they are such as ja
'and’, ei ’no’, on ’it is’, me ’we’ and^ö ’night’. Also the type of one consonant
followed by two similar vowels (= long vowel sound) or a diphthong exists.
The following is a list of short words, useful to know, easy to pronounce
and inflect in cases. The list begins with maa ’land’, which is a model word
in Table 1 at the end of this book. Many nouns are inflected like maa.
maa land, country luu bone
jää ice muu something else, other
pää head puu tree, wood
kyy viper (a reptile) kuu moon, month
syy reason suu mouth
sää weather tee, teen, teetä tea
pyy hazal-grouse (a bird) tie, tiet, teiden road, way
pii pi (maths.), silicon vyö, vyöt, vöiden belt
jaa yes (by voting only) häät, häiden wedding (a plural word)
Numerals (numerot) Months (kuukaudet)
1 yksi tammikuu January
2 kaksi helmikuu February
3 kolme maaliskuu March
4 neljä huhtikuu April
5 viisi toukokuu May
6 kuusi kesäkuu June

41
Chapter I, 2.3
7
seitsemän
heinäkuu
July
8
kahdeksan
elokuu
August
9
yhdeksän
syyskuu
September
10
kymmenen
lokakuu
October
11
yksitoista
marraskuu
November
12
kaksitoista
joulukuu
December
13
kolmetoista
itsenäisyyspäivä
Independence Day
14
neljätoista
joulu
Christmas
15
viisitoista
uusivuosi
New Year
16
kuusitoista
pääsiäinen
Easter
17
seitsemäntoista
vappu
May Day
18
kahdeksantoista
juhannus
Midsummer
19
yhdeksäntoista
juhlat
celebrations
20
kaksikymmentä
avajaiset
opening ceremony
21
kaksikymmentäyksi
ristiäiset
christening ceremony
30
kolmekymmentä
hautajaiset
funeral
The end part of all months is kuu 'moon', but here it can also be a shortening
of kuukausi (= kuu + kausi) 'moon period'.
The following presentation of colloquial forms of numerals is given here for
your passive knowledge until now, but the list will be useful for you.
The numerals that end in "-i" (1, 2, 5, 6) drop that vowel in speech:
[ yks, kaks, kolme, neljä, viis, kuus, ykstoist, kakstoist, kakskyt ]
When counting quickly, the numerals up to 16 are listed shorter:
[ yy, kaa, koo, nee, vii, kuu, seittemä(n), kaheksa(n), yheksä(n),
kymmene(n), yytoi, kaatoi, kolm(e)toist / koltoi, neltoi, viitoi, kuutoi]
The numbers from one to six, and ten, and hundred, are called by names as
follows:
ykkönen (1), kakkonen (2), kolmonen (3), nelonen (4),
viitonen (5), kuutonen (6), kymppi (10), satanen (100)
Especially, in colloquial languages the names of numbers are: vitonen (5),
kutonen (6), seiska (7), kasi (8) and ysi (9)
V&A

Chapter I, 2.3
42
When learning the numbers by heart you can train by picking up separately
the odd numbers (in Finnish parittomat) and the even numbers (parilliset).
- 	You will learn the ordinal numbers in Chapter V, point 6.4.
The seasons, in Finnish vuodenajat 'times of the year', are these:
kevät spring syksy autumn
kesä summer talvi winter1
The compass, in Finnish kompassi, shows ilmansuunnat or "directions of the
air" which are as follows:
pohjoinen
north
koillinen
north east
etelä
south
kaakko
south east
itä
east
lounas
south west
länsi
west
luode [luode’]
north west
Lounais-Suomi is situated in the south west comer of the country. Lounas
(lounaan, genitive sg.) 'lunch' is the same word as 'south west'. Luode
(> luoteen) 'north west' is also 'ebb', the opposite of vuoksi (> vuoksen)
'high tide'. The words laskuvesi ("down going water") and nousuvesi ("up
going water ") can be used instead of luode and vuoksi.
Further contrasting words, vastakohtia ("against points"), are in Finnish
oikea 'right'—vasen 'left', and oikea'r\ght'-väärä'wrong', inflected this way:
oikealla on the right oikeassa in the right
vasemmalla on the left väärässä wrong
On a question Minkä värinen se on? 'of which colour is it?' you can answer:
valkoinen
white
musta
black
sininen
blue
vihreä
green
punainen
red
ruskea
brown
keltainen
yellow
harmaa
grey, gray
oranssi
orange
kirjava
multicoloured
sinipunainen
purple, violet
tumma
dark
violetti
violet
vaalea
light
When you are studying a new language it is useful to know how to
consult the dictionaries between that language and your own.

43
Chapter II, 1.1, 1.2
II 	INFLECTING NOUNS
1. 	GENERAL REMARKS
1.1 No articles, no gender
It is a relief for a foreign learner that we don't use any articles such as the
definite "the" and the indefinite "a/an", or nil, in English. Finns find it
difficult to learn to know where the articles are used and where left out.
Instead of any articles, we use pronouns in our language, such as tämä, tuo,
se 'this, that, it', yksi 'one', or eräs 'a certain'. Very often the matter is clear
without such clarifications. We also operate with the word order to show if
the matter is known or certain or something new or considerable.
Furthermore, we don't see things as masculine or feminine and we don't
classify nouns on that ground. The personal pronoun hän 'he, she' is used
for both male and female persons. Because of accuracy, or if tautology
must be avoided, we resort to the name of the person in question, or we use
words that tell us the gender: mies 'man, husband', nainen 'woman', tyttö
girl', poika 'boy', morsian 'bride' and sulhanen 'bridegroom'.
1.2 We use case endings rather than prepositions
Case, in Finnish sija or sijamuoto, is a form, in which a Finnish word can be
used in phrases and sentences. The basic form, the nominative, is also one
of the cases. Because, the English word "case" has several meanings, I'll try
to use it only in its grammatical meaning when I speak about the Finnish
language. I rejected the word "case" in its normal meaning already when I
started writing the first version of this book in English in 2000.
The Finnish case endings, sijapäätteet (-pääte in nominative pi.) serve the
same purpose as the separate prepositions and postpositions in most of the
other European languages are used. As you know, prepositions are
normally placed before and postpositions after the noun words. They are not
unknown in Finnish, either.

Chapter II, 1.2
44
When using the term "noun word" or "noun", nomini in Finnish, I refer to
substantives, adjectives, pronouns and numerals, for which as a group it is
characteristic that they are inflected in cases when the Finnish language is
concerned. The number of cases is 14 or 15, depending on the way of
counting. In principle, only a fully productive ending is a "case", i.e. it
should be possible to add the suffix in its permanent shape to any noun.
The opposite term of nomini is verbi. Verbs are conjugated in verbal forms.
The nominative case remains unmarked in singular, but in plural it always
ends in "-t", e.g. talo, talot (nominative sg and pi.) 'house'. In all the other
cases there is an "-i-" or "-j-" element as a signal of the plurality. Some
pronouns begin with an n in plural, for instance tämä 'this', nämä 'these'.
Note: At this stage, please in mind that the vowel i is a past time notation
for verbs, and that the second person sinä 'you' in singular is marked by the
consonant suffix "-t", e.g. (sinä) puhut 'you speak'.
Pronouns have exceptional case forms, but so do pronouns have exceptional
forms also in other languages, like in English "me", "his", "him", "her"
which must be used when the basic forms "I", "he", "she" cannot be used.
Most of the Finnish case endings are easily recognizable. For instance, one
case (the translative) is known by its suffix "-ksi", and another by its
’’-lie" (allative). The case ending is visible (and audible) at the end.
Sometimes, however, there is an additional suffix put after the case ending.
Genitive is an important case. In its basic meaning it is possessive, i.e.
something is owned by somebody, and it always ends in "-n". Let's take
two phrases which contain words in nominative and inflected in genitive:
sg. tuo pieni tyttö > tuon pienen tytön äiti that little girl's mother
pi nuo pienet tytöt > noiden pienten tyttöjen äidit those little girls' mothers
Here the words were nicely in the same order in Finnish and in English. In
English those phrases could also read "the mother of that little girl" and "the
mothers of those little girls". The word orders äiti tuon pienen tytön and
äidit noiden pienten tyttöjen are possible in Finnish, but the result is rather
odd or poetic.

45
Chapter II, 1.2, 1.3
Note: The words tyttö and äiti belong to nouns that obey a "consonant
gradation", in Finnish astevaihtelu. You'll learn about it soon, in point 2.
1.3 	We use postpositions rather than prepositions
Prepositions such as the English "of' and "to" are not unknown in Finnish,
but postpositions suit the Finnish language better. Some postpositions can
be used instead of case suffixes, but with them we cannot avoid inflection,
and the result is two words instead of one. We rather say shortly talossa
'in a/the house' than longer with a postposition: talon sisässä (inessive) or
talon sisällä (adessive) 'inside a/the house'.
Further, we rather say pöydällä 'on the table', pöydältä 'from the table',
pöydälle 'to the table' than use two words to express the same thought:
pöydän päällä, pöydän päältä, pöydän päälle (pöytä 'table', pää 'head'). The
inflected form päällä means the same as pinnalla 'on the surface' when it is
used as a postposition together with the genitive case for its main word.
If we want to express the thoughts of "under" and "above" a table, we have
to use postpositions (or prepositions) because there are no suitable case
endings available for those purposes (yläpuoli 'upper part', puoli 'side'):
pöydän alla, alta, alle or pöydän alapuolella, alapuolelta, alapuolelle
pöydän yllä, vltä. vile or pöydän yläpuolella, yläpuolelta, yläpuolelle
Some postpositions easily become prepositions when the word order is
changed in order to reach a poetic effect: alla auringon 'under the sun'
(citation from a song; aurinko 'sun'). The sentence Se on tvön alia, literally
'it's under the work', means that I am or somebody is working on it. When
the word jälki 'trace' is made a postposition or a preposition, it becomes
jälkeen (illative sg.) and its main word will stay in genitive, for instance, sen
jälkeen 'thereafter', jälkeen puolenpäivän 'after noon'.
You see that even the postpositions and prepositions themselves contain
case endings such as "-ssä", "-llä", "-Itä", "-lie", "-llä". In addition to
that, the postpositions and preposition are used to require that their main
words stay in a certain form, which mostly is the genitive case ("-n"). This
kind of requiring of a particular case is called “rektio ”.

46
Chapter II, 1.3, 1.4
When the word lähellä (adessive) 'near' is used as a postposition, the main
word stays in genitive, and when the main word stays in partitive, lähellä
can be either a postposition or a preposition: {minun) lähelläni = lähellä
minua = minua lähellä 'near me'. Minun, the pronoun minä in genitive, is
connected with the suffix "-ni", see the coming Chapter II, 4.3.
The word kaukana (essive) 'far away' is mostly a preposition: kaukana
Helsingistä / täältä (‘far from Helsinki / here'). The number of Finnish
postpositions and prepositions is vague. You never get an entire list of them.
They often denote place and time. Therefore, they can be used alone. The
oppositions lähellä and kaukana are such.
1.4 	We add suffixes onto each other
Sometimes a Finnish word can contain several different suffixes
simultaneously. We have a group of one-syllable end particles that can be added
last in order to modify the the expression, namely these: "-kin", "-kAAn",
"-hAn", "-pA", "-pAs" and the question particle "-kO".
It is often difficult or even impossible or unnecessary to try to
translate the effect of modifying particles into other languages.
Many of the end particles have already been included in our model phrases
and sentences as you have seen them. They strictly differ from all the other
suffixes added to Finnish nouns and verbs.
The end particle "-kin" and its negative form "-kAAn" are very practical
as they can be used instead of a separate word myös. Examples:
pöydälläkin 'also on the table', en minäkään = en myöskään minä 'I not, either'.
The basic meaning of "-kin" is 'also', but its use can also express a surprise
or a contrast ('anyhow', 'after all'), jo oli aikakin = vihdoinkin at last', and
another particle can be put on it additionally, e.g. minäkinpä 'I, too!',
sinäkinkö ? 'you, too'.
The question particle "-kO" normally belongs to the end of the first word in
a sentence, this way: Onko se tämä? Tähänkö se tuleel 'Is it this? Does it
come here?' The question particle will be handled in Chapter III, point 7
"Forming questions".

47
Chapter II, 2.1
2. GRADATION
2.1 Gradation, concerning both nouns and verbs
It is important to understand the rules of gradation because it concerns the
entire vocabulary. It makes you study the changes that happen in the middle
of words according to a certain regularity. Gradation is in Finnish called
astevaihtelu (aste 'grade' + vaihtelu 'alternation').
Gradation happens to nouns when they are inflected in cases,
and to verbs when they are conjugated in verbal forms.
When we just talked about prepositions and postpositions you saw the word
pöytä also in forms pöydän and pöydällä and you understood that t and d
can vary this way. Jalan and jalalla belong to the case forms that we get
from jalka 'foot, leg'. When you remember this word you remember that k
disappears from the combination Ik when a word where that combination is
in the basic form is inflected in genitive: jalka, jalan.
Gradation can happen also when we build new words through derivation.
For instance, from the noun jalka we get the adjectives jalallinen 'equipped
with a leg' and jalaton 'without a foot'. The derived words jalallinen and
jalaton loose the k component of jalka permanently. The combination lk
does not appear back when we start inflecting the derived words in cases.
The I remains I in the genitive form jalattoman < jalaton. The suffix
"-ton" obeys the gradation between tt and t. You see that it would be too
complicated to manage two gradations in a word simultaneously.
You must know about this phenomenon of "gradation" before you get
acquainted with the Finnish cases and the verbal conjugation. I believe that
you will learn to master gradation by doing a lot of inflecting and
conjugating exercises, and also by learning to trust your ear as Finns do.
Note: In Finnish we talk about taivutus (< taivuttaa 'to bend, decline, inflect,
conjugate') disregarding if nouns or verbs are concerned. When the Finnish
grammar is concerned, it is not necessary to differentiate the concepts by
wording.

Chapter II, 2.2
48
2.2 	The principal parts will show you
if it is a word that obeys a gradation
When learning to inflect nouns in cases a little later in this book, you will
mostly get four principal parts (teemamuodot) from the list (= paradigm)
that would be the entire list of all forms in which that word may occur when
it is used. The principal parts are given to show if some endings are added
to a consonant stem, and if consonant changes and some vowel changes
occur in that word. For a noun at least the next four principal parts are
given:
nominative sg., genitive sg., partitive sg. and partitive pi.
For example, for sana 'word' these forms read sana, sanan, sanaa, sanoja.
For vaikea 'difficult' they are vaikea, vaikean, vaikeaa, vaikeita.
When we know the four characteristic forms for a noun, we should be able
to guess the remaining singular and plural forms correctly. On the basis of
the genitive form in singular, we know if there is a gradation in that noun.
The partitive forms in sg. and in pi., show us if the word-final vowel will
change in a special way when the noun is inflected according to its type.
You should learn to recognise the words, nouns and verbs, and know what
word it is, even if you encounter it in another form than in its basic form.
You need the basic form when you start turning the pages of your Finnish
dictionary. Then it is useful to know the Finnish alphabetical order.
You certainly have some difficulties in pronouncing and remembering it all
at the beginning, but you must overcome that phase. You should listen and
read Finnish words carefully, and at last, learn to trust your ear. Finnish is
not so difficult that learners should put every word in mind separately.
The following examples show you how Finnish words and the forms that
are used can differ a little but dramatically from each others. It’s because of
some consonant gradations. First nouns, then verbs:
aitta, aitan, aittaa, aittoja shed, storehouse
aita, aidan, aitaa, aitoja fence, hedge
tapa, tavan, tapaa, tapoja habit, manner, custom

49
Chapter II, 2.2, 2.3
tavata, tavaan, tavaamme
tavata, tapaan, tapaamme
tappaa, tapan, tapamme
to spell, 1 spell, we spell
to meet, I meet, we (shall) meet
to kill, 1 kill, we kill
Tapaan sinut siellä.
He tapaavat huomenna
Meillä oli tapaaminen tänään.
Oli hauska tavata (sinua /sinut).
I’ll meet you there
They shall meet tomorrow
We had an appointment today
It was nice to meet you
For avoiding misunderstandings, it is important to pronounce some Finnish
words properly, especially these two: tavata, tapaan 'to meet, I meet' and
tappaa, tapan 'to kill, I kill' as the consonants p, v and pp vary in them. The
nouns tapaaminen 'meeting' and tappaminen 'killing' are derived from them.
The verb tavata is conjugated differently in its two meanings: tapaan and
tavaan. In its second meaning ‘to spell’, tavata, tavaan, it is used without
gradation. Furthermore, the short word tapa, tavan, tapaa, tapoja 'habbit' is
good to know. (Among themselves, Finns are used to joke about the
pronouncing errors: Hauska *tappa vanha tuttu! 'nice to kill an old friend'.)
2.3 	About stems for nouns
Every noun has at least one vowel stem, to which suffixes can be added.
Some words have also a consonant stem. Sometimes we choose different
stems depending on the case in use. Sometimes it depends on the plural
form. Lapsi 'child' (lapsi, lapsen, lasta, lapsia) is a word that seems to have
three stems, lapse-, las- and laps-. The "-n" marker of the genitive case is
added to the vowel stem, lapse| as it cannot be added to any of the
consonant stems. In genitive pi. this word reads either lasten or lapsien.
Some nouns offer two plural alternatives in the genitive case. Isä ‘father’
has its vowel stem, only. In genitive plural isä reads either isäin or isien.
In this book I'm trying to manage without talking too much about "stems"
(vartalo) since most of the people don't know anything about "stems" and
cannot answer your questions. The stem is not the same as the basic form or
the first syllable of a word. If you wish to learn about the stems in detail,
I refer to other works on the market, e.g. those written by Leila White.
Finnish teachers can tell you more about this part of the Finnish grammar.

50
Chapter II, 2.4
2.4 	The types of gradation, strong and week
Learning to remember the types of consonant gradation is useful as it will
help you when you have to guess the basic forms of words. You will not
need the knowledge of gradation types only when learning to inflect nouns
but also when verbs are concerned. As soon as we come to the verbs you
will encounter the same types of gradation and some additional types.
One who knows nothing about the Finnish gradation is confused by the
Finnish names which can alter the form in the middle of speach. If a
surname is a meaningful word, it normally has to obey the gradation, e.g.
(Alvar) Aalto > Aallon 'wave'. By some first names we can forget the
consonant and vowel changes. Such are these: Lempi 'love', Impi 'maiden'
and Onni 'luck'. - More about names will be said in Chapter V, point 6.7.
You only need to learn to remember the main types of gradation because the
remaining ones are subtypes that follow the same principle. You can study
the principles of gradation with the help of the pattern words that you get
in this book. You can, of course, change my pattern words, and instead bear
in mind others that are inflected similarly. On the next two pages there is a
list that contains almost every kind of consonant gradations.
The main types of consonant gradation are thirteen:
kk ~ k. pp ~ p. tt ~ t. t ~ d. k ~ — (k: disappears), nk ~ ng.
mp ~ mm. p ~ v. k ~ v. k ~ j. It ~ II. nt ~nn and rt~rr
The meaning of the wavy line (~) is "these two vary". The first component
of the gradation pair is supposed to represent the strong grade (vahva
'strong'), and the second component is supposed to be weak (heikko 'weak').
The strong grade mostly belongs to the basic form, but it is not a rule. Such
words also exist where the weak grade is found in the basic form. Those
words usually end in a consonant including the "glottal sound". Among
the sample nouns that follow there are two examples: hammas, hampaan
fmp ~ mm) 'tooth' and murre, murteen (rt ~ rri 'dialect'. - Please repeat
Chapter I, 1.6, and see Chapter II, 3.6. - Some modem words such as auto,
auton 'car' and toti, totin 'toddy' are used without the gradation t~d.

51
Chapter II, 2.4
Gradation
kk ~ k
PP~P
tt~t
t ~ d
ht ~ hd
k ~ (nil)
lk ~ 1
nkk ~ nk
rkk ~ rk
nk ~ ng
k ~ v
P-rv
k^j
mpp ~ mp
mp ~ mm
ipp ~ ip
m ~ it
it ~ n
Model words (nouns)
sukka, sukan, sukkaa, sukkia
lippu, lipun, lippua, lippuja
katto, katon, kattoa, kattoja
katu, kadun, katua, katuja
lehti, lehden, lehteä, lehtiä
teko, teon, tekoa, tekoja
mäki, mäen, mäkeä, mäkiä
jalka, jalan, jalkaa, jalkoja
selkä, selän, selkää, selkiä
vankka, vankan, vankkaa, vankkoja
tarkka, tarkan, tarkkaa, tarkkoja
kenkä, kengän, kenkää, kenkiä
suku, suvun, sukua, sukuja
kyky, kyvyn, kykyä, kykyjä
lupa, luvan lupaa, lupia
halpa, halvan, halpaa, halpoja
kurki, kurjen, kurkea, kurkia
temppu, tempun, temppua, temppuja
kumpi, kumman, kumpaa, kumpia
hammas, hampaan, hammasta, hampaita
helppo, helpon, helppoa, helppoja
teltta, teltan, telttaa, telttoja
pelto, pellon, peltoa, peltoja
Basic meaning
stocking, sock
flag; ticket
roof, ceiling
street
leaf, (news)paper
act, work
hill, slope
foot, leg
(one's) back
strong, solid
sharp, careful
shoe
tribe, family
ability, talent
permission
cheap, inexpensive
crane
trick
which of two
tooth
easy
tent
field

52
Chapter II, 2.4, 2.5
nt - nn
hinta, hinnan, hintaa, hintoja
price
rtt ~ rt
kortti, kortin, korttia, kortteja
kartta, kartan, karttaa, karttoja
card
map
rt ~ rr
parta, parran, partaa, partoja
murre [murre'], murteen, murretta, murteita
beard
dialect
rs ~ rr
/z/ns7, hirren, hirttä, hirsiä
korsi, korren, kortta, korsia
timber, log
straw, stick
2.5 	The types of syllables, open or closed
Nouns are not classified according to the types of consonant gradation. The
gradation has its own rules that all words, nouns and verbs have to obey,
and the changes are predictable. Instead, nouns can be classified according
to the number of syllables and according to their last written (or
pronounced) letters.
If a syllable ends in a consonant like "-n”, "-t" or "-1", the syllable is
called to be "closed" (suljettu, umpitavu). A syllable that ends in a vowel, is
"an open syllable" (avoin, avotavu). Thus, a syllable can be either open or
closed. In addition to that each syllable has to contain either a short vowel
(ty-tön, tyt-tö-ja) or a long vowel (tyt-töön), or a diphthong (ty-töil-le).
According to this feature, syllables can be either short or long.
When in the inflection process a word like tyttö is made to end in a
consonant (tytön), the originally word-final vowel "-Ö" remains short and the
syllables are still two. When looking at the written form it looks like the
first syllable loosed its t (tyt-tö > ty-tön). When listening, we can suppose
that the double tt was shortened, [tt] > [t]. Please don't stick on the written.
But shut your eyes every now and then, and listen to your voice! When
learning to inflect nouns and conjugate verbs in Finnish, it is useful for you
to learn some model words by heart. For that purpose there are the "Pattern
tables of nouns and verbs" at the end of this book.
You still remember the fact that a Finnish syllable never begins with two
consonants. Most of the case endings, however, begin with two consonants,
namely these: "-ttA", "-ksi", "-ssA", "-stA", "-HA", "-ItA", "-He".
V&A

53
Chapter II, 2.5
Talo 'house' is an easy model word because all case endings, also those
beginning with two consonants, can be added to it as such. When we start
dividing an inflected noun into syllables, we note that the first consonant of
a case ending will belong to the next final syllable and make it a closed
syllable ("-t-ta", "-k-si", "-s-sA", etc.). This way the words mostly become
one syllable longer when they are inflected in cases.
At the seam between the last and the second-last syllable, there often is a
weak grade, for instance ty-tök-si < tyt-tö, and äi-dil-le < äi-ti. The reason
of the weak grade is the fact that an originally open last syllable becomes
second-last in the inflection process, and when that syllable is closed by a
consonant, it is preceeded by a weak grade. The weak and the strong grades
vary according to the same rules without any difference between nouns with
front vowels and with back vowels, for instance kat-to, ka-ton, kat-toa,
kattoja 'roof, ceiling' and tau-ti, tau-din-tauti-a, tau-te-ja 'illness'.
With the following 12 inflected forms of tyttö and äiti, first, and poika and
aika, next, you can study the basic rules of gradation. The four underlined
forms of each word below are the principal parts. The order of the cases is
from 1 to 12 as it is in Table 1 at the end of this book:
sg. tvt-tö. tv-tön. tvt-töä. tyt-tö-nä, ty-töt-tä, ty-tök-si
pl. ty-töt, tyt-tö-jen, tvt-tö-iä. tyt-töi-nä, ty-töit-tä, ty-töik-si
sg. ty-tös-sä, ty-tös-tä, tyt-töön, ty-töl-lä, ty-töl-tä, ty-töl-le
pl. ty-töis-sä, ty-töis-tä, tyt-töi-hin, ty-töil-lä, ty-töil-tä, ty-töil-le
sg. äi-ti. äi-din. äi-ti-ä. äi-ti-nä, äi-dit-tä, äi-dik-si
pl. äi-dit, äi-ti-en, äi-te-iä. äi-tei-nä, äi-deit-tä, äi-deik-si
sg. äi-dis-sä, äi-dis-tä, äi-tiin, äi-dil-lä, äi-dil-tä, äi-dille
pl. äi-deis-sä, äi-deis-tä, äi-tei-hin, äi-deil-lä, äi-deil-tä, äi-deil le
The words poika 'boy, son' and aika 'time' loose their k regularly, but
simultaneously a j can appear, as you see:
sg. poi-ka. po-ian. poi-kaa. poi-ka-na, po-jat-ta, po-jak-si
pl. po-jat, poi-ki-en, poi-ki-a. poi-ki-na, po-jit-ta, po-jik-si
sg. po-jas-sa, po-jas-ta, poi-kaan, po-jal-la, po-jal-ta, po-jal-le
pl. po-jis-sa, po-jis-ta, poi-kiin, po-jil-la, po-jil-ta, po-jil-le

54
Chapter II, 2.5, 2.6
sg. ai-ka. a-ian. ai-kaa. ai-ka-na, a-jat-ta, a-jak-si
pl. a-jat, ai-ko-jen, ai-ko-ia. ai-koi-na, a-joit-ta, a-joik-si
sg. a-jas-sa, a-jas-ta, ai-kaan, a-jal-la, a-jal-ta, a-jal-le
pl. a-jois-sa, a-jois-ta, ai-koi-hin, a-joil-la, a-joil-ta, a-joil-le
Note: Tai-ka, tai-an, tai-kaa, tai-ko-ja 'magic, charm', tai-at in nominative
sg, is inflected without the j element (*tajan). The first syllable tai- is
permanent even if k disappears according to the gradation k ~ - when the
last syllable is closed, for instance by the consonant n in genitive sg.
In addition to the four principal parts, the illative (case number 9) is also
remarkable. It namely shows a strong grade: tyttöön, tyttöihin and äitiin,
äiteihin. The inflection of some few words is exceptional, and you only
have to learn to remember them separately.
We shall study the inflection of Finnish words thoroughly in the next point 3
and do it with the help of more "normal" words than tyttö, äiti, poika and
aika.. In addition, please study the inflection of nouns in Table 1.
2.6 Vowel changes, at the beginning and at the end
Some short nouns change their diphthong of the first syllable when
inflected, and the same diphthongs may vary also by verbs when they are
conjugated. These diphthongs may vary in the first syllables:
ie > ei, yö > öi, uo > oi
This kind of a change of the vowels is a matter of some nouns, and it only
happens in the plural case forms. Let's take the nouns tie 'way, road', työ
'job, work' and suo 'bog, swamp' here as a sample and inflect them in twelve
cases in plural. Please note how the change happens from the genitive pl.
form (teiden, töiden, soiden) onwards:
tie tiet, teiden, teitä, teinä, teittä, teiksi,
teissä, teistä, teihin, teillä, teiltä, teille
työ työt, töiden, töitä, töinä, töittä, töiksi,
töissä, töistä, töihin, töillä, töiltä, töille

55
Chapter II, 2.6, 3.1
suo suot, soiden, soita, soina, soitta, soiksi,
soissa, soista, soihin, soilla, soilta, soille
In the following we take laiva ’ship, vessel', helmi ’pearl’ and veli 'brother’ as
model nouns:
sg. laiva, laivan, laivaa, laivana, laivatta, laivaksi,
laivassa, laivasta, laivaan, laivalla, laivalta, laivalle
pl. laivat, laivojen, laivoja, laivoina, laivoitta, laivoiksi,
laivoissa, laivoista, laivoihin, laivoilla, laivoilta, laivoille
sg. helmi, helmen, helmeä, helmenä, helmettä, helmeksi
helmessä, helmestä, helmeen, helmellä, helmeltä, helmelle
pl. helmet, helmien, helmiä, helminä, helmittä, helmiksi,
helmissä, helmistä, helman, helmillä, helmiltä, helmille
sg. veli, veljen, veljeä. veljen, veljettä, veljeksi,
veljessä, veljestä, veljeen, veljellä, veljeltä, veljelle
pl. veljet, veljien, veljiä, veljinä, veljittä, veljiksi,
veljissä, veljistä, veljiin, veljillä, veljiltä, veljielle
Words ending in the vowels a and i can cause a problem for you at the beginning.
3. THE FINNISH CASES CASE BY CASE
3.1 The number of Finnish cases
Sija 'case' refers to the form, in which a noun is used. In German there are
four cases or "Kasus": nominative, genitive, dative and accusative. The
English language knows two cases: nominative and genitive. Some special
forms of pronouns, like me and him, could be called an accusative.
Most grammars distinguish 15 cases in Finnish. The "accusative" case is
then included among the cases, and explained to be the form, in which
words are used to fill the place where objects belong to in transitive
sentences. The Finnish "accusative" is problematic because it occurs in two

Chapter II, 3.1
56
different forms. The two different forms of "accusative" are identical with
two normal cases, the nominative and the genitive (genitive only in sg.) The
ending "-n" (< "-m"once in ancient times) is found to be essential, and it
has even been called the "n-case". The terms "nominative-accusative" and
"genitive-accusative" are also used.
The partive case must not be forgotten as a case for objects.
Partitive is a very important case of object: statistically it is
the most usual case among the three possible cases for an object.
In this book the number of Finnish cases is 14, because I am making an
attempt of my own to explain the Finnish system of objects, subjects and
predicative complements without using the term "accusative" at all. That
term has long been adopted in teaching how the rules for the forms of object
are. In my opinion, in that way the matter has been made too difficult.
When the Iso suomen kielioppi Big Finnish grammar' was issued in 2004
it contained a simple announcement saying that the cases of object are
nominative, genitive and partitive. Thus, the accusative case could already
be omitted in the Finnish grammar. The said work is a really big Finnish
grammer in red coveres, and a net version of it is available without any
charge at the address www.kotus.fi. If you are interested in it, search for
Ison suomen kieliopin verkkoversio, and open it. Please note that it is a
descriptive, not a normative grammar.
The names of the most common 12 cases and their
distinctive singular suffixes are shortly as follows:
1.
Nominative = nominatiivi
(pl. -t)
7.
Inessive = inessiivi
(-ssA)
2.
Genitive = genetiivi
(-“)
8.
Elative = elatiivi
(-stA)
3.
Partitive = partitiivi
(-(t)A)
9.
Illative = illatiivi (-V(h)V+ n)
4.
Essive = essiivi
(-nA)
10.
Adessive = adessiivi
(-11A)
5.
Abessive = abessiivi
(-ttA)
11.
Ablative = ablatiivi
(-UA)
6.
Translative = translatiivi
(-ksi)
12.
Allative = allatiivi
(-lie)
The first thing for you to do could be to learn to remember the numbers I
have given the cases from 1 to 12, and their places on the Tables of this
book. Thereafter, perhaps you still learn the names from nominative to
allative. Knowing the names makes it easier to talk about the cases.

57
Chapter II, 3.1
Nominative, genitive and partitive are the most important forms. You
should remember them. In addition to those 12, we still have comitative =
komitatiivi (number 13) and instructive = instruktiivi (number 14). These
two cases are not included in my pattern tables, but you will get
explanations about their endings and use in Chapter V, points 5.1 and 5.2.
The big number of cases is not so bad as it may sound first. The English
names of the cases tell you something about the use and the meaning of
each case if you know a little Latin. The part "-essive" in the names of the
cases has something to do with being somewhere, and the "-lative" refers to
movement from place to place.
Something about the abessive case:
My numbering the cases from 1 to 14 in this book is a consequence of my
trials to find place for so many cases as possible on one page. When I gave
number 5 to the abessive case (-ttA"), it became one of the 12 cases on
Table 1 concerning the inflection of nouns. On the last Table in this book,
those 12 cases are dealt in four groups and presented with the help of four
triangels. Abessive is found on the top of the second triangel.
Please note which cases there are on the tops of the other three triangels.
The basic meaning of elative and ablative is "away from something", and
that is the original meaning of partitive, too. The syllable "-tA" is found
on the top of each of the four triangels.
In traditional grammars abessive is mostly regarded as a marginal or rare
case, and it is mentioned together with comitative and instructive.
When valo 'light' is inflected in abessive, we get valotta = ilman valoa
'without light', from työ 'work, job' we get työttä = ilman työtä 'without a
job' or työtön 'jobless', which is a negative adjective and formed from työ
with the help of the ending "-tOn".
In Chapter VI, point 1.3 you will learn that the 3rd infinitive form "-mA"
gets a negative meaning, 'without doing something' when the abessive
ending "-ttA" is added to it, e.g. olla syömättä ia juomatta 'to be without
eating and drinking'. These forms are used often nowadays.

58
Chapter II, 3.1, 3.2
The basic meaning of abessive is "without something". You can avoid the
use of this case with the help of the word ilman, which is a preposition as
well as a postposition and requires the partitive case: the main noun and the
whole phrase with the word ilman before or after the phrase is inflected in
partitive.
3.2 	The purpose of the pattern tables
The pattern nouns and verbs at the end of this book will give you an idea
about the regularity and logic, with which the case endings repeat
themselves. Inflecting exercises will help you to accept the gradation and the
idea of inflection in so many cases as a natural and easy thing in Finnish. At
the beginning if you learn to inflect nouns fully mechanically, the skill will
help you to proceed and make you finally understand also the rest of the
Finnish grammar.
The pattern tables contain forms that you may never need or
use. At this stage of your learning you must not worry
about the meanings of the inflected forms.
You certainly have been astonished at noting that a lot of different words,
not only names of things and persons but also numerals, pronouns,
prepositions and postpositions, adjectives, and even words based on a verb, are
equipped with case endings. You will get acquainted with them in Chapter
VI, after having first learned to know the personal forms of verbs.
Inflecting nouns is a mechanical process in spite of the consonant changes
that occur in the middle of words (gradation) and in spite of some changes
that happen to the end vowels "-a" and "-i". Gradation occurs quite
independently from the noun types, so one has to learn to master the types
of gradation first and separately before learning to inflect nouns in cases.
Table 1 contains substantives, adjectives and numerals inflected in 12 cases,
singular and plural. You could read the tables horizontally and vertically,
and compare the forms. It is good for you to learn to identify the cases and
keep them apart from other cases and suffixes. There is a logic in them that
repeats itself.
V&A

59
Chapter II, 3.2
Every time you go and check the meaning of a word
in your dictionary, you should study several
successive words at the same time.
Finnish words form families, and together they help you to understand the
meanings correctly. The basic forms have a basic idea, but actually each
word and especially its inflected form has a meaning only when it is used in
a certain situation.
When learning to inflect nouns and thereafter to conjugate verbs, you need
not worry too much about the situations where you might need the forms.
You must not keep asking yourself or native speakers about the words'
meanings in their inflected forms. When you write your inflecting exercises
down on a piece of paper and you are unsure, you should let a native Finn
check it.
You need not be afraid of "gradation errors" when trying to speak Finnish.
The errors by inflection are understandable to native speakers of Finnish.
They will guide you automatically to say the correct form as if you were
a child who were learning to speak and needed guidance. Don't worry if
they simultaneously smile a little! They, however, did understand you on
grounds of the situation.
It is true that Nykysuomen sanakirja (SKS, 1970) and Käänteissanakirja -
Reverse Dictionary of Modern Standard Finnish (SKS, 1979) count up to
82 classes of noun types (83 with the inflexible ones, such as ensi 'next',
viime 'last'), but a much smaller amount is enough to give you the idea.
Finns themselves are not aware of that many types. The large number is
partly caused by alternative endings in genitive, partitive, essive and illative.
A music instrument called kantele:
Some nouns have alternative forms already in the basic form, and
consequently alternative forms also in most of the cases. Such is the name of
an old Finnish music instrument called either kannel or kantele [-e'].
In genitive sg. the word kantele reads either kantelen or kanteleen.
Respectively in the partitive case, two forms can be used: joku soittaa
kanteletta or kannelta ('somebody is playing kannel').
V6-4

60
Chapter II, 3.3, 3.4
3.3 	Talo ("house') inflected in cases
The noun word talo 'house' is often given as the first model word. It is an
easy word because the basic form is the same as the stem and the endings
can be added to it directly. It is also a word which easily shows that
plurality is marked with i or j, except that the plural marker of nominative is
"-t".
Case:
1. Nominative
4. Essive
7. Inessive
10. Adessive
sg-
talo
talona
talossa
talolla
pl-
talot
taloina
taloissa
taloilla
Case:
2. Genitive
5. Abessive
8. Elative
11. Ablative
sg-
talon
talotta
talosta
talolta
pl-
talojen
taloitta
taloista
taloilta
Case:
3. Partitive
6. Translative
9. Illative
12. Allative
sg-
taloa
taloksi
taloon
talolle
pl-
taloja
taloiksi
taloihin
taloille
Note: See Table 1 at the end of this book. There are the following nouns fully
inflected in 12 cases: 1. teko, 2. sana, 3. teos, 4. maa, 5. pieni, 6. lapsi, 1. pankki,
8. paperi, 9. korkea, 10. toinen, 11. kolmas, 12. kone, 13. kevät, 14. kaunis, 15.
lämmin, 16. sisar, 17. mies, 18. vastaus and 19. korkeus. After them there still are
the numbers from yksi (1) to kymmenen HO) and sata and tuhat fully inflected.
3.4 	Two model phrases inflected in cases
Let's take two phrases that consist of an adjective and a substantive: vanha
ystävä 'old friend' and uusi koti 'new home', and inflect them in 12 cases.
Please note that the translations given to the words cannot give more than a
vague idea because the meanings are always bom when the words are used.
The first phrase is easy without any consonant changes. The second phrase
is more difficult since both parts of it obey gradation, in which t and d vary.
In addition, the words uusi and koti represent two different types of nouns
that end in "-i". Therefore, you must look carefully and note where the
word-final i is used to change to e.

61
Chapter II, 3.4
Uusi ’new’ is a special word because the last syllable -si sometimes changes
to -ti, which then obeys the gradation t - d as if the basic form were "uuti"
(children’s language). When the word uusi is inflected in the partitive case,
we must use the consonant stem uut\-to be able to add the case ending
ff-tA" to it and to get the form uutta.
1. Nominative, singular -
vanha ystävä
an/the old friend
uusi koti
a/the new home
plural
vanhat ystävät
the old friends
uudet kodit
the new homes
2. 	Genitive, sg. -n
vanhan ystävän
(of) the old friend
uuden kodin
(of) a/the new home
pl. -Ien /-den/-(it)ten/-in
vanhojen ystävien
of the old friends
uusien kotien
of the/some new homes
3. 	Partitive, sg. -A / -tA
vanhaa ystävää
(of) the/an old friend
uutta kotia
(of) a/the new home
pl. -IA / -itA
vanhoja ystäviä
(some) old friends
uusia koteja
(some) new homes
4. 	Essive, sg. -nA
vanhana ystävänä
as the/an old friend
uutena kotina
as a/the new home
pl. -inA
vanhoina ystävinä
as (the) old friends
uusina koteina
as the/some new homes
5. 	Abessive, sg. -ttA
vanhatta ystävättä
without an old friend
uudetta koditta
without a new home
pl. -ittA
vanhoitta ystävittä
without old friends
uusitta kodeitta
without new homes
6. 	Translative, sg. -ksi
vanhaksi ystäväksi
to/as the/an old friend
pl. -iksi
vanhoiksi ystäviksi
as (the) old friends

Chapter II, 3.4
62
uudeksi kodiksi
for a new home
uusiksi kodeiksi
for (the) new homes
7. Inessive, sg. -ssA
vanhassa ystävässä
in the/an old friend
uudessa kodissa
in the/a new home
8. Elative, sg. -stA
vanhasta ystävästä
from the/an old friend'
uudesta kodista
from the/a new home
9. Illative, sg. -V(h)Vn/-seen
vanhaan ystävään
to the/an old friend
uuteen kotiin
to the/a new home
pl. -issA
vanhoissa ystävissä
in (the) old friends
uusissa kodeissa
in (the) new homes
pl. -istA
vanhoista ystävistä
from (the) old friends
uusista kodeista
from (the) new homes
pl. -i(h)in /-siin
vanhoihin ystäviin
to (the) old friends
uusiin koteihin
to (the) new homes
10. 	Adessive, sg. -HA
vanhalla ystävällä
by the/an old friend
uudella kodilla
by the/a new home
pl. -illA
vanhoilla ystävillä
by (the) old friends
uusilla kodeilla
by (the) new homes
11. 	Ablative, sg. -ItA
vanhalta ystävältä
from the/an old friend
uudelta kodilta
from the/a new home
pl. -iltA
vanhoilta ystäviltä
from (the) old friends
uusilta kodeilta
from (the) new homes
12. 	Allative, sg. Jie
vanhalle ystävälle
for/to the/an old friend
uudelle kodille
for/to the/a new home
pl. -ille
vanhoille ystäville
for/to (the) old friends
uusille kodeille
for/to (the) new homes

63
Chapter II, 3.4
Please study the forms of genitive, partitive, essive and illative (the cases
number 2, 3, 4 and 9) carefully and learn to remember where there is a
strong grade and where a weak grade, and for which reason it is so. You
could train your inflecting skills further by arranging the words of the ready
inflected phrases otherwise and starting to inflect your new phrases vanha
koti and uusi ystävä in all the 12 cases.
It is worth learning to inflect uusi by heart because a lot of words are
inflected similarly. Among them are the numerals 5 and 6, and some others:
viisi, viiden, viittä, viisiä five
kuusi, kuuden, kuutta, kuusia six
kausi, kauden, kautta, kausia period
vuosi, vuoden, vuotta, vuosia year
vesi, veden, vettä, vesiä water
käsi, käden, kättä, käsiä hand
liesi, lieden, liettä, liesiä cooker, range
reisi, reiden, reittä, reisiä thigh
susi, suden, sutta, susia wolf
tosi, toden, totta, tosia true
In Finnish we have some pairs of words that look (and sound) similar in
their basic forms, but are different when inflected in cases. Kuusi is an
example of such words. Do you know the word that is inflected this way:
sg. kuusi, kuusen, kuusta, kuusena, kuusetta (ilman kuusta), kuuseksi,
kuusessa, kuusesta, kuuseen, kuusella, kuuselta, kuuselle
pl. kuuset, kuusien / kuusten, kuusia, kuusina, kuusitta, kuusiksi
kuusissa, kuusista, kuusiin, kuusilla, kuusilta, kuusille
Lastly, something about the illative, case number 9:
When forming the illative case ("-VVn") we prolong the last vowel and add
an n, e.g. taloon 'into the house'. Alternatively, the suffix can be explained
longer"-(V)hVn", and read: "h and n and between them the same vowel
that was before the h". Thus, in plural the illative suffix is "-ihin". Maa
'land' is a simple word of this type: maahan (illative sg.), maihin (illative
pl.), see Table 1, example noun number 4.

64
Chapter II, 3.4. 3.5
Another pattern word in Table 1, namely toinen 'other, second' uses in
illative the ending variants "-seen" in sg and "-siin" in pl., toiseen, toisiin.
All nouns and adjectives that end in the syllable "-nen" are like toinen. The
nouns ending in "-minen" are similar. You cannot find all of the "-minen"
words in dictionaries because we can add that ending to any Finnish verb.
In dictionaries the words are mostly listed according to their basic forms.
When you are consulting your dictionary, you will find and understand the
words better if you did put the consonant pairs of gradation well in mind.
They were listed under point 2.4 of this Chapter II.
In addition, you must still learn to know how Finnish words are built
through derivation (derivointi or johtaminen). Derivation is a way to build
new longer words on grounds of old shorter words by adding meaningful
syllables to them. For instance ystävällisesti 'kindly' is a word derived from
ystävällinen 'kind', and pahasti (sairas) 'badly (ill)' is built on paha 'bad'.
3.5 	There are several types of nouns that end in "-i"
Among the nouns that end in "-i" in their basic form, some retain that
vowel i in genitive sg. (kodin < koti). Some words change the i to e, just
as uusi and pieni do in genitive: uusi, uuden; pieni, pienen. In nominative
pl. they read uudet, pienet. If you know the four principal parts of a noun,
the genitive sg. form is the second among them.
Note: Most nouns which end in "-e" in their basic form belong to another
inflection type and are inflected like the model noun kone (Table 1). The
noun perhe, perheen, perhettä, perheitä 'family' is similar. It is easy to keep
them apart from nouns that end in "-i" and change it sometimes to an -e-.
About the binding vowel i:
When a foreign word or name ends in a consonant, we need to add an i
vowel between the word and a case ending beginning with a consonant.
In many loan words the word-final "-i" is permanent. Those words do not
change their binding vowel i to an -e- when the word is inflected in genitive
sg. and nominative pl. - Here you could repeat point 2.2 of Chapter I.
V&A

65
Chapter II, 3.5. 3.6
Posti 'mail, post office' and peli 'game, match' are typical loan words that
you can learn to inflect as model words:
sg. posti, postin, postia, postina, postitta, postiksi,
postissa, postista, postiin, postilla, postilta, postille
pl. postit, postien, posteja, posteina, posteitta, posteiksi, posteissa...
sg. peli, pelin, peliä, pelinä, pelittä, peliksi,
pelissä, pelistä, peliin, pelillä, peliltä, pelille
pl. pelit, pelien, peleiä. peleinä, peleittä, peleiksi, peleissä, peleistä...
The name Helsinki has been built by adding an i to the Swedish ending
"-ing". So it has got its "-inki" that obeys the gradation nk ~ ng [rjk ~ rjrj]:
Helsinki. Helsingin. Helsinkiä. Helsinkinä, Helsingittä, Helsingiksi,
Helsingissä, Helsingistä, Helsinkiin, Helsingillä, Helsingiltä, Helsingille
We need not inflect the name of a capital city in plural.
Lehti, lehden, lehteä, lehtiä is a word whose original meaning "leaf' of any
plant has found use in many new fields. When I hear the word lehti, its first
meaning in my mind is sanomalehti 'newspaper". When Lehti is a surname
it is written with a capital first letter and inflected like lehti.
3.6 	Inflection of nouns ending in a consonant
Nouns that end in a consonant are a little more complicated than those
ending in a vowel. The consonants, in which the Finnish nouns can end are
"-s", "-n", "-r", "-1" and "-t", as well as the glottal sound,
jäännöslopuke or "loppuhenkonen", which has not got a letter of its own in the
Finnish writing system. - Here you could repeat Chapter I, point 1.6.
The light glottal sound belongs, for instance, to kone [kone'], koneen,
konetta, koneita 'engine' which is a model word in Table 1. Please compare
it with kevät, kevään, kevättä, keväitä 'spring', another model noun there.
Note especially the difference between these two forms: konetta, koneetta
and kevättä, keväättä.
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Chapter II, 3.6
66
Nouns which end in "-e" but do not follow the pattern of kone, koneen
are exceptional as they can be pronounced with or without any glottal sound
['] in their basic form. Among them there is the number kolme, kolmen
'three', as well as the pronoun itse, itsen, itseä 'self' (see point 4.5).
Furthermore, we have the words nukke, nuken, nukkea, nukkeja 'puppet' and
nalle, nallen, nallea, nalleja 'teddy bear'. Also olut, oluen, olutta, oluita
'beer' that ends in "-t" is exceptional: in illative sg. it reads olueen, in pl.
oluisiin / oluihin.
If a word in its basic form, ends in a consonant, the glottal sound included,
and happens to contain a place ("seem") between two syllables before a case
ending where a consonant gradation can occur, then the weak grade is found
in the basic form and the strong grade in the inflected forms of the word.
Traditional grammars call this type of gradadion converted gradation and B-
type's gradation. (By verbs the rules are much the same but now we are
talking about noun words.) Example nouns which obey this type of
gradation:
parveke, parvekkeen, parveketta, parvekkeita balcony
tiede, tieteen, tiedettä, tieteitä science
väite, väitteen, väitettä, väitteitä claim, argument
farkut, farkkujen, farkkuja (plural like housut) jeans, denims
In this book I avoid from speaking about converted gradation because I
deciced to nominate the glottal sound [-e'] a real consonant even if it is not
marked with a letter in writing. It is a sound that makes a syllable closed,
just as consonants in general do and cause a weak gradation in the word.
Nouns that end in "-n" can be difficult when we have to inflect them in
cases. One of those words is tulostin or printteri 'output devise'. The four
principal parts of that word are: tulostin, tulostimen, tulostinta, tulostimia.
Sydän, sydämen [sydämmen]:
Let's inflect sydän 'heart', where we have the problematic d in the written
basic form. Furthermore, a consonant m appears in inflected forms:
sg. svdän. sydämen [mm], sydäntä, sydämenä, sydämeltä, sydämeksi, sydämessä...
pl. sydämet, sydämien, sydämiä, sydäminä, sydämittä, sydämiksi, sydämissä...

67
Chapter II, 3.6,4.1
To our relief, there is no gradation t ~ d in the word sydän when people
speak formal or standard language. In dialects the d is replaced by, for
instance, r or dropped wholly [syrän, syän], Sydämeni 'my heart' has in a
song got the form "syömmein" which sounds very poetic.
Note: The m is pronounced double [mm] in all of the inflected forms of
sydän, e.g. sydämen [sydämmen], and in its derivations, sydämellisesti
'cordially' [svdämmellisesti].
Finns remember the writing rule of one m as they have been told: "In a
Finnish man's heart there is no place for two m's (suomalaisen miehen
sydämeen ei mahdu kahta ämmää). The coin of the joke is that m is
pronounced [äm, ämmä], like ämmä 'old woman, grandmother, wife'.
In today's language, ämmä is a little uggly word. Other disrespectful words
for a woman are akka, eukko and muija. Young people have found a new
word that they can use in all friendship: mummeli (< mummo, mummu).
(I have heard it!) Correspondingly, a male ukko is called ukkeli.
4. PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE SUFFIXES
4.1 The personal pronouns and kuka ('who'?)
inflected in cases
In many languages pronouns have special forms to be used as object. In
Finnish we have a special "accusative" form minut sinut for the six personal
pronouns minä, sinä, etc. and kenet for the interrogative pronoun kuka,
kenen, ketä, keitä 'who?'. In the table below, I have placed these special
forms of "accusative" case in the second column near the nominative case
and called them the "t-case". - In this connection, it is remarkable that the
consonant t is used as the case ending of nominative pl. when normal nouns
are concerned.
1. Nominative "t-case” 2. Genitive 3. Partitive
minä I minut minun minua
sinä you sinut sinun sinua

Chapter II, 4.1
68
1. Nominative
"t-case"
2. Genitive
3. Partitive
hän he/she
hänet
hänen
häntä
se it
(se)
sen
sitä
me we
meidät
meidän
meitä
te you
teidät
teidän
teitä
he they
heidät
heidän
heitä
ne they
(ne)
niiden / niitten
niitä
kuka who, sg.
kenet
kenen
ketä
ketkä who, pl.
ketkä
keiden / keitten
keitä
4. Essive
6. Translative
7. Inessive
8. Elative
minuna
minuksi
minussa
minusta
sinuna
sinuksi
sinussa
sinusta
hänenä
häneksi
hänessä
hänestä
sinä
siksi
siinä
siitä
meinä
meiksi
meissä
meistä
teinä
teiksi
teissä
teistä
heinä
heiksi
heissä
heistä
niinä
niiksi
niissä
niistä
kenenä
keneksi
kenessä
kenestä
keinä
keiksi
keissä
keistä
9. Illative
10. Adessive
11. Ablative
12. Allative
minuun
minulla
minulta
minulle
sinuun
sinulla
sinulta
sinulle
häneen
hänellä
häneltä
hänelle
siihen
sillä
siltä
sille
meihin
meillä
meiltä
meille
teihin
teillä
teiltä
teille
heihin
heillä
heiltä
heille
niihin
niillä
niiltä
niille
kehen
kenellä
keneltä
kenelle
keihin
keillä
keiltä
keille
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69
Chapter II, 4.1,4.2
Case number 5, abessive, is missing in the previous table because those
forms (minuttä. sinutta. etc.) would be hardly usable. The abessive case can
be replaced by the preposition ilman 'without' (ilman minua, ilman sinua).
The partitive forms of pronouns (minua, sinua, etc.) can also be used as an
object, and many verbs always require partitive. In negative sentences the
pronouns must stay in the partitive form when they have the role of an
object in the negative sentence.
The special "accusative" or "total" form of pronouns (the "t-case") must
be used when partitive is impossible because of the total or resultative
meaning. You will understand this usage as soon as we start conjugating
verbs. However, some model sentences will follow here:
Tapasin hänet eilen.
En tavannut häntä eilen.
Ota minut mukaasi!
1 met him (or her) yesterday
I did not meet him (or her) yesterday
take me with you!
En ota sinua mukaani.
Otan lapsen / lapset mukaani.
En ota lasta / lapsia mukaani.
I don't take vou with me
I'll take the kid/kids with me
I am not taking a/the kid/ kids with me
4.2 The personal pronouns se, ne ('it, they1)
and some others in demonstrative use
The demonstrative pronouns are tämä, tuo, se, nämä, nuo, ne. The
pronouns se and ne were contained in the previous table but let's take them
once more separately:
sg. se, sen, sitä, sinä, (ilman sitä), siksi,
siinä, siitä, siihen, sillä, siitä, sille
pl. ne, niiden (niitten), niitä, niinä, (ilman niitä), niiksi,
niissä, niistä, niihin, niillä, niiltä, niille
As the abessive ending ("-ttA") is not available for the pronouns se and ne
we have to use the preposition ilman ’without’. Ilman requires partitive and
may also occur as postposition, ilman sitä = sitä ilman.

Chapter II, 4.2
70
Tuo (sg.) 'that' and nuo (pl.) 'those' point at something that is situated at
some distance from the speaker. Tuo is inflected normally in singular: tuon,
tuota, tuona, tuoksi. Nuo is the respective plural basic form of nominative.
From the genitive pl. case onwards it reads: noiden, noita, noina, noiksi, etc.
Thus, the plural forms of tuo contain an n and an i as plural markers, and
there is the vowel change from uo to oi.
Please note the difference between the forms sinä and siinä when the
pronoun se 'it' is concerned: sinä is essive sg. ("-nA"), e.g. sinä päivänä 'on
that day' while siinä is a special inessive sg. form ("-ssA") of the pronoun
se 'it'. This nominal phrase is in inessive sg: siinä talossa 'in that house'.
As to the difference between se and hän, it is very common in speech that
we use se 'it' for persons, and hän 'he, she' for pets such as cats and dogs.
It is, of course, advisable to be cautious and use hän for people, and se for
things and animals. Se 'it' and ne 'they' for people can be considered
impolite. In speech, we are used to change the pronouns systematically:
Se sanoo, että hän sanoi.. (same person) He says that he said
Hän sanoo, että se sanoi. (different persons) He says that he said
We use the demonstrative pronouns tämä, tuo, se, nämä, nuo, ne ('this, that,
it, these, those, they') to refer to a certain thing.
Eräs, erään, erästä, eräitä 'a certain' is an indefinite pronoun seldom used.
Sometimes it feels like an alternative to the numeral yksi, yhden, yhtä,
yksiä. It is difficult to explain the difference. Anyhow, eräs and yksi are no
articles. As you remember, the Finnish language doesn't need any articles.
The nominative sg. form means already alone that there is one of that kind
of things. Yksi is added when caunting the number of things, but it can also
mean the same as joku or jokin. One example of that kind of indefinite use
of yksi: Siellä oli (yksi/joku) ihminen 'there was a man / somebody'.
At the end of a meeting somebody can say "yksi asia vielä" ('one more
thing') when he had forgotten something. "Eräs asia vielä" would, in my
opinion, mean that the person just got a new idea. In your dictionary you
can find translations for the English word "one": eräänä päivänä 'one day',
yksi heistä 'one of them.
1>6*4

71
Chapter II, 4.2, 4.3
The indefinite pronoun jokin, jonkin, jotakin, joitakin 'something', in
nominative pl .jotkin, genitive pl. joidenkin, is used to refer to things, but it
can also refer to persons in the meaning of 'some' and used instead of joku.
Joku, jonkun, jotakuta, joitakuita 'somebody' gets quite complicated forms
when inflected in cases, for instance: jotkut (nominative pl.), joidenkuiden
(genitive \A.), joillekuille... The long forms are used exclusively for persons.
Joka, jonka, jota, joita 'who', in nominative pl .jotka, in genitive pl .joiden,
is a very common relative pronoun. Normally, it is necessary that there is a
preceding word as a correlat, to which joka refers. It is correct to use the
demonstrative (pointing) pronoun se 'it/that' as an anticedent (korrelaatti) of
the relative joka even if a person is concerned this way: se, joka näin sanoo,
and the same in plural: ne, jotka näin sanovat 'those who say so'.
Korrelaatti and the relative pronoun should follow each others so tightly
that no other words are placed between them. However, if the preceding
pronoun se is stressed, a lot of words, i.e. the main word and its attributes
and the adverbs belonging to them, can be placed before the relative clause.
One sentence as an example about the possibilites:
Kiitän niitä erittäin ystävällisiä ihmisiä, jotka auttoivat minua.
I thank those very kind people who helped me
Mikä, minkä, mitä 'what, which' is a relative pronoun that is used instead
of joka when there is before it a whole sentence as an antecedent. Mikä is
not only a relative but also an interrogative (asking) pronoun and is inflected
in cases: mitkä (nominative pl.), miksi, missä, mistä, mihin? 'which (ones),
how, why, where, where (from), where (to)'.
4.3 	Possessive pronouns and suffixes -
an important system
The possessive suffixes are endings that normally occur together with their
corresponding possessive pronouns minun, sinun, etc. which are genitive
forms of the personal pronouns minä, sinä, etc. Sometimes it is correct that
the possessive pronoun is missing before the noun that is equipped with a
possessive suffix, and vice versa that the possessive suffix is missing.
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Chapter II, 4.3
72
Possessive suffixes are frequently used suffixes. As an example, we take pieni
talo ’the/a small house' and add different possessive suffixes to it:
pieni taloni
pieni talosi
pieni talonsa
pieni talomme
pieni talonne
pieni talonsa
my little house
your
his/her
our
your
their
pienet taloni
pienet talosi
pienet talonsa
pienet talomme
pienet talonne
pienet talonsa
my little houses
your
his/her
our
your
their
You should learn to recognise a possessive suffix whenever it is contained
in a word. In the 1st person plural, the suffix "-mme" (unfortunately) looks
like that of the corresponding finite (predicate) form of verb, e.g.
Suomessa (me) puhumme suomea. in Finland we speak Finnish
Matkustamme kohta Ouluun. we shall soon take a trip (travel) to Oulu
The corresponding nouns are puhef puheen, puhetta, puheita ’speech’ and
matka, matkan, matkaa, matkoja ’trip’. Together with the poss. suffix
"-mme" they read as follows: puheemme ’our speech’, matkamme ’our trip’.
The possessive pronouns of 3rd person have the same form in singular and
plural. When we say talonsa his/her/their house’ the missing pronoun can
be either hänen or heidän (talonsa), and furthermore, the number of houses
can be either one or more, and the case can be either nominative or genitive.
If talonsa is a plural form, the case is nominative pl. without its ending "-t":
talot + "-nsa" > talonsa. The plural ending "-t" is lost in the poss. suffix.
In some cases the suffix "-nsA" of the 3rd p.sg. occurs alternatively
prolonged to "-VVn". If the prolongation is possible, people prefer those
forms (see the 3rd p.sg. and pl. forms in the next table).
The word-final "-n" of the illative ending (case number 9) is assimilated
with the first consonant of the possessive suffixes. The "-n" of the illative
case is lost in the poss. suffix:
sg.
taloon
+
"Mii"
>
talooni
into my house1
Sg-
taloon
+
"^si"
>
taloosi
into your house
pl.
taloihin
+
"-nsA"
>
taloihinsa
in his/her/their houses

73
Chapter II, 4.3
Pronoun in Possessive Model phrase pieni talo 'a little house’
nominative suffix of the inflected in partitive, inessive and illative
and genitive pronoun sg. forms with proper possessive suffixes
minä, minun "-ni" pientä taloani (of) my small house
pienessä talossani in my
pieneen talooni into my
sinä, sinun "-si " pientä taloasi (of) your
pienessä talossasi in your
pieneen taloosi into your
hän, hänen "-nsA/-AAn" pientä taloa\nsa/taloaan (of) his/her “
pienessä talossa\nsa/-an in his/her
pieneen taloonsa into his/her “
me, meidän "-mme" pientä taloamme (of) our
pienessä talossamme in our
pieneen taloomme into our
te, teidän "-nne" pientä taloanne (of) your “
pienessä talossanne in your
pieneen taloonne into your
he, heidän "-nsA/-VVn" pientä taloa\nsa/taloaan (of) their
pienessä talossa\nsa/-an in their
pieneen taloonsa into their
Note: The 3rd person possessive suffix can be missing if the owner is a
stressed demonstrative pronoun (se, ne) or a name of a thing or a person, for
instance: sen (miehen) pieni talo, niiden / niitten pieni talo (but heidän pieni
talonsa), Tolosten talo, meidän talo (= meidän talomme).
Talo, that we have had as sample word, is such that it does not show us how
the inflection goes if the word happens to contain a consonant gradation.
Therefore, we must still study the word koti ’home’ as an example of the
gradation type t ~d. The n consonants are assimilated with the possessive
suffixes normally. In the illative case the grade of koti remains strong (-t-)
this way: kotiin + "-si " > kotiisi.

Chapter II, 4.3
74
But: In the genitive case, the grade is strong if there is a poss. suffix of the
3rd person or of the 1st or the 2nd p.pl. is added to the form kodin of koti:
(hänen) kotinsa, (meidän) kotimme, (teidän) kotinne. (heidän) kotinsa
The strong grade with t of the closed syllables "-tin-" and "-tim-" is
against the general rules for gradation (kodin, äidin), and leads to similar
strong grade forms in several cases when poss. suffixes are added.
Let's study the gradation and the ambiguity of the nominative and the
genitive forms of koti 'home' together with poss. suffixes:
Case: Nominative sg.
kotini < koti + "-ni"
my home
= Genitive sg.
*(kodin + "-ni")
of my home
= Nominative pl.
*(kodit + "-ni")
my homes
kotinsa
< 	koti + "-nsa"
his/her home
*(kodin + "-nsa")
of his/her home
*(kodit + "-nsa")
his/her/their homes
taloni
< 	talo + "-ni"
my house
*(talon + "-ni")
of my house
*(talot + "-ni")
my houses
Conclusion: All the usual poss. suffixes begin with a consonant and that
consonant seems to "eat" the end of the inflected word if it ends in "-n" or
in "-t".
Simultaneously the poss. suffix only accepts a strong grade (kotin-sa
'his/her home/homes', kotim-me 'our home/homes', kotin-ne 'your
home/homes'). Strong grade in the beginning of a closed syllable is
exceptional. You could study this phenomenon further to accept it.
Examples of a normal grading of t ~ d in the middle of the word koti 'home':
Strong: koti-ani, kote-jani partitive sg, pl., partitive
koti-aan, kote-jaan partitive sg. pl., partitive
koti-nani, kotei-nani essive sg., pl., essive
kotiim-me. kotei-himme illative sg., pl., illative

75
Chapter II, 4.3, 4.4
Weak: kodittanne, kodeittanne
abessive sg., pl., case 5
translative sg., pl., case 6
kodikseni, kodeikseni
kodissaan, kodeissaan
kodil-leni. kodeil-leni
inessive sg., pl., case 7
allative sg., pl., case 12
As you see, the translative ending "-ksi" changes into "-kse" when a poss.
suffix is added (e.g. "-kseni").
Poss. suffixes are added after the case endings but before the end particles
such as "-kin", "-pA", "-hAn", "-kAAn" and the question particle
"-kO". We say either minun talossanikin or minunkin talossani 'in my
house as well'.
The 3rd person pronouns se 'it' that' and ne 'they, those' are demonstrative
and stressed pronouns, if they occur in the company of poss. suffixes: sen
kotimme 'of that home of ours', siinä kodissamme 'in that home of ours'.
Note this: An adjective, such as (samankokoinen 'of the same size', can be
used with poss. suffixes: (minun) kokoiseni 'as big/tall as I am', 'of my size'.
But there is no use for a possessive pronoun if it cannot be connected to a
person. Therefore, kissan kokoinen 'as big as a cat' remains without suffix.
You must not be too concerned about suffixes and gradation. Native
speakers of Finnish will understand learners' errors and perhaps correct
them for you automatically if you said an odd form.
4.4 	Possessive suffixes can occur
without any pronouns
The separate pronoun in genitive (minun, sinun) is not always necessary. It
can or must be dropped according to the rules that depend on the subject's
importance: is it the same or another person? If a poss. suffix stays at the
end of a noun without any pronoun in genitive with it, the suffix is able to
refer to the "possessor" even alone. Let's study now a sentence where we
have a poss. suffix but no pronoun in the genitive case:
Hän / mies osti vaimolleen / vaimollensa kukkia.
He / the/a man bought flowers for his wife

Chapter II, 4.4
76
If somebody says "Hän osti hänen vaimolleen", he would mean another
man's wife, and there are supposed to be two different hän persons in that
situation. The presence of the separate pronoun hänen would make a big
difference. Thus, possessive pronouns must not be added automatically
before every noun word carrying a poss. suffix.
The possessive suffix is added to the main word. They do not belong to the
attributes. Case endings are repeated so many times they are needed, but
one poss. suffix is enough: omalle vaimolleen 'to/for his (own) wife', hyvän
ystävänsä kanssa 'with his/her good friend'. A sentence or a phrase can
begin with the noun where the poss. suffix is placed:
(Minun) kotini on nyt täällä. - Kotini on linnani!
My home is here now — My home is my castle
If a phrase begins with a possessive pronoun, there should also be a poss.
suffix at the end of the pronouns main word. Nevertheless, people are used
to drop the "compulsory" poss. suffixes and speak like this: minun koti 'my
home', sinun kirja 'your book'. In speech also the pronouns are shortened
this way: minun mieheni > mun mies 'my husband'.
However, it is acceptable and according to the norms of the written standard
language that we drop the poss. suffix when speaking about domestic
matters, e.g. meidän isä 'our father', meidän maa = maamme 'our country'.
This is not a strong rule, but explains sometimes the lack of poss. suffixes.
As to the personal forms of verbs and their pronoun subjects, the personal
endings of verbal conjugation are in general enough to express who is
concerned, except in the 3rd persons where a separate subject is mostly
necessary. In other persons the pronouns are not needed to make the
message clear.
In speech, however, the pronouns minä, me, sinä, te (of the 1st and 2nd
person) are mostly added as a subject when the speaker wants to stress the
pronoun and simultaneously even the minä person:
(Minä) ostin kukkia vaimolleni. I /1 bought flowers for my wife
Me menemme huomenna teatteriin. Tomorrow we go to the theatre

77
Chapter II, 4.4. 4.5
However, pronouns can be needed for grammatical reasons as a subject.
Pronouns of the 3rd person cannot usually be left out wholly. A statement
like hän/se puhuu or he/ne puhuvat may not be understood without a
pronoun or some other word suitable to be the subject to puhua 'to speak'.
If a verb is conjugated in the 3rd person and does not have a subject, the
sentence can be understood as a general statement. The same thought could
be said by using the Finnish passive. You will learn about the subjectless
usages of the Finnish language later as soon as we start conjugating verbs
in active finite forms in the following Chapter III.
A poss. suffix always belongs to nouns when the comitative case is
concerned. The poss. suffix is a part of this case, for instance, rakkaine
vaimoineen 'with his dear wife'. The poss. suffix is put to the main word;
the attribute is left without it. - You will learn more about the cases
comitative and instructive in Chapter V, point 5. - Poss. suffixes also
belong to many non-finite forms of verbs. We come to them in Chapter VI.
For the one who is learning Finnish it can be a little confusing that such
endings as "-mme" and "-vAt" are added both to verbs and to nouns. The
verbal ending "-mme" of the me person is quite easy to note and to keep
apart from the poss. suffix "-mme". The ending "-vAt" is more difficult.
haukkuvat koirat (the) barking dogs
Koirat haukkuvat. Dogs bark / the dogs are barking.
saunamme our sauna
Lauantaina saunomme. We shall take a sauna bath on Saturday.
4.5 	The pronouns itse, kumpikin and toinen
Itse 'self is a singular pronoun that is inflected in cases and can also
receive poss. suffixes. If there is a personal pronoun before itse, both words
are inflected in the same case. Examples with approximate translations:
1st p.sg.
1st p.sg
1st p.sg.
2nd p.sg.
nominative
genitive
allative
elative
minä itse
minun itseni
minulle itselleni
sinusta itsestäsi
I myself
of myself
to myself
of / from yourself

78
Chapter II, 4.5
1st. p.pl.
2nd p.pl.
3rd p.sg.
3rd p.pl.
elative
illative
nominative
genetive
meistä itsestämme
teihin itseenne
hän/se itse
heidän / niiden itsensä
of / from ourselves
to yourselves
he/she/it self
of themselves
Note again: Translations of short phrases into English are guessings only.
Words will get a meaning in the sentences where they are used.
The pronoun itse can be used in addressing speech to somebody when one is
trying to be polite (stressed words underlined):
Onko johtaja itse paikalla? Is the director himself/herself
Onko itse johtaja paikalla? available? May 1 talk with
Saanko puhua itsensä iohtaian kanssa? the director him-/herself?
If the role of the itse phrase is that of an object, we take the personal
pronouns in the special "t-case" or "accusative": minut itseni, or in partive:
minua itseäni.
The forms of the pronoun itse as a total object and as a partitive object:
sg. minut itseni, sinut itsesi, hänet itsensä (sen itsensä, genitive)
pl. meidät itsemme, teidät itsenne, heidät itsensä
sg. minua itseäni, sinua itseäsi, häntä/sitä itseään
pl. meitä itseämme, teitä itseänne, heitä/niitä itseään
The pronoun itse is used in fixed sayings:
Itsekseen 'alone' and itsestään 'by itself are fixed forms and contain a poss.
suffix of the 3rd person. With the alternative forms of poss. suffixes these
phrases would read itseksensä and itsestänsä.
Itsestään selvä 'self-evident', "by-itself clear", is an adjectival phrase where
the latter part selvä, selvän, selvää, selviä 'clear' is inflected.
Kumpikin and kumpi:
V&A

79
Chapter II, 4.5, 5.
Kumpikin, kummankin, kumpaakin, kumpiakin 'both two, each of two" is a
reciprocal or mutual pronoun that refers to two persons or things. It can
occur with the personal pronouns me, te and he, which are plural: me
kumpikin 'both of us' (nominative), meidän kummankin (genitive)
Kumpi, kumman, kumpaa, kumpia 'which of two' is an interrogative
pronoun asking to choose between two persons or things, for instance,
Kumman näistä haluat? 'which of these two do you want?, Kumpi voitti?
'who of them won'.
Toinen, toisen, toista, toisia is first, an indefinite pronun ('other, another'),
and second, a numeral ('second').
Toinen on lihava ja toinen on laiha.
Toiset ovat rikkaita, toiset köyhiä.
Missä te tapasitte (toinen) toisenne?
Sisarukset muistuttavat toisiaan.
He auttoivat toisiaan / toinen toistaan.
One is fat and the other is thin
Some are rich, some are poor
Where did you meet each other
Brothers and sisters resemble each others
They helped each other
A repetition toinen toinen means reciprocity. Only the latter "toinen" can
receive suffixes, first a case ending and then a poss. suffix. The alternative
endings of poss. suffixes are used this way: toinen toistansa / toistaan
(partitive "-ta"), toinen toisellensa / toiselleen (allative "-lie").
The meaning of the adverb toisinaan is 'every now and then'. The adverb is
built this way: toinen > toiset > toisina (essive "-na" in pl.) + the long form
of 3rd p. poss. suffix.
5. 	COMPARISON
In English the endings of comparison of adjectives are "-er" in comparative
("more") and "-est" for superlative ("most"). In Finnish the corresponding
endings are "-mpi" and "-in". With them we build new adjectives which
again can be inflected in all of the at least 12 cases. To the next, let's inflect
a group of comparing adjectives in cases. First, we choose the adjectives to
be compared and write them down in their positive, comparative and
superlative basic forms:

Chapter II, 5.
80
Adjectives in their positive (basic), comparative ("more") and
superlative ("most") forms:
iso, isompi, isoin
suuri, suurempi, suurin
pieni, pienempi, pienin
kiltti, kiltimpi, kiltein
nuori, nuorempi, nuorin
vanha, vanhempi, vanhin
heikko, heikompi, heikoin
mukava, mukavampi, mukavin
haluttu, halutumpi, halutuin
myyty, myydympi, myydyin
valkoinen, valkoisempi, valkoisin
kaunis, kauniimpi, kaunein
rikas, rikkaampi, rikkain
tuore [’], tuoreempi, tuorein
Some adjectives have irregular forms:
pitkä, pitempi, pisin long/tall, longer, longest
lyhyt, lyh(y)empi, lyh(y)in short, shorter, shortest
hyvä, parempi, paras good, better, best
As to the variation "-empi"/"-Ampi" in comparative of words that end in
"-A11 above, the rule is that "-empi" belongs to bisyllables, "-Ampi" to
trisyllables:
van-ha, vanhempi old, older/elder laiha, laihempi slim, slimmer
mu-ka-va, mukavampi nice, more nice lihava, lihavampi thick, thicker
Note: You will hear the form *kivampi 'more nice’ instead of kiva > kivempi
as it should read if we hold on the clear rule.
Please observe the strong grades (kk, tt) and weak grades (k, t) and ask
yourself in which forms in the middle of the word they occur.
Please also note the prolongation of vowels in comparative when the words
that end in a consonant are concerned, for example, like these:
kaunis, rikas, tuore [tuore'] > kauniimpi, rikkaampi. tuoreempi
big, bigger, biggest
great, greater, greatest
small, smaller, smallest
nice/good, nicer, nicest
young, younger, youngest
old, older/elder, eldest
weak, weaker, weakest
nice/pleasant, nicer, nicest
desired, more desired, most desired
sold, more sold, most sold
white, whiter, whitest
beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful
rich, richer, richest
fresh, more fresh, most fresh
V6*A

81
Chapter II, 5.
Inflection of the comparative "more" forms:
The four principal parts are given on the first line. On the second line the
cases are: 1. nominative pl.. 2. genitive pl. 7. inessive pl.. 9. illative pl.
iso
>
isompi, isomman, isompaa, isompia
isommat, isompien, isommissa, isommista, isompiin
suuri > suurempi, suuremman, suurempaa, suurempia
suuremmat, suurempien, suuremmissa, suuremmista, suurempiin
pieni
kiltti
nuori
vanha
>
>
>
>
mukava >
haluttu >
valkoinen >
rikas
>
tuore [-ef] >
hyvä
>
pienempi, pienemmän, pienempää, pienempiä
pienemmät, pienempien, pienemmissä, pienemmistä, pienempiin
kiltimpi, kiltimmän, kiltimpää, kiltimpiä
kiltimmät, kiltimpien, kiltimmissä, kiltimmistä, kiltimpiin
nuorempi, nuoremman, nuorempaa, nuorempia
nuoremmat, nuorempien, nuoremmissa, nuoremmista, nuorempiin
vanhempi, vanhemman, vanhempaa, vanhempia
vanhemmat, vanhempien, vanhemmissa, vanhemmista, vanhempiin
mukavampi, mukavamman, mukavampaa, mukavampia
mukavammat, mukavampien, mukavammissa, mukavammista,
mukavampiin
halutumpi, halutumman, halutumpaa, halutumpia
halutummat, halutumpien, halutummissa, halutummista,
halutumpiin
valkoisempi, valkoisemman, valkoisempaa, valkoisempia
valkoisemmat, valkoisempien, valkoisemmissa, valkoisemmista,
valkoisempiin
rikkaampi, rikkaamman, rikkaampaa, rikkaampia
rikkaammat, rikkaampien, rikkaammissa, rikkaammmista,
rikkaampiin
tuoreempi, tuoreemman, tuoreempaa, tuoreempia
tuoreemmat, tuoreempien, tuoreemmissa, tuoreemmista,
tuoreempiin
parempi, paremman, parempaa, parempia
paremmat, parempien, paremmissa, paremmista, parempiin

Chapter II, 5.
82
Inflection of the superlative "most" forms:
iso > isoin, isoimman, isointa, isoimpia
isoimmat, isoimpien, isoimmissa, isoimmista, isoimpiin
suuri
>
suurin, suurimman, suurinta, suurimpia,
suurimmat, suurimpien, suurimmissa, suurimmista, suurimpiin
pieni
kiltti
>
>
pienin, pienimmän, pienintä, pienimpiä
pienimmät, pienimpien, pienimmissä, -pienimmistä, pienimpiin
kiltein, kilteimmän, kilteintä, kilteimpiä
kilteimmät, kilteimpien, kilteimmissä, kilteimmistä, kilteimpiin
nuori
vanha
>
>
mukava >
haluttu >
valkoinen >
rikas
>
tuore [-e’] >
hyvä
>
nuorin, nuorimman, nuorinta, nuorimpia
nuorimmat, nuorimpien, nuorimmissa, nuorimmista, nuorimpiin
vanhin, vanhimman, vanhinta, vanhimpia
vanhimmat, vanhimpien, vanhimmissa, vanhimmista, vanhimpiin
mukavin, mukavimman, mukavinta, mukavimpia
mukavimmat, mukavimpien, mukavimmissa, mukavimmista,
mukavimpiin
halutuin, halutuimman, halutuinta, halutuimpia
halutuimmat, halutuimpien, halutuimmissa, halutuimmista,
halutuimpiin
valkoisin, valkoisimman, valkoisimpaa, valkoisimpia
valkoisimmat, valkoisimpien, valkoisimmissa,
valko is i mm is ta, valkoisimpiin
rikkain, rikkaimman, rikkainta, rikkaimpia
rikkaimmat, rikkaimpien, rikkaimmissa, rikkaimmista,
rikkaimpiin
tuorein, tuoreimman, tuoreinta, tuoreimpia
tuoreimmat, tuoreimpien, tuoreimmissa, tuoreimmista,
tuoreimpiin
paras, parhaan, parasta, parhaita
parhaat, parhaimpien /parhaitten, parhaissa, parhaista,
parhaisiin
1)6*4

83
Chapter III, 1.
Ill VERBS IN ACTIVE FINITE FORMS
1. FINITE. NON-FINITE - ACTIVE. PASSIVE
The difference between finite and non-finite (or infinite) forms of verbs is
very important in Finnish, and so is the difference between active and
passive forms. The infinitives are many and they can be inflected in cases.
The finite forms of verbs (e.g. minä olen, sinä olet 'I am, you are') are used
as a predicate in a sentence. These forms have in general their clear
counterparts in most of the other languages.
The active finite forms of verbs are equipped with endings which belong to
the company of the personal pronouns minä, sinä, hän/se, me, te, he/ne. - It
is another matter that in Finnish the pronouns can be omitted because all the
six forms are different and alone capable of expressing the person.
Both active and passive finite forms are conjugated in moods or the ways of
happening, and in tenses or the classes of time, positively and negatively.
At the end of this book there are three Tables, numbered from 2 to 4, to
serve you as a collection of pattern verbs and to help you to understand the
Finnish system. The personal pronouns are given only once on top of the
Tables 2 and 3, containing active finite forms of verbs. You can pick up the
pronouns there if you wish to do so. - See back to Lesson II, point 4.
The pupose of this practice, listing the personal forms of verbs without any
personal pronouns, is to accustom you to use the active forms without any
separate pronouns, and feel that the person is there in the individual ending
{asun, asut, asuu, asumme. etc.). Many of our example sentences have
already contained verbs in their conjugated forms, and if there were a
personal pronoun as a subject, I often had put it within parenthesis, claiming
that pronouns are not always needed.
For the next we take the verbs puhua 'to talk', siivota 'to clean', valittaa 'to
complain, groan', kävellä 'to walk' and lyödä 'to hit, punch' and conjugate
them in their six present tense personal forms without the pronouns minä,
sinä, hän/se, me, te, he/ne:
V&A

Chapter III, 1.
84
puhua: puhun puhui puhuu, puhumme, puhutte, puhuvat
siivota: siivoan siivoat siivoaa, siivoamme, siivoatte, siivoavat
valittaa: valitan, valitat, valittaa, valitamme, valitatte, valittavat
kävellä: kävelen kävelet kävelee, kävelemme, kävelette, kävelevät
lyödä: lyön fyöL lyö, lyömme, lyötte, lyövät
In the point where the poss. suffixes were presented (Chapter II, point 4.3),
we had the man who bought flowers for his wife, and you learned to avoid
using the possessive pronouns (minun, sinun etc.) misleadingly or
unnecessarily stressed.
All the nine points of this Chapter III contain explanations to the active
conjugation of verbs. The main part of it is contained in the next point 2.
The presentation is short because you should study the pattern verbs, which
are fully conjugated in Table 2, 3 and 4 at the end of this book. Please note
how the suffixes and the changes of consonants and vowels repeat
themselves amazingly regularly.
The point 7 is about the Finnish way of forming questions, the point 8 is
about the negative forms of verbs, and the point 9 is about giving
commands.
The next Chapter IV concerns the passive conjugation of finite forms of
verbs. Table 4 at the end of this book contains verbs conjugated in passive
finite forms positively and negatively, and additionally there are the active
and passive forms of the potential mood.
The Finnish passive is a little peculiar. The passive finite forms are not
completed with any pronoun se 'it' as subject because normally the Finnish
passive is used without any subject or agent at all. In spite of the missing
subject, a passive form always lets us assume that there is or was a personal
"agent", or several persons, who are or were active in the situation, and
sometimes the speaker can mean that he or she is one of those involved.
If the verb is such that it can have a target of the acting, i.e. an object, the
case you can choose for it is either nominative or partitive, e.g. se or sitä,
and this is the rule in passive sentences in general.
V&.A

85
Chapter III, 1.
In Chapter VI you will learn about the non-finite forms, which are first
divided into two big groups, namely first the four infinitives, and then the
active and passive, present tense and past tense participles.
The Finnish non-finite forms have English counterparts in the "-ing" and
"-ed" forms. For instance, "doing" and "done" are based on the verb "do".
In Finnish, from tehdä 'to do, make' we get a 3rd infinitive verbal form olla
tekemässä 'to be doing'.
The adjectival words like tekevä, tekevän, tekevää, tekeviä and tehnyt.
tehneen, tehnyttä, tehneitä refer to present time and past time ative doing
correspondingly.
Tehtv. tehdyn, tehtyä, tehtyjä is understood to be a past tense passive word
as an adjective when placed before a noun.
Many of the Finnish non-finite forms of verbs can be inflected in cases and
equipped with possessive suffixes, i.e. used just as nouns are used. With
them you will get an opportunity to repeat the inflection of nouns in 12 to 14
cases, so you will not forget them while learning to conjugate verbs in these
Chapters III and IV.
Note: From now on, I will bring following abbreviations into use:
p.sg. = person in singular (one person):
minä (1st), sinä (2nd) and hän / se (3rd)
p.pl. = person in plural (several persons):
me (1st), te (2nd) and he / ne (3rd)
The personal pronouns se 'it' and ne 'they' (3rd p.sg. and 3rd p.pl.) refer to
things, and he 'they' (of the 3rd p.pl.) refers to a group of people.
Se and ne can also be used as demonstrative pronouns, which point out
things and persons as well.
Here you could see Chapter II, point 4.2, once again.

Chapter III, 2.
86
2. 	TENSES - THE PRESENT TENSE
The Finnish language features four tenses or degrees of time for telling
about events. The tenses are called by their Finnish names and explained in
English, as follows:
1) Preesens = present tense, 'today / in general / in the future'
sg. (minä) olen, (sinä) olet, (hän/se) on I am, you are, he/she/it is
pl. (me) olemme, (te) olette, (he/ne) ovat we are, you are, they are
2) Imperfekti = past tense or preterite, 'yesterday'
sg. (minä) olin, (sinä) olit, (hän/se) oli I was, you were, he/she/it was
pl. (me) olimme, (te) olitte, (he/ne) olivat we were, you were, they were
3) Perfekti = perfect, just completed or long lasted action, 'since'
sg. (minä) olen ollut, (sinä) olet ollut, (hän/se) on ollut I have been)
pl. (me) olemme olleet, (te) olette olleet, (he/ne) ovat olleet we have been
4) Pluskvamperfekti = pluperfect tense, earlier completed or long lasted
sg. (minä) olin ollut, (sinä) olit ollut, (hän/se) oli ollut 1 had been
pl. (me) olimme olleet, (te) olitte olleet, (he/ne) olivat olleet we had been
Note: In this book I have numbered the tenses Tense 1. Tense 2. Tense 3.
and Tense 4.
The present tense (number 1) can refer also to the future because actually
we don't have any special forms of verbs for the coming time. All the
remaining three tenses refer to the past.
Tense 3 and Tense 4 consist of two words: first, one of the six personal
forms of the verb olla 'to be' as an auxiliary, and second, a past tense
participle form of the meaningful verb. More about them in next point 3.
These are normal active sentences of the indicative mood, telling us about
present facts, for which we use the present tense:

87
Chapter III, 2., 3.
(Me) asumme Suomessa.
(Me) opiskelemme vieraita kieliä.
We live (have a home) in Finland
We study foreign languages
Te luette sanomalehtiä ja kirjoja.
Te kuuntelette radiota
ja katsotte televisiota.
He käyvät kaupassa ostoksilla.
He ostavat ruokaa ja vaatteita.
You read newspapers and books
You listen to the radio
and watch the tv
They go shopping
They buy food and cloths
The pronouns me are put in parenthesis to show that when unstressed, they
can be left away.
3. 	THREE PAST TENSE FORMS
In Tense 2, the simple past tense form, there is always an i element, and it
can be included in a diphthong oi/öi, ui/yi, e.g. sanoin fI said', kysyin
fI asked', or in a short syllable si, ti, ni, li, e.g. hän kuunteli ja vastasi 'he/she
listened and answered1.
Perfect and pluperfect are formed with two words. The first part is a
conjugated form of the verb olla 'to be', and the meaningful verb follows it
as a past tense participle "-nUt" in singular, "-neet" in plural, e.g. olet
kysynyt 'you have asked', olitte kysyneet 'you had asked'.
The following model verbs are in the present tense and past tense forms of
the 1st p.sg. (minä), and of the 1st p.pl. (me). The verbs are hankkia 'to
supply', kysellä 'to keep asking', laulaa 'to sing', lukea ’to read', myydä 'to
sell’, ostaa 'to buy', tietää 'to know', and palata 'to return'.
hankin, hankin,
kyselen, kyselin,
laulan, lauloin,
luen, luin,
myyn, myin,
ostan,, ostin,
tiedän, tiesin,
palaan, palasin,
olen hankkinut,
olen kysellyt,
olen laulanut,
olen lukenut,
olen myynyt,
olen ostanut
olen tiennyt,
olen palannut,
hankimme, hankimme,
kyselemme, kyselimme,
laulamme, lauloimme,
luemme, luimme,
myymme, myimme,
ostamme, ostimme,
tiedämme, tiesimme,
palaamme, palasimme,
olemme hankkineet
olemme kyselleet
olemme laulaneet
olemme lukeneet
olemme myyneet
olemme ostaneet
olemme tienneet
olemme palanneet

Chapter III, 3.
88
Note: Palannut with two n letters comes from palata 'to return', but palanut
would be the corresponding form of palaa 'to bum'.
The participles are known by their endings "-nUt" and "-neet" when active
sentences are concerned. The n component of the participle suffixes can
have been disappeared through assimilation. For instance, the forms on
ollut 'has been', ovat olleet 'have been' originate from *ol-nut, *ol-neet. (For
passive sentences, this ending is different, namely "-(t)tU" alone: on oltu,
on myyty, on ostettu.)
The suffix "-nUt" is used in the three singular and "-neet" in the three
plural persons. Each of the six personal forms contains information about
the number of persons. You must not let it confuse you that "-nUt" is a
singular form, but in "-neet", the "-t" is a marker of plurality, like the
nominative case ending "-t" is by nouns. - In Chapter VI, point 2, you will
learn to know the singular and plural adjectival present tense endings "-vA"
and "-vAt", and the corresponding past tense endings "-nUt" and "-neet".
Tuo lintu on laulanut koko aamun. That bird has been singing all the morning
Linnut laulavat, ovat aina laulaneet. Birds (are used to) sing, have always sung.
In colloquial speech it is not quite correct, but people often use such
singular forms as linnut laulaa. Literary forms like he sanovat 'they say'
and he sanoivat 'they said' become in uncareful speech he/ne sanoo (present
tense) and he/ne sano (past tense).
The endings "-nUt" and "-neet" make a big difference in everyday life.
The singular "-nUt" is used also when we speak to one person, to whom we
say politely te (Te in writing) 'you', i.e. in plural. Let's study how the verb
opiskella 'to study' changes in Tense 3, if we speak with our mates, and if
we speak with our "superiors":
2nd p.sg. (sinä) opiskelet, (sinä) opiskelit, (sinä) olet opiskellut
2nd p.pl. (te/Te) opiskelette,(te/Te) opiskelitte, (te) olette opiskelleet.
(Te) olette opiskellut
This is a polite form to ask an older or unfamiliar person: oletteko (Te) ollut
terve? 'have you been well?' But, if we are interested in a whole family's
healthy, we ask: Oletteko (te) olleet terveitä? or Oletteko pysyneet terveinä?

89
Chapter III, 4.
4. 	THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF VERBS
The idea of principal parts for nouns was explained in Chapter II, point 2.2.
For verbs, the number of principal parts given is mostly also four. Their
purpose is to show how the verb is conjugated:
The first form is
The second form is
The third form is
The fourth form is
the basic form (1st infinitive)
the active indicative present, 1st p.sg.
the active indicative imperfect, 3rd p.sg.
the active past tense participle in sg.
The principal parts of a group of verbs:
elää, elän, eli, elänyt
arvata, arvaan, arvasi, arvannut
istua, istun, istui, istunut
juosta, juoksen, juoksi, juossut
kävellä, kävelen, käveli, kävellyt
mennä, menen, meni, mennyt
nousta, nousen, nousi, noussut
puhua, puhun, puhui, puhunut
sanoa, sanon, sanoi, sanonut
soittaa, soitan, soitti, soittanut
tilata, tilaan, tilasi, tilannut
viedä, vien, vei, vienyt
viettää, vietän, vietti, viettänyt
to live
to guess
to sit
to run
to walk
to go
to rise, go/come up
to taik
to say
to play, ring, make a phone call
to order, call, subscribe
to take away, export
to spend (time), celebrate; slope
Later in this book we shall add two passive forms to the principal parts of
verbs and make the list consist of six forms. See Exercise 4 of Chapter VII,
and the Tables 2, 3, 4 at the end of this book. When learning new verbs,
you should get all the six forms of a verb to be able to conjugate it in all
persons, moods and tenses, in active and passive, positively and negatively.
Please remember that there is the glottal sound or a short stop ['] at the end
of the basic forms of verbs, e.g. Voimmeko tavata huomenna? [tavata'
huomenna] 'can we meet tomorrow'? - See again point 1.6 of Chapter I.

Chapter III, 5.1
90
5. MOODS. THE WAY OF HAPPENING
5.1 The indicative and the conditional moods, "-isi-"
The choice between the moods depends on the grade or degree of your
certainty about the truth, as you see from the translations of the first two
pattern verbs, olla 'to be, exist' and asua ('to reside, have a home').
Indicative forms of verbs are the most common, but the conditional mood is
also common. With both ways we can refer also to the future, especially if
we complete the sentence with a clarification such as huomenna 'tomorrow',
pian and kohta 'soon, after a while', ylihuomenna 'day after tomorrow'.
Tulen pian Helsinkiin. Jos voisin, matkustaisin jo huomenna.
1 am coming to Helsinki soon. If 1 could, I would travel tomorrow already.
If we wish to refer to the future more clearly, we can also (mostly
unnecessarily) take the verb tulla 'to come' as an auxiliary, and use the
meaningful verb in a special illative form "-mAAn", e.g. tulen tekemään
sen, or in another way: olen tekevä sen 'I will do it'; tulen matkustamaan or
olen matkustava 'I shall travel'. In Finnish we come and arrive (saapua,
saavun, saapui, saapunut) "to" (johonkin), not "in" (*jossakin) somewhere.
The conditional mood is marked with its marker "-isi-" that is placed before
the personal endings: tulisin, tulisit, tulisi, tulisimme, tulisitte, tulisivat 'I
would come', etc. The conditional is used to tell about conditions, wishes
and possibilities. Therefore, it is well suited to polite questions and requests:
Anteeksi, voisitteko (ystävällisesti) neuvoa minua?
Excuse me, could you please kindly advise me?
Sanoisitteko, missä on lähin pankkiautomaatti?
Would you please tell me where the nearest cash machine is?
Olisin kiitollinen, jos saisin sen takaisin huomenna.
1 would be grateful, if 1 could get it back tomorrow
Olisitko hyvä ja tekisit tämän?
Would you please (kindly) do this?

91
Chapter III, 5.2
5.2 	The potential mood "-ne-" is less important
The potential mood, the marker of which is "-ne-", is used to express doubt
and possibility. That syllable is placed before the personal endings of any
verb. See Table 4, page 3, at the end of this book. - Please note that the
verb olla 'to be' has a special form in potential: the syllable "-ne-" is added
directly to another verb, of which we only know the stem lie-: lienen, lienet,
lienee, etc. The same stem lie- + ne is conjugated and used as an auxiliary
to express a potential matter in the past as well as in the perfect tense:
Asia lienee niin, että.. (= asia on ehkä niin, että) It may be so that..
Hän lienee tehnvt sen (= ehkä hän teki / on tehnyt sen) He may have done it
He lienevät olleet siellä (= he ovat ehkä olleet siellä) They may have been there
Here we conjugate voida 'can, may, to be abiq', juosta 'to run', lentää 'to fly'
and suostua 'to agree' in the potential mood of Tense 1:
voida > voinen, voinet, voinee voinemme, voinette, voinevat
juosta > juossen, juosset, iuossee. juossemme, juossette, juossevat
lentää > lentänen, lentänet, lentänee, lentänemme, lentänette, lentänevät
suostua > suostunen, suostunet, suostunee, suostunemme, -nette. -nevat
Voida is often connected with another verb in its basic form, e.g. sanoa 'to
say', e.g. voinemme sanoa 'we may say'. If the verb has a consonant stem in
the basic form, the potential suffix is added to it, e.g. teh\dä, teen, teki,
tehnyt > tehnen. Juossen 'I may run' comes through assimilation from
*juos-nen. Lentänen and suostunen present verbs of the vowel stem type.
You can easily avoid these forms of the potential by using the indicative
forms and connect them with such words as kai and ehkä 'maybe',
luultavasti 'probably', as it is usual in everyday speech. Such forms as (me)
matkustanemme 'we may travel' instead of me kai matkustamme 'perhaps we
shall travel' sound stilted. Instead of halunnen 'I may want', we would be
much more likely to say ehkäpä minä haluan (for instance matkustaa). In
colloquial language this again becomes [ehkä mä haluun].
We also have normal verbs, namely saattaa, saatan, saattoi, saattanut,
voida (above), taitaa, taidan, taisi, taitanut and mahtaa, mahdan, mahtoi,
mahtanut, with which we can refer to an unsure future or to an unsure fact.
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92
Chapter III, 5.2, 6.
In addition, these verbs are frequently used in conditional mood. It makes
the matter still more uncertain. The example sentences:
6. 	SUBJECTLESS AND MONOPERSONAL USE
In comparison with the other languages it can sometimes seem to you, as if
the subject, at least a short word se 'it', were missing in a Finnish sentence,
where the verb is in the 3rd p.sg. form. For instance, on hyvä '(it) is good'
can continue with an että clause On hyvä, että siitä puhutaan 'it is good that
they/we speak about it'. In such sentence we can also consider the että
clause to be the subject that would answer the question "what is good?"
Otherwise, without any subject at all, we understand the sentence as a
general statement about what people are used to do. The 3rd p.sg. offers an
alternative way to speak about general matters without using the passive
forms of verbs. The following two sentences contain active and passive
verbal forms to show you how we can expres she same thought in two ways:
syö or syödään; ulkoilee or ulkoillaan; asuu or asutaan.
Kun (ihminen) syö hyvin ja ulkoilee paljon, (hän) pvsvv terveenä.
= Kun syödään hyvin ja ulkoillaan pation. pysytään terveenä / terveinä.
When you eat well and are outdoors a lot, you stay healthy
Turussa (kuka tahansa) asuu / Turussa asutaan halvemmalla kuin täällä.
In Turku one lives, or. they / you / we live, more cheaply than here
Menee nyt siitä! 'please go now' would be a harsh command in 3rd p.sg.
form. To say it in passive Mennään nyt siitä! would sound equally angry.
For better understanding that the active forms syö and ulkoilee are general
statements without any subject at all, you can add ihminen, joku, kuka
tahansa 'man, somebody, anybody' to the place of a missing subject.
Saattaa / taitaa olla (niin), että...
Se saattaisi / voisi olla hyvä asia.
Mikähän mahtoi olla syy(nä)?
Minä taidan lähteä nyt ja
tulla huomenna takaisin.
It may/can be that...
It might/could be a good thing
1 wonder what the reason was?
1 may leave now and
come back tomorrow.

93
Chapter III, 6.
In active sentences, normally there is a subject or "an actor" present.
Especially the pronouns of 3rd person hän, se, he, ne are not dropped, if
the clarity would suffer from their absence. The pronouns minä and sinä are
more often unnecessary additions. For instance, puhun is as clearly said as
minä puhun 1 speak'.
The passive sentences do not need any word as a subject because any word
in the nominative or the partitive case would be understood as an object.
For instance, lounas / lounasta syödään klo 12 'lunch is eaten (served) at 12
o'clock'.
However, in colloquial speech we are, however, used to add the pronoun me
to passive verbal forms but it is done in a way that makes you feel it like a
clarification of the situation: me syödään (lounas / lounasta), 'we shall eat
(lunch)', me mennään 'we shall go'.- This "me" passive will be explained
in Chapter IV, point 2. And the Chapter IV will concern the passive solely.
The whole idea of passive is an important part of the Finnish grammar.
Some phenomena in the nature are described with the 3rd p.sg. forms,
and according to the norms, without adding any se *it' as subject:
Ulkona tuulee ia on kylmä. outside it is windy and cold
Yöllä on satanut. it has rained in the night
Eilen satoi lunta. it snowed yesterday
Vettä sataa. / Nvt sataa (vettä). it's raining now
Nyt se sataa! (colloquial speech) it's raining now
The verb sataa, satoi, on satanut 'to rain' mostly refers to water falling down
(taivaalta 'from the sky'; taivas, taivaan, taivasta, taivaita), but if necessary,
we add vettä 'water' (vesi, veden, vettä, vesiä) or lunta 'snow' (lumi, lumen,
lunta, lumia) or rakeita Tiail' (rae, rakeen, rakeita) in partitive to the verb
sataa. Vesi and lumi have both a consonant stem and take therefore "-tA".
I don't know if water, snow and hail in the partitive case could be called
objects. Yöllä satoi ensilumen 'the first snow fell in the night' is a possible
announcement. Therefore, the answer could be "yes".- The missing subject
in many Finnish sentences is a linguistic problem, too, and that problem has
been solved by the term "zero person" (nollapersoona).
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Chapter III, 6.
94
Further, we have a group of verbs that tell about feelings of a person:
When a verb expresses feelings, it can also look as if the subject were
missing. Then the suffering or enjoying person is inflected in partitive, and
there is no cause to his or her feelings mentioned. Usually, verbs like these
are derived from short nouns. From itku 'crying' and itkeä 'to cry' we form
itkettää 'to feel like crying' or 'to make somebody cry', and it is easy to see
that the origin of the verb is itku.
Minua itkettää / suututtaa. I feel like crying / something makes me angry
Häntä nukuttaa / väsyttää. He/she is sleepy / he/she feels tired
Mikä / Kuka sinua itkettää? What/who is making you cry?
Asia suututtaa minua. The matter makes me angry/mad
Hän on suututtanut minut /sen / ne. He/she has made me/it/them angry
When itkettää, itketän is used in the meaning 'to make somebody cry' and
the reason of crying is known we add it as a subject, for instance: se_
itkettää, hän suututtaa minua 'it makes me cry; he/she makes me angry'.
Thus, the factor hän/se stays in nominative, and the feeling or suffering
person stays in partitive minua if the feeling is momentary or transitory.
If the result is final, as it is possible with suututtaa, suututan, suututti,
suututtanut 'to make someb. angry', we must choose a form for "total" objects,
by pronouns the "t-case" form (minut, sinut), to refer to the insulted person.
The opposite verb suuttua, suutun, suuttui, suuttunut 'to get angry' can be
used with the illative, elative or allative case, if the reason is mentioned:
suuttua johonkin Avith'). jostakin (fox'), jollekin ('to someb,'), for instance:
Tästä isä suuttuu minulje 'for this (reason) father will get angry with me'.
Sattua 'to happen, occur, hit' is an intransitive verb. In the meaning 'to feel
pain', it is used with illative: minuun sattuu 'I feel pain'. With satuttaa,
satutan 'to hurt somebody' we use the partitive case for the object: sinä
satutat minua 'you are hurting me'.
From nukkua 'to sleep' we form nukuttaa 'to feel sleepy',or 'to try to make
somebody, e.g. a child sleep', are a similar pair of verbs as sattua and
satuttaa. As a medical term nukuttaa is used like a normal transitive verb,
with which there is a certain subject (doctor) and an object (patient).
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95
Chapter III, 6., 7.1
Lääkäri nukutti potilaan / hänet ennen leikkausta.
The patient / he/she was anaesthetised by a/the doctor before the operation
Normally, because the anaesthesia is performed quickly, the partitive case
<potilasta / häntä) would be unsuitable for the patient in this situation.
7. FORMING QUESTIONS
7.1 A suffix "-kO" is used for questioning
Based on the explanations of the place of stress and normal word order in
Chapter I, point 2, you already know something about this matter.
Questions are simply built by adding the suffix "-kO" (= -ko/-kö according
to the vowel harmony) to any word, verb, noun or adverb, that you want to
point out, in order to make a question concerning it.
A question must begin with the word or group of words where the question
particle is placed. Thanks to the quite free word order, the suffix "-kO" can
always be added as required, to the end of the first word of a sentence, or to
the main word of a noun phrase within a sentence.
Oletko (sinä) kotona tänä iltana? Sinäkö olet kotona?
Will you be at home tonight? (Is it true that) you are at home?
Teinäkö iltana (or tänä iltanako) olet kotona ja huomenna kylässä?
You are at home töni uh t and away on a visit tomorrow? Is that correct?
Onko se tämä? - Tämäkö se on? - Sekö tämä on?
Is it this? Is it this it is? Is it this what it is?
Asutko sinä tässä? - Tässäkö sinä asut? - Sinäkö tässä asut?
Do you live here? Is it here where you live? Is it you who lives here?
Questions can, of course, also begin with interrogatives such as mikä / mitä
'what', kuinka / miten 'how', milloin / koska 'when'. Kuka olet? Mistä tulet?
Mihin menet? Who are you? Where are you coming from? Where are you going to?'
The general intonation is falling from beginning to end even if it is a
question. The stress normally lies on the first word and on the first syllable.

96
Chapter III, 7.1, 7.2
The asking syllable "-kO" is placed at the end of the word, after case
endings and verbal endings, but it is still possible to add an end particle
"-hAn" to it. This particle makes your wondering or begging sound very
polite and unsure.
Onkohan asia niin, että... ? is the matter perhaps such that...?
Anteeksi, voisittekohan auttaa? excuse me, could you please help me
Mitähän minun pitäisi sanoa? 1 wonder what 1 should say
We normally do not answer a question beginning with the words ei 'no' or
kyllä 'yes', as it is normal in other languages, but instead we (should) answer
with the verb or with the point of the presented question. However, it is
usual that we start an answer with kyllä 'yes' or colloquially "joo", and then
continue with the same verb or word, with which the other person began her
or his question.
A negative answer can consist of a mere "ei", but then it is one of the forms
en, et, ei emme, ette, eivät. - You will learn the negative forms of verbs in
point 8 of this Chapter III.
To such a question as otatko / haluatko? 'do you take, would you like?' we
answer positively (kiitos,) otan / haluan 'yes, I do/would', and negatively
(kiitos,) en ota /en halua, but we may also say kvllä. kiitos and ei. kiitos.
In Finnish it is polite and more according to Finnish habits
to answer repeating the same verb or word that the other
person used with the question particle "-kO".
7.2
Interrogatives
and subordinated questions
mikä
what, which
kuka
who
miksi
why, for what reason
kuinka
how, in which way
missä
where
millainen
of what kind
mistä
from where
miten
how, in which way
mihin
to where
milloin
when, at what time
mitä
what, how?
joko (= jo + ko)
already?
It is easy to make a direct interrogative clause dependent of a main clause.

97
Chapter III, 7.2
We do not use any conjunction jos (fif) for subordinated questions because
the use of jos is restricted to conditional events and the verbal form "isi".
We simply continue with the same word, with which the direct question
clause began. We maintain the question particle "-kO" or the interrogative
pronoun, but we may need to change the tense and personal pronouns when
we turn a question into a subordinated clause. We don't use any question
marks (?) and any quoting marks either. Please note the comma.
Direct questions
Indirect, subordinated question clauses
Oletteko jo syöneet?
Have you eaten already?
>
Hän kysyi (meiltä), olimmeko jo syöneet
He asked us if we had eaten already
Joko te söitte? >
Did you eat already?
>
Hän kysyi (meiltä), joko olimme syöneet.
He asked us if we had eaten already
Mitä sinä nyt teet?
What are you doing?
> Kysyin (sinulta), mitä sinä nyt teet.
1 asked you what you are doing now
Kuka hän on? >
Who is he/she?
> Tiedätkö, kuka hän on?
Do you know who he/she is?
Milloin Sibelius eli? >
(or Milloin Sibelius eli?)
When did Sibelius live?
Muistatko, milloin Sibelius eli?
(or Muistatko, milloin Sibelius eli?)
Do you remember when Sibelius lived?
Normally, the stress (above underlined) lies on the first word. If you give
an unusual stress to Sibelius here, you are thinking about him in opposite to
other famous persons. Also, the word order is notable especially when you
are searching for something that you did not see earlier, for instance, a bank
when there might be several banks:
Missä (täällä) on pankki? > Hän kysyi minulta, missä on pankki.
Where is a bank (here)? He asked me where was a bank.
In a previous model sentence we had the conjunction entä 'and?', entä
huomenna? 'and tomorrow?'. This entä can be used when a question should
begin with the little word ja 'and'. In point 8.2 below you will be able to
compare this entä with other negative co-ordination conjunctions.
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Chapter III, 7.3
98
7.3 	A little conjunction vai ('or') is used in questions
The little conjunctions eli. tai and vai make a big difference even if they are
translated with the same "or" into English. Vai ('or') is an interrogative
conjunction used when a choice between two alternatives is concerned.
Eli and tai are used when weighing facts, not asking anything. Tai ('or') is
for optional alternatives, and eli for comparisons between two things that
are equal, synonyms in meaning "or in other words, called by another
name".
Tai can be completed with joko and form a two-pair conjunction with it:
joko - tai 'either - or', as you see below. The opposite of joko - tai is sekä
- että 'both - and', or perhaps ei kumpikaan 'none of them'. Examples:
Juotko kahvia vai teetä? Do you drink coffee or tea?
Otatko tämän vai tämän? Do you take this or this
Ota (joko) tämä tai tämä! (Please) take (either) this or this!
Kiitos, en ota kumpaakaan Thanks, I don't take none of them.
Kukan nimi on pelargoni The flower is called Geranium
eli suomeksi "pelakuu". or in Finnish "pelakuu"
Kumpi and mikä?
The interrogative pronoun kumpi, kumman, kumpaa, kumpia 'which of the
two' requires us to make a choice between two alternatives. When inflected
it obeys the gradation mp ~ mm.
Kumpi kissa on poika, kumpi tyttö? Which of the cats is male, and which female?
Kummanako) näistä (kahdesta) otat? Which of these two do you take?
Tämän vai tämän? this or this?
The pronoun mikä, minkä, mitä, mitkä (nominative pl.) 'what, which' is used
interrogatively when the alternatives are more than two:
Mikä näistä vaihtoehdoista on paras? Which of these alternatives is the best?
Mitä mieltä olet siitä asiasta? What is your opinion about that matter?

99
Chapter III, 8.1
8. 	NEGATIVE FORMS OF VERBS
8.1 	A special negative verb is used
The Finnish language features a negative word, which is conjugated as a
verb in the six personal forms: en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät. The negative
verb does not have a basic form. It is an auxiliary, but the moods and tenses
are expressed with forms of the meaningful verb, for instance, en ollut
syönyt '1 had not eaten'. Tables 3 and 4 at the end of this book contain
negative verbal forms. Let's take negative forms of juoda 'to drink' here:
Tense 1. indicative en juo, et juo, ei juo, emme juo, ette juo, eivät juo
Tense 3. indicative en, et, ei + ole juonut, emme, ette, eivät + ole juoneet
Tense 1. conditional en, et, ei + joisi, emme, ette, eivät + joisi
As to the pronunciation of negative forms, the negative word is stressed, and
in this construction there is always a verb form that ends in the light glottal
sound, which can be realised through a little stop (see Chapter I, point 1.6):
En ole kotona [en ole' kotona] I am not at home.
En ole ollut [en ole' ollut] I have not been.
Jos en olisi ollut [en olisi' ollut] If 1 had not been
Ette liene olleet [ette liene'olleet] You may not have been.
In speech it is easier to operate with stress and intonation than in writing
where you can actually always assume that the first word is stressed. The
Finnish word order is rather free but it has some effect on the style and
meaning. We can even begin as saying kyllä, and then continue with the
negative verb en, et, ei:
En kvllä tule! = kvllä en tule I am surely not coming
Minä en tule = en minä tule \ am not coming
= no, I am not coming
Negative questions begin with the negative verb and the suffix "-kO" is
found attached to it: enkö, etkö, eikö, emmekö, ettekö, eivätkö? Sample
sentences follow:
pitää, pidätkö? Etkö pidä tästä? Do you not like this?

Chapter III, 8.1, 8.2
100
puhua, puhutteko? Ettekö puhu englantia? Do you not speak English?
tietää, tiesitkö? Etkö tiennyt sitä? Didn't you know that?
tulla, tulisiko hän? Eikö hän tulisi? Would he/she not come?
voida, voisimmeko? Emmekö voisi jo lähteä? Could we not leave already ?
olla, oletteko Ettekö ole väsyneitä? Are you not tired?
Note: A negative form of verb requires all objects to be in partitive.
Therefore we say for instance minä teen sen 'I do it', but minä en tee sitä
'I don't do it'.
It is another matter that many verbs require their objects to be in partitive,
for instance: puhua (jotakin kieltä) 'to speak (a language)' may serve as an
example.
8.2 	Negation can be contained in conjunctions
and suffixes
It is something special that such words as enkä, etten, jollen, mutten are
negative conjunctions which are built by adding the Finnish negative verb to
the actual conjunction, this way:
ja + en, et, ei + -kä > enkä, etkä, eikä, emmekä, ettekä, eivätkä
=ja minä en, ja sinä et, etc. ’and I not, and you not...'
että + en, et, ei > etten, ettet, ettei, ettemme, ettette, etteivät
= että minä en, että sinä et, etc ’that I not, you not...”
jos + en, et, ei > jollen, jollet, jollei, jollemme, jollette, jolleivät
= ellen, ellet, ellei, ellemme, ellette, elleivät
=jos minä en, jos sinä et, etc. ’if I not, if you not...’
mutta + en, et, ei > mutten, muttet, muttei, muttemme, mutteivät
= mutta minä en, mutta sinä et, etc. 'but 1 not, you not...
The end particle "-kin" has the same meaning as the word myös 'also1 and
the use of them is alternative. People often say myöskin even if myös
would be enough. Anyhow, the negative form of it reads ei myöskään.
1)6*4

101
Chapter III, 8.2
The pronoun kumpikin 'both' is not interrogative. In negative sentences
it reads ei kumpikaan 'neither'. The change into "-kAAn" happens to all
"-kin" particles in negative sentences, and even more widely, as these
examples prove:
The negative forms of mikä, kuka and jompikumpi:
The pronouns mikä 'what' and kuka 'who' are used negatively in forms ei_
mikään 'nothing, none' and ei kukaan 'nobody'. - The pronoun kuka 'who'
was inflected positively in Chapter II, point 4.1. End particles were handled
already in Chapter II, point 1.4.
Se ei ole kummankaan etu, eikä kukaan halua sitä.
It is not a mutual benefit, and nobody wants (to get) it
Kukaan ei ole tiennyt tästä mitään. Hän ei kertonut siitä kenellekään.
Nobody has known about this. He/she did not tell anybody about it.
Eikö kukaan todellakaan tiedä sitä vieläkään? Eikö hänkään?
Is it really true that nobody knows it even yet?
He eivät käy koskaan elokuvissa eivätkä missään ulkonakaan.
They never go to the cinema and they don't go somewhere out, either.
Jompikumpi 'one or the other' a two-part pronoun, the both parts of which
are inflected in cases. The result is complicated: jommankumman,
jompaakumpaa, jommallekummalle. The negative form of jompikumpi
reads ei kumpikaan. When that word is inflected the case endings are
placed before the suffis "-kAA", i.e. in the middle of the word: ei
kumpiakaan, ei kummallekaan.
It can be a little difficult to learn to inflect negative pronouns in cases.
Further examples where the particle "-kin"
occurs negativelv:
kuitenkin
>
ei kuitenkaan
however not
yksikin
>
ei yksikään
nothing, none
tähänkin
>
ei tähänkään
not hereto either
tuotakin
>
ei tuotakaan
not that either

Chapter III, 8.2, 9.1
102
milloin
>
ei milloinkaan
never
mihin
>
ei mihinkään
nowhere (to)
missä
>
ei missään
nowhere (in)
mitä
>
ei mitään
nothing
9.
ACTIVE IMPERATIVE FORMS
9.1 	Positive and negative imperative forms
Here you will get acquainted with active imperative or command forms,
positively and negatively. These forms are not included in the enclosed
pattern tables. The imperative forms belong to the finite forms of verbs, i.e.
it is alone the main verb or the meaningful verb in the sentence.
For a command to a person of the 2nd p.sg., for instance mene [mene'] 'go!',
you get the form simply from the 1st p.sg. present tense, e.g. menen 'I go', by
dropping the last "-n", or you can take it ready from the negation en mene
pronounced [en mene'] 'I don't go'.
In 1st and 2nd person plural imperative forms there is always a component
"-kAA" which by some certain verbs is added to a consonant stem (mennä
> men\kää go!), and by the remaining verbs to a vowel stem {puhua >
puhu\kaa speak!).
Lapset, olkaa hiljaa ja kuunnelkaa minua! Kids, be quiet and listen
(< olla hiljaa ja kuunnella) to me (please)!
Different ways to express orders and denials:
1) 	To command and forbid by using the negative verb
For negative commands, we have a negative auxiliary such as älä in 2 p.sg.
for one person and älkää in 3 p.pl. for a group of persons:
2nd p.sg. Älä (sinä) mene sinne! Don't go there!
2nd p.pl. Älkää (te) menkö sinne! Don't go there!

103
Chapter III, 9.1
2nd p.pl. Älkää (te) tehkö niin kuin minä teen, Don't do as I do
vaan niin kuin minä opetan. but do as 1 teach.
2) Commands to you, 2nd p.sg.
Positively: ole, mene, tule, istu, syö, lähde
be!, go!, come!, sit down!, eat!, leave!
Negatively: älä ole, älä mene, älä tule, älä istu, älä syö, älä lähde
don't be!, don't go!, don't come!, don't sit!, don't eat!
3) Commands to you. 2nd p.pl.
Positively: olkaa, menkää, tulkaa, istukaa, syökää, lähtekää
Negatively: älkää olko, älkää menkö, - tulko, - istuko, - syökö, - lähtekö
4) Commands to he/she/it, 3rd p.sg.
The commanding component "-kOOn" expresses a wish concerning what another
person should do, in English 'he/she/it mav do', e.g. Sanokoon mitä tahansa!
lie/she may say anything'.
Positively: (hän) olkoon, menköön, tulkoon, istukoon, syököön, lähteköön
Negatively: (hän) älköön olko, - menkö, - tulko, - istuko, - syökö, - lähtekö
Sanokoon
Eläköön!
Kissa vieköön!
Hitto soikoon!
(hän) mitä tahansa! (< sanoa)
(< elää ’to live’)
(< viedä ’to take with’)
(< soida ’to ring’)
He/she may say anything'!
Hurrah, viva!
To hell with it!
Damn it!
In songs, poems and dialects you may encounter the form tehköhön instead
of tehköön 'he/she may make/do'. There is only an additional h in the
middle of the long ending "-köön". It makes the command word one
syllable longer.
5)
Commands to they, 3rd p.pl.
Positively: olkoot, menkööt, tulkoot, istukoot, syökööt, lähtekööt
let them be, they may go, they may come, etc.

Chapter III, 9.1, 9.2
104
The sixth point that still follows is a very ceremonious plural form of
commands.
6) Commands to us, 1st p.pl.
There is still a command form of solemn style that can be addressed in
plural to a group of people, e.g. olkaamme means 'let's be'. The ending
"-mme" lets the audience understand that the speaker sees himself as a
member of the group:
Positively: menkäämme, tulkaamme, istukaamme, syökäämme
Let's go, come, sit, eat
Negatively: älkäämme olko, älkäämme pelätkö
We shall not be, we shall not be afraid
9.2 The form of object together with
command forms
As for the "object rules" together with the command forms, the forms vary
according to the person who is being given the command. The object of a
denial is in the partitive case as it is usual in negative sentences.
Älä unohda hymyä! Do not forget the smile!
Älkää tehkö sitä! Please, don't do it!
In positive sentences the choice is more free between "partial" and "total",
"process" and "result". And it depends on what you want to say because it is
only you who knows it whether the situation is unfinished or completed.
Note: The rules of forms for object (and subject) are a central matter in
the Finnish language. Therefore, I shall revert to these matters on several
occasions
With the following imperative forms, the alternative objects are se and sitä
(representing the nominative and the partitive case):

105
Chapter III, 9.2
2nd p.sg. tee se Please, do it
or tee sitä or continue doing it!
2nd p.pl. tehkää se Plese, do it
or tehkää sitä or continue doing it
Is' p.pl. tehkäämme se Let's do it
or tehkäämme sitä or Let's continue doing it
With these following forms, the alternatives are sen and sitä (genitive and
partitive):
3rd p.sg. tehköön (hän) sen He may do it
or tehköön (hän) sitä or He may continue doing it
3rd p.pl. tehkööt (he) sen They may do it
or tehkööt (he) sitä or They may continue doing it
The choice of the case for an object in Finnish partly depends on the person
whom the command is addressed, partly on the situation how it is, and also
on the verbs meaning.
Thus, the most of the usual commands, those which are addressed to sinä
'you' of the 2nd p.sg. and to te 'you' of the 2nd p.pl., require their objects either
in the nominative or in the partitive case.
Note: The genitive plural form is not used at all for objects of any kind. The
genitive case is unsuitable for plural objects in general.
In plural the choice of case form for an objet happens between nominative
and partitive. You remember that "-t" is the suffix of nominative pl. and
that nominative pl. also is the only case form for total objects in plural.
You remember that the six personal pronouns and kuka 'who' have a special
"t-case" or "accusative" form for total objects, namely minut, sinut, etc. are
marked by "-t". - For inflection of pronouns, see back to Chapter II, 4.1.
Jos tarvitset apua, kutsu vain minut (or minua) apuun!
If you need help, you may freely call me to come and help you

Chapter III, 9.2
106
Me voisimme hakea sinut sieltä kotiin omalla autolla.
We could drive there and take you home in our car
When command forms are concerned, it is possible to add modifying end
particles such as "-pA(s)", "-hAn" and "-kin", to command forms of
verbs in order to make the command softer:
Olkaapa, lapset, hiljaa! Children, please be quiet!
Tulehan tänne! Istupas tuohon! Please come here! sit down there!
No! Olkoonkin sitten niin! Well, it may be as it is
Here once again you can check Chapter II, point 4 about the end particles.

107
Chapter IV, 1.
IV VERBS IN PASSIVE FINITE FORMS
1. PASSIVE MOODS AND TENSES
The passive finite forms are not connected with any pronoun, e.g. se 'it', as
subject because the Finnish passive is used without any subject or agent.
The Finnish passive is special. In spite of the missing subject, it always lets
us assume that there is or was a personal "agent", or several persons who are
acting or who have been active, and also that the speaking person may be or
may have been involved in the activity.
Passive finite forms are found in the same four tenses and three moods
as the active forms, which were mentioned in Chapter III, point 4, except
that the conditional and potential moods do it with two tenses, tense 1 and
tense 3. From now on, we shall add two more forms to the four principal
parts of verbs, namely the passive indicative present and imperfect (or
preteriti).
Let's take the verbs nukkua 'to sleep', pyytää 'to ask' and hakea 'to pick up;
look, apply for', and see the six principal parts for each of them. Thereafter,
we are going to conjugate the verb hakea in moods and tenses, adding the
passive indicative present form as the seventh form.
nukkua, nukun, nukkui, nukkunut, nukutaan, nukuttiin kk ~ k
pyytää, pyydän, pyysi, pyytänyt, pyydetään, pyydettiin t ~ d
hakea, haen, haki, hakenut, haetaan, haettiin k
Mood: Indicative
Tense 1 haen, haet, hakee, haemme, haette, hakevat, haetaan
Tense 2: hain, hait, haki, haimme, haitte, hakivat, haettiin
Tense 3: olen hakenut, olet hakenut, on hakenut,
olemme hakeneet, olette hakeneet, ovat hakeneet, on haettu
Mood: Conditional
Tense 1: hakisin, hakisit, hakisi, hakisimme, hakisitte, hakisivat,
haettaisiin
ve~4

108
Chapter IV, 1.
Tense 3: olisin hakenut, olisit hakenut, olisi hakenut,
olisimme hakeneet, olisitte hakeneet, olisivat hakeneet, olisi haettu
Mood: Potential
Tense 1: hakenen, hakenet, hakenee,
hakenemme, hakenette, hakenevat, haettaneen
Tense 3: lienen hakenut, lienet hakenut, lienee hakenut,
lienemme hakeneet, lienette hakeneet, lienevät hakeneet, lienee haettu
Because the passive forms are used very much, I recommend that you learn
to add the corresponding passive form to the six personal forms of verbs so
the forms become seven as done above in every modus. The conjugation of
the verb olla goes this way in the indicative modus:
Tense 1: olen, olet, on, olemme, olette, ovat, ollaan
Tense 2: olin, olit, oli, olimme, olitte, olivat, oltiin
Tense 3: olen ollut, olet ollut, on ollut, olemme olleet, ovat olleet, on oltu
Passive sentences can also have objects if the verb is transitive. A verb like
rakentaa 'to build' is transitive because it is possible to build something, for
instance, talo 'a house'. One sentence for example follows:
Kvlä /Kylän talot rakennettiin hyvin nopeasti,
The village / the houses of the village was/were built very quickly,
mutta kirkkoa rakennettiin monta vuotta.
but it took many years (of the people) to build the church
If the verb in a passive sentence is not such a verb that always requires the
partitive case for its object and the sentence is positive, not negative, then
the object can stay either in nominative (talo, talo) or partitive case (taloa,
taloja), never in genitive. If the object is one of the pronouns that have got
the so-called "t-case", the pronoun takes it instead of the nominative form.
When using the passive form and saying in Finnish, for instance, talo
rakennettiin, the focus is on the activity of people, and not on the object, the
"house". I have been told that in English you think more on what happens
to the object (target): the house was being built and was ready built.
V&A

109
Chapter IV, 1.
"Made in Finland" is translated into Finnish by using the passive form tehty
Suomessa = (tämä) on valmistettu Suomessa.
The Finnish passive has a nature that differs from the English passive. The
Finnish passive is somehow active: it always contains human activity.
However, the Finnish passive does not or needs not reveal exactly who it
was who does or did something. To the English words "made in Finland" it
is easy to add an agent, "by whom", while in Finnish we must revert to an
active form if we have to announce the manufacturer or who it was who
made something.
If there is the possibility that the "mysterious" agent was an animal or a
group of animals, the use of passive brings a humorous aspect to the
situation. We smile a little if somebody says juusto / juustoa on syöty
'(the) cheese has been eaten', and we know that it must have been one or
more mice who ate the cheese, acting like human beings.
If it is not our intention to hide the person behind the passive form or if
we wish to avoid giving the impression that we ourselves are involved in
the activity, we reject the passive and arrange our thought otherwise. By
using the active forms we can say it direct who it was who built the house or
whom we accuse for the cheese eating.
(Me) rakensimme talon / tämän talon.
= Tämän talon me rakensimme.
Joku on tehnyt tämän /Joku tämän on tehnyt.
Hiiret ovat syöneet juustoa/juuston.
We built a/this house
= this house was built by us
Somebody has made this
Mice have eaten (the) cheese
In fact, however, we do have a construction that is a "better" translation
from English: (tämä on) tehty jonkun toimesta '(this is) made by somebody'.
Sometimes, but rather only in writing, when we find passive and the word
toimesta practical in the actual connection, we use it.
Verb in a passive form, a name in genitive and the word toimesta is often a
useless construction also for another reason. We namely have a special
active construction that corresponds to the English "made by" construction
in a Finnish way. We use an agential participle. The formula reads jonkun
tekemä 'made by somebody'. An example sentence follows:

110
Chapter IV, 1., 2.
Tämä on hänen rakentamansa / Oy Ab:n rakentama talo.
This is a house built by him / by Messrs. Oy Ab'
Here we have the subject (agent) in genitive and thereafter an adjectival past
time participle "-raA". From rakentaa we get rakentama, from tehdä we
get tekemä, and so on. Because the "-mA" participles are adjectives, they
can be inflected in cases.
You will learn to know the agential construction with "-mA" better in
Chapter VI, point 3. See also the coming point 1.3 of the same Chapter VI.
There the syllable "-mA" is in a different use, and it is called "the 3rd
infinive".
Wishes can be said by using verbs in passive:
The normal passive forms of verbs can be used also for forming wishes that
are addressed to groups of people. Often at the end of the verb there is a
modifying particle like "-pA" or "-hAn".
When a teacher is asking pupils to sit down, he or she may say istutaan! 'sit
down, let's sit down!' by using the passive indicative present tense form, if
he/she doesn't say it by using a direct command form istukaa! '(please) sit
down'. Examples in which a teacher uses passive forms:
Ollaanpa(s) ihmisiksi! Behave like human beings!
Tehdäänpä (se) sitten näin. Let’s do it this way then!
Nyt mennään, lähdetään! Let's go, let's leave now
Ja nyt mentiin! (past tense!) And now, let's go /
go quickly!
2. 	"ME" PASSIVE IN COLLOQUIAL USE
Me tehdään se/sitä.
<
me teemme sen/sitä
We shall do it
Me ei tulla teille.
<
me emme tule teille
We shall not come to you
Me mennään kotiin.
<
me menemme kotiin
We shall go home
Ei me olla apinoita.
<
me emme ole apinoita
We are not monkeys/apes
Eilen me oltiin kotona.
<
eilen olimme kotona
Yesterday we were at home

111
Chapter IV, 2.
Me voisimme jo lähteä 'we could leave already' turns easily to passive: me
voitaisiin io lähteä. Still shorter we say it colloquially: me voitas jo lähtee.
Furthermore, instead of the literary correct negative form emmekö me voisi?
'could we not?' you may hear it shortened to eikö me voitas?
In this connection you could repeat what was said about "Shortening and
prolonging habits in speech" in Chapter I, point 1.8. We did not have
passive verbal forms there among examples of everyday speech.
The »i£-passive and the shortenings used in connection with it are colloquial
forms but even academic persons use them freely. For the time being, until
further notice, the use of iwe-passive is not recommended in writing.
Almost every Finn, however, finds it natural to speak this way in the passive
form, and in fact it is a handy form because then the object mostly can occur
in nominative, the easy basic case, or at least in partitive, and we need not
(cannot) use the genitive case.
Note: In spite of the pronoun me (1st p.pl.) the construction is passive and
the cases in which the objects can stay in a passive sentence are nominative
and partitive: se or sitä (tehdään).
Me 'we' is an additional declaration to a passive form, comparable with the
pronouns sinä and te that can be added to command forms. Its function is
to make it clear who the people behind the action are, namely we together,
not you or they, people in general.
I consider the /ne-passive to be acceptable, it is okey in speech, as long as
the constructions are not mixed, i.e. if the object's form is chosen correctly
according to the effect of the passive. People can forget this if they think or
they are told that the "wie-passive" is equal with the me person and with the
verbal conjugation in 1st p.pl. that belongs to it.
As said, me tehdään instead of the normal form me teemme, it is not quite
correct in standard written Finnish, yet, but in speech it is normal and need
not be avoided even by a foreigner. However, a foreign learner of Finnish
should master the literary correct forms first.

112
Chapter IV, 2, 3.
You must not let it confuse you that in the me-passive it looks as if subject
and object were in the same case nominative (me tehdään se) as they never
should be.
You need not be astonished if you hear that Finns themselves violate the
object rules that according to me are so important to obey to ensure that the
language we use is understandable. It is natural that people err and mix the
constructions when talking, especially when they cut the speech, think over,
change words or the word order.
It is also true that sometimes, when we write long and complicated phrases
and sentences, the result can cause difficulties to Finns themselves, too.
Usually, we believe on our "ear" and trust on what it "says" to be the correct
form of an object (or subject). Another person's ear can "hear" differently,
and then the explanation to the problem can be that both forms which we
were considering, suit equally well just in that sentence.
3. 	PASSIVE IMPERATIVE FORMS
The Finnish language has also one command form in the passive. The
passive imperative ending is ”-(tHAkOOn”. The passive imperative is a
seldom used solemn verbal form that refers to groups of people, possibly
including the speaker himself. When the verb is, for instance, sanoa 'to say'
we formulate our proclamation this way in passive: vowel stem sano- +
passive -tta- + -koon. From the verb mennä, menen, meni, mennyt,
mennään, mentiin 'to go' this passive form would read: mentäköön (= (on)
mentävä > mentäköön). In everyday life we use the normal passive and say
mennään! when we suggest to a group that they or we should go. The
passive command forms live in some idiomatic sayings:
sanoa > Sanottakoon siitä mitä tahansa!
Whatever one/they may say about it
suoda > Suotakoon se hänelle!
It shall be permitted to him
ottaa > Tämä otettakoon huomioon!
this must be considered

113
Chapter V, 1.
V USING THE INFLECTED NOUNS
1. GENERAL REMARKS
I will try to explain the use of the different cases to you, but in the end, it is
the real texts and real speech that will teach you. In this book, you get
model phrases and model sentences, as well as the possibility to do
exercises by reading some short stories in Chapter VIII. Then at last (if not
earlier) you will need a good dictionary, preferably both Finnish-English
and English-Finnish.
Without a predicate verb, one's thoughts normally remain incomplete.
Nevertheless, the verb is the core, the most important word in a sentence,
and the surrounding nouns complete its meaning. But we often understand
for instance the newspaper headlines even if there is no verb because we
guess the missing verb. The Finnish case endings are helpful by this!
Commands can be given without a verb if there is a case ending that helps
us to guess the meaning. When you knock at a door you hear sisään! (sisä-
in illative) 'please come in'. We say hyvää päivää 'good day, hello', using
the partitive forms of hyvä and päivä because the obviously missing verb
toivottaa 'to express wishes' requires the partitive form: toivotan (sinulle)
hvvää päivää 'I wish you a good day'. If one says hyvä päivä, it is a
statement, not a greeting.
There are grammar theories that explain that all the nominal phrases in a
sentence could be called objects (or agents, arguments, satellites, etc.) of the
predicate verb, but in this book, I use the term "object" (objekti, in Finnish)
traditionally, and only in connection with transitive verbs. - Here you
could repeat an earlier point (Chapter I, 2.1) about the normal word order
because subjects, objects, verbs and adverbs were mentioned there.
Now the predicate complement (predikatiivi) must be mentioned in addition
to them. Predicate complements occur in sentences where the predicate
verb is olla 'to be'. The verb olla is connected to a substantive (noun) or an
adjective to announce how, or what, or whose something (the subject) is.
As such the verb olla itself lacks meaning.

Chapter V, 1.
114
The verb olla often only draws parallels between things.
Two examples of predicate complements in nominative sg:
Hän on hyvä ystäväni. He/she is my good friend
Hän on hvvin iloinen. He/she is very cheerful/happy
If we think that the predicate verb on is the core, then we may see it
surrounded by phrases that consist of nouns (hän, hyvä ystäväni, hyvin
iloinen in the previous sentences).
A noun phrase (= NP) may consist of one or several nouns that move
together, in the same shape as an item, if the word order is changed. This is
possible because in a Finnish sentence the NPs usually carry different case
endings when compared each other. They are as if "dressed" differently for
their different roles as subject, object, adverb.
First of all, subjects differ from objects by their endings, and vice versa.
This is a very important principle to know, and it will help you when you
must make choices between the case endings. It is exceptional when the
Finnish grammar falls short of that ideal principle of clarity, and subject and
object fall similar. One exception is caused by the nominative pl. case "-t"
for an object. Another is caused by the possibility to add a clarification to
the active command forms and to the "me" passive forms.
This question is basic when you wish to learn a new language: How do
people communicate? With which forms and word orders do they tell each
other, for instance, such an important message that somebody was hit or
hurt and what the result was? Was the person wounded or dead?
In Finnish we can give that kind of messages by mere case endings.
It is a Finnish speciality that subject, object and predicate complement, all
the three, can make use of the same three cases (nominative, genitive,
partitive), in spite of the rather free word order. This fact makes the Finnish
grammar system sensitive to errors and unclear utterances.

115
Chapter V, l.,2.1
Thus, the cases 1, 2 and 3 are said to be the most grammatical cases. In
addition, the genitive case is very versatile in use. - Please look at the first
triangle of Table 5.
In a positive sentence, the partitive case of an object tells us
that something was half-done, and the nominative and
the genitive cases tell us that the result was final.
The case forms partly depend on the choices that the speaker or the writer
makes to express his thoughts, and partly on the special demands that the
individual words, especially verbs, may have. In Chapter VII there is a list
of verbs which require the nouns around them to stay in a certain case.
If a verb has such requirements, your freedom in choosing the case form is
restricted to a certain case, and it may be the partitive, elative, illative or
something else.
If you have strength enough to study the examples and exercises in this
book with a dictionary in hand, you will be able to dive deep into the
Finnish language. First of all, please study the case forms of different types
of nouns and learn to inflect most nouns in cases. In this task the triangles
of Table 5 will be helpful to you.
2. NOMINATIVE. GENITIVE AND PARTITIVE
2.1 Subjects in nominative,
objects in genitive or partitive
As meant in the heading, the objects can take either genitive or partitive if
the subject is already in the nominative case. We could imagine that the
subject can choose first, and, of course, it chooses the easy basic form.
Lapsi haluaa jäätelön/jäätelöä. The child wants (to get) (an) ice-cream
Mies ostaa ison talon. The man is going to buy a big house
Mies ostaa (or on ostamassa) isoa taloa. The man is buying a big house
(as you see / as I heard)

Chapter V, 2.1
116
The latest model sentences represent the "normal" word order (SVO):
subject (lapsi, mies) + predicate verb (accordingly conjugated) + object.
The word order is not fixed. We mostly can consider it and begin the
sentence with almost any word and know how to continue as the situation
and grammar demand.
Thanks to the different case endings sentence constituents the Finnish word
order is flexible. Following model sentences prove that it is fully possible
to begin a sentence with an object:
Isoa(pa) taloa on(kin) mies ostamassa. Kylläpä mies ostoakin ison talon.
On(pa)(han) ostamassa mies isoa taloa. Ison(pa) talon mies ostaafkin).
The man is buying a big house.
Jäätelön/jäätelöä lapsi haluaa.
The child wants (to get) (an) ice-cream (and nothing else).
Jäätelöä, lapsi ei halua.
The child does not wish any ice-cream.
There is the noun talo and an adjective iso that is describing it. Together
they form phrases in which the same case endings "-n" and "-a" are
repeated: ison talon, isoa taloa. - For the modifying end particle "-pA",
see back to Chapter II, point 1.4.
Here the use of partitive for the object jäätelöä 'ice-cream' indicates that it
is a question of a mass of material, or that the happening is still going on. -
It is another matter that in negative sentences the object can only stay in the
partitive form.
The tautological repetition of the endings throughout the whole unit of a
phrase, like isossa talossa, belongs to the system, and is useful. It makes it
easy to recognise the separate NPs in a sentence, and it also contributes to
proper understanding even if the attribute unit inside an NP sometimes
happens to be long and complicated.
Thanks to the different case endings of subjects and objects
in Finnish sentences, the word order does not need
to be fixed to the formula SVO.

117
Chapter V, 2.2
2.2 	Subjects in genitive, objects in nominative
or partitive {pitää, täytyy, pakko sentences)
Pitää, täytyy and on pakko, all of them meaning 'must, be compelled', are
used together with a subject (or agent) in genitive). These verbs can be
called modal auxiliaries just as e.g. "miissen" ('must') in German, and this
construction is called necessive construction. We conjugate our modal
auxiliaries in the 3rd p.sg. form, with which we can express time and the
way of happening.
(minun, sinun, hänen) pitää, piti, on pitänyt, olisi pitänyt, pitänee
(sen, meidän, teidän) täytyy, täytyi, on täytynyt, olisi täytynyt, täytynee
The meaningful verb follows in its basic form, with which we cannot
express time and the way of happening, e.g. (minun) pitää ostaa '(I) must
buy'. The genitive case in these constructions is like reserved for the subject
who must do something. This "who" can be mentioned or omitted
according to what the speaker wants to say or leave open.
If the genitive subject is omitted, the speaker is speaking generally, but
may also mean that he himself is the one who must do something.
(Minun) pitää ostaa oma asunto / matkalippu / mokaa.
(1 or) one must buy a dwelling of my own / a ticket / food
Asunto (meidän) on pakko ostaa tai vuokrata.
One (or we) must buy or rent a dwelling
Because the subject takes genitive (minun, meidän), the object (asunto,
ruokaa) of a transitive verb can follow either in nominative or in partitive,
but not in the genitive case. For instance, in the above sentences, it would
be too unclear and ungrammatical to say two different NPs in genitive this
way: * (minun) pitää ostaa + *oman *asunnon in order to mean 'I must buy
an own dwelling'.
If you try to express your thought of buying a dwelling of your own that
way to a Finn, he opens his mouth and remains waiting a word coming in
the nominative or partitive case to finish your incomplete sentence.
ve-A

Chapter V, 2.3
118
2.3 	Subjects in nominative or partitive
Of course, nominative is the most normal case form for the subject of a
transitive verb. In the previous point, genitive was presented as a case that
subjects can use in a Finnish sentence if there is a modal auxiliary in the
construction. Here you will learn about the partitive as a case for subjects in
Finnish sentences, alternatively with the nominative case.
Subject either in partitive or in nominative is possible if the predicate verb is
intransitive, e.g. olla 'to be', tulla 'to come'. Because the verb does not have
any, there is no risk of subjects and objects falling simutaneously into
partitive in one and the same sentence.
In the following collection of examples we have the intransitive verb olla in
its existential meaning 'to exist, be found somewhere' together with a
statement of time or place. Please note the importance of word order in
these sentences:
Tässä talossa on isäntä.
This house has a master
mutta emäntää ei ole.
but there is no mistress of the house
(existence or possession of
a fact or person: nominative)
(negation of existence: partitive)
Emäntä ei ole kotona.
The mistress is not at home
Lasissa on maitoa / vettä.
- Maito / vesi on lasissa.
In the glass there is / the glass contains milk/water
— The milk/water is in a/the glass
Meillä on vieras / vieraita.
- Talossa on vieras / vieraita.
We have a guest / guests/visitors in the house
Talossa pitää olla isäntä.
- Pitäähän talossa olla isäntä!
- Kyllä talossa isäntä olla pitää!
A house must have a master
(a temporary fact: nominative)
(in this house there is a mistress
but she is not at home.)
(existence of material: partitive)
(nominative + place where)
(possession or existence:
nominative or partitive)
(necessity or possession:
nominative)

119
Chapter V, 2.3
Ihmisellä pitää olla asunto / rahaa / ystäviä. (possession, existence:
- 	Asunto / rahaa /ystäviä ihmisellä olla pitää. nominative or partitive)
Man (one, you) must have a dwelling / money / friends
Hänen (isännän) kvllä piti olla tänään kotona (belief in a fact: genitive)
I was sure that he (the master) would be at home today
Please note how the partitive case such as maitoa, vettä, rahaa 'milk, water,
money' is used to refer to material and masses of things while the
nominative would refer to a certain amount of material or to countable
things in general.
These constructions may be difficult to understand if you want to know
precisely which word is the subject or is it something else like object,
adverb or predicate complement because some sentences contain words in
adessive ("-HA"). Don't worry. We can let linguists solve the problem.
In fact, on this point the Finnish grammar is difficult in theory, but not
necessarily in practice. If you hesitate when choosing a form, it can be a
question of alternative ways to say the same thought.
Please try to learn some model sentences by heart,
and note the alternative forms.
After having studied the previous model sentences, we shall now compare
that usage with two more constructions where we use the verb olla:
a) the way of expressing necessity with pitää, täytyy, on pakko together
with the verb olla, and the subject in nominative (or genitive), and
b) the Finnish way of expressing possession with the help of
the same verb olla, and the owner in adessive case ("-11A")
The verbs of necessity deserve a special attention when they occur before
the basic form of olla in its normal intransitive meaning 'to be somewhere or
something', often together with an announcement of place (kotona 'at home')
or a predicate complement (ahkera 'studious'), e.g.
Hänen (minun) pitää olla kotona. He/she (I) must be/remain at home
Meidän tävtvv olla kärsivällisiä. We must be patient
Sinun pitää olla ahkera. You must be studious

Chapter V, 2.3
120
Please note ahkera 'studious' in the last example. According to an old habit,
some people put this kind of complements in genitive especially in more
complicated sentences, which may contain a participle construction instead
of a full että 'that' subordinate clause. More in Chapter VI.
The Finnish language features a special possessive construction:
We express possession by using the adessive case "-I1A" for the "possessor"
(psychological subject). The verb olla 'to be' is fixed in its 3rd p.sg. form on,
and the possessed things follow it either in nominative or partitive. We say
minulla on 'I have' as if we were announcing that something is near by me
or with me. The adessive case "-11A" can be understood this way locally
even if a clear possession is concerned: minulla on, sinulla on, hänellä on,
etc. The verb olla can be conjugated in moods and tenses. - More about
the adessive case, number 10, will follow in point 4.2.
Note: The word order is not fixed in the possessive constructions, either.
A sentence can begin, for instance, with the verbal form on ("is").
Like olla, some other verbs can also be used in a singular form:
Tulla 'to come' and leikkiä 'to play' can occur in their singular forms tulee
'(it) comes', leikkii '(it) plays', and be followed by a subject in partitive,
singular or plural, especially plural. The verb must be intransitive. Verbs
that express movement usually are intransitive.
Sentences can begin with the partitive subject, or the subject is saved until
the end where it comes as a surprise. This kind of sentences which contain
a surprise moment normally begin with a statement of place:
Meille tulee vieraita. = Meille on tulossa vieraita.
We are having guests, guests are coming to visit us
Pihalla on (joukko) poikia leikkimässä.
There are (some) boys playing in the yard
Pihalla on kaksi poikaa leikkimässä.
= Pihalla leikkii kaksi poikaa.
There are two boys playing in the yard

121
Chapter V, 2.3, 2.4
But: Nuo kaksi poikaa leikkivät
= (Ne / nuo) poiat leikkivät pihalla.
Those two boys are playing in the yard
Singular forms of predicate verbs are used if the subject is a numeral from
two upwards just as kaksi 'two' in one of the model sentences above. In the
last sentence there are two or more known boys who are playing, leikkivät.
2.4 Three cases for objects
As in mies ostaa talon 'a/the man buys a house' the predicate verb ostaa
stays in the present tense it refers to the present day or to the future: the man
has decided to buy a house, and it is a fact. If we say mies ostaa taloa or
mies on ostamassa taloa 'a/the man is buying a house', we are observing a
situation and don't know how it will end. - See back to point 2.1.
Thanks to the different case endings, we can begin a sentence with an object
or some other word than the subject if we want to point it out e.g. talon mies
osti ('it was a house that the man bought'), osti mies talon ('oh yes, he
bought') and mies talon osti ('there was a/the man who bought').
As the subject mies 'man' stays in nominative, the object talo cannot take
that case but either genitive or partitive. The partitive form taloa would be
possible in a situation where the buying is just happening and the result is
not seen yet. The choice between between a "total" and a "partitive" object
in the above active sentence (osti is an active past tense form) is up to you.
It is only the speaker who knows the situation how it is, or what he is going
to tell about it.
The following headlines tell us the result of shooting (ampua, ammun,
ampui, ampunut, ammutaan 'to shoot') and the destiny of the object (karhu,
karhun, karhua, karhuja 'bear') precisely:
Mies ampui karhun. / Mies ampui karhua.
a/the man shot a bear a/the man shot at a bear
In the same way, lapsi juo maitoa describes a situation where a child is
drinking milk, or it is fact that a/the child generally drinks milk.

122
Chapter V, 2.4
But, if lapsi juo maidon. the child drinks all of it or a certain amount that
was given. (The verb is juoda, juon, joi, juonut, juodaan, juotiin 'to drink'.)
If the milk is in a glass (lasissa), the child drinks lasin (or lasillisen) maitoa
'a glass of milk', if the child drinks all of it. Furthermore, the child may
drink koko lasin maitoa 'a whole glass of milk', puoli lasia maitoa 'half a
glass of milk' or kaksi lasia maitoa 'two glasses of milk'.
Lapsi ei juo maitoa. - Maitoa lapsi ei juo. The child doesn't drink milk
Mies ei osta taloa. - Ei mies taloa osta. The man doesn't buy a house
If we deny a result or see a negative result, being or coming, we use the
partitive case. This was something you already knew. Another basic rule or
principle is this:
Among the three possible cases for an object (nominative,
genitive and partitive), at least one is always impossible.
In general, we choose between two cases of those three, or we can be
compelled to take the only possible case if the verb requires a certain case,
and that is often partitive. You know Finnish quite well already, if you can
avoid choosing just the impossible form, and do not say *minä teen *se, but
either minä teen sen or minä teen sitä.
Many verbs require their objects to be in partitive on the grounds of their
durable or uncompleted meaning. Rakastaa 'to love' is such a verb that
requires partitive: minä rakastan sinua 'I love you'. Unfortunately, the
opposite vihata 'to hate' - vihaan sinua 'I hate you' - is similarly durable
but, luckily, can also be only momentary ("until further notice").
We have such transitive verbs that require either genitive or nominative (a
"total" object) and for which the partitive case is impossible. Another group
of verbs may require translative "-ksi" or some ending of the six local
cases, from number 7 to number 12. - See Chapter VII, Exercise 3.
As noted already, the genitive plural form is not used for an object. For
plural objects, there are only two cases: nominative pl. and partitive pl.
Therefore, it sometimes happens that subject and object get the same
nominative pl. ending "-t", for instance:

123
Chapter V, 2.4, 2.5
Koirat söivät (meiltä) voileivät / eväät
(The) dogs ate the (our) sandwiches / packed lunch
This ambiguity (nominative pl. twice) is a weakness of the system, but the
most usual word order (SVO) and our general knowledge about the world
will help us: sandwiches do not eat dogs, so the eaters must have been dogs.
- T he word voileipä is a compound noun the parts of which are voi, voin,
voita 'butter' and leipä, leivän, leipää, leipiä 'bread'. Eväs, eväät, eväitä
'food, packed lunch' is mostly used in its plural form.
2.5 	Three cases for predicate complements
Predicate complements describe things and persons using the intransitive
verb olla 'to be' as a "middleman". The predicate complements obey the
number of the main word to be described, and they can then use either the
nominative or the partitive case.
Ruoka oli maukasta / maukas.
Mehu oli liian kuumaa.
Elämä on lyhyt / ihanaa.
Nämä ovat hyviä asioita.
Sinun pitää olla ahkera.
Sepä oli yllätys!
The food was tasty
The juice was loo hot.
Life is short / lovely
These are good things
You must be busy
What a surprise it was!
Ruoka oli maukas could mean that the portion smelt good. The combination
of a plural subject in partitive plus a plural predicative complement in
partitive is impossible: *ihmisiä on *iloisia. This is correct use of partitive
pl. for predicate complements: Ihmiset ovat iloisia. He ovat iloisia ihmisiä.
The impossibility of the same case in two different roles is comparable with
the corresponding "object rules". Ihmiset ovat iloiset is a possible sentence,
but it is better to avoid also this similarity of endings in different roles.
In singular we say lapsi on surullinen / kaunis 'the child is sad / beautiful',
but not * lapsi on *surullista /*kaunista (partitive sg. forms)- that would be
odd, unpleasant and ungrammatical because it is not a question of a mass
noun or a abstract matter like here: Kahvi oli hvvää 'the coffee was good',
Elämämme oli vaikeaa 'our life was difficult'.
V6-4

124
Chapter V, 2.5, 2.6
The choice between two forms for predicate complements is comparable
with the construction where we have a "possessor" in the adessive case
"-11A" and the "possessed" things in nominative or in partitive, but not in
genitive (see back to point 2.3):
Liisalla on nätti mekko /
kauniita mekkoja / kauniit vaatteet.
Meillä oli sirkuksessa oikein hauskaa.
Liisa has/wears a nice dress /
Liisa owns nice dresses
We had it very nice in the circus
With the genitive forms we naturally announce possession:
Se on minun. Se on Kallen.
Kenen nämä kirjat ovat?
Ne ovat meidän.
Mikä näistä nyt on minun mikä sinun?
It is mine, it belongs to Kalle
Whose are these books?
They are ours
Which one of these now is mine
and which is yours?
2.6 	Genitive plural endings
In genitive pl. some variants of the suffix are equivalent, i.e. we can choose
either "-den" or "-(t)ten". If you see this or that ending in a noun, you
know that the other ending is also possible, e.g. kauniiden = kauniitten ('of
the beautiful ones'). The former forms with d are more common in writing
than the others (according to frequency statistics), but as said, in speech
people tend to avoid forms with d and can there prefer the plural forms with
tt. The "-dän" ending of pronouns meidän, teidän, heidän is exceptional
and literary. People avoid it by saying "meiän, meijjän, meirän".
Furthermore, if you see that a noun ends in "-jA" or "-iA" in partitive pl.,
you know that in genitive pl. it reads "-Ien" (= "-ien" or "-jen", my
solution here!). The actual ending is "-en" while i and j are plural markers.
Partitive pl. forms
Genitive sg.
Genitive pl.
taloja
houses
talon
talojen
kaloja
fishes
kalan
kalojen
äitejä
mothers
äidin
äitien
kieliä
languages
kielen
kielien (or kielten)
päiviä
days
päivän
päivien (or päiväin)

Chapter V, 2.6, 2.7,3.
125
The ending "-ten" can occur if the noun has a consonant stem in addition
to the vowel stem that every noun must have, e.g. ihmisten 'of men, people',
toisten lasten äidit 'the mothers of the other children'.
With the alternative case endings we get ihmisien, toisien lapsien äidit. For
my pupils I would recommend the former forms "-ten" that are built on
consonant stems because they may be easier to pronounce.
2.7 	Genitive attributes in the genitive case
The genitive case is basically possessive, according to its name and the
usage in other languages. It may be odd that in Finnish this case also is
in use of objects and subjects. The distinctive feature of genitive is "-n",
and there are no prepositions or postpositions that could replace it.
The normal position of a genitive attribute is before the main word where
the descriptive attributes are placed, too, e.g.
pienen tytön nuori äiti the young mother of a/the small girl
pienten lasten nuoret äidit the young mothers of small children
Genitive is also the case of many qualifiers to adjectival words, e.g. pienen
pieni 'very little', suurenmoinen [suuremmoinen] 'magnificent'.
3. 	ESSIVE. ABESSIVE AND TRANSLATIVE
Chapter II, point 3.1 already contained a lot of each of the Finnish cases,
abessive included. Therefore, a short overview of the three cases which I
have numbered with numbers 4, 5 and 6 is enough here.
Essive ("-nA", case number 4) is capable of competing with nominative.
Somebody can be either opettaja or opettajana 'teacher'. The meaning of
the nominative case here is 'by profession'. The second teacher in essive
(opettajana) works as a teacher, but may not have a permanent job.

Chapter V, 3., 4.1
126
Abessive ("-ttA", case number 5) is a case whose ending can be replaced
by a separate word ilman that requires partitive: rahatta — ilman rahaa
'without money'. Therefore, abessive is said to be a marginal case.
However, this case form is much used by a non-finite verb form called the
3rd infinitive (Chapter VI, point 1.3): sanaakaan sanomatta 'without saying a
word'.
Translative ("-ksi", case number 6) is used to express direction and
movement "to" or change "into", but the case is also used in fixed
expressions, e.g. anteeksi 'excuse me', toistaiseksi 'for the present, for now',
onneksi 'fortunately, luckily', ilmaiseksi 'for nothing, without money'.
Se muuttui mustaksi.
Kääntäisitkö tämän englanniksi.
Annan sen sinulle lahjaksi.
Hän sanoi tietä hyväksi.
Luulin sinua toiseksi ihmiseksi.
Sisareni opiskeli ja valmistui
sairaanhoitajaksi.
It turned black
Please, translate this into English!
1 am giving it as a present for you
He/she said the road was/is good
I took you for another man/woman
My sister studied and qualified
as a nurse maid.
Translative is also used in fixed sayings such as anteeksi 'excuse me',
toistaiseksi 'for the present', for now', onneksi 'fortunately, luckily',
ilmaiseksi 'for nothing, without money'.
4. THE SIX LOCAL CASES
4.1 The local use of the six local cases
The first three local cases, numbers 7, 8, 9 or inessive. elative and illative
are "internal" cases. The next three cases numbers 10, 11, 12 or abessive.
ablative and allative are "external". In principle, the local cases contain a
clear local meaning: 'in/on a place', 'from a place' and 'to/into/onto a place'.
Inessive ("-ssA", case number 7) and adessive ("-11A", case number 10)
answer the question "where?", for instance, with these forms: talossa 'in
a/the house', and talolla 'by a/the side of the house, near a house'.

127
Chapter V, 4.1
Elative ("-stA", case number 8) and ablative ("-ItA", case number 11)
answer the question "from where?" for instance with these forms: talosta
and talolta 'from inside' and 'from outside a/the house'.
Illative (case number 9, different endings, see the headings of Table 1) and
allative ("-lie", case number 12) answer the question "where to?" for
instance with these forms: mihin?— taloon (illative) 'into the house', minne /
mihin?- talolle (allative) 'near to the house'.
The choice between the internal cases (numbers 7, 8, 9) and the external
cases (numbers 10, 11, 12) is not always simple because the Finnish place
names are divided into two groups: some use the internal local cases while
the others use the external local cases. You - and we Finns, too - must
learn to choose the case for each name separately, or according to some
logic. When smaller places and towns are concerned, the habitants know
best and tell the others how to inflect their place names in cases.
Place names that are inflected in internal cases:
Helsingissä, Espoossa, Lahdessa, Turussa, Kuopiossa, Oulussa, Porissa
Vaasasta, Jyväskylästä, Pietarsaaresta, Englannista, Islannista, Ruotsista
Kouvolaan, Espooseen, Lontooseen, Lahteen, Turkuun, Raaheen, Viroon
Place names that are inflected in external cases:
Vantaalla, Keravalla, Rovaniemellä, Tampereella, Raumalla, Lapualla
Viitasaarelta, Ruotsinpyhtäältä, Lapinlahdelta, Lohjalta, Keuruulta
Hyvinkäälle, Riihimäelle, Tampereelle, Suomussalmelle, Venäjälle
The difference between the use of the local cases sometimes becomes clear
only on the place itself. For instance, if you are Vuokatilla, you are high on
the hill or on its slope. Vuokatti is situated in Kainuu, in Sotkamo, the rural
district. If you are Vuokatissa. you are in the village and the tourist centre
around the hill. Vuokatti, about 350 m high, is that kind of a mountain
which is called vaara, vaaran, vaaraa, vaaroja. Vaara hills are found in
eastern and middle Finland while tunturi hills belong to Lapland. - We say
Pyhäjärvessä if we swim in a lake called Pyhäjärvi (Holy Lake').
Pyhäjärvellä people live. Pielisellä refers to boating and fishing because Pielinen
is neither a town nor a village. It is a large lake in Northern Karelia.

128
Chapter V, 4.1, 4.2
Thus, some knowledge about the geography may help a lot for a foreigner
when he is choosing the case form for a place name in Finnish.
4.2 	The six local cases in special use
Sometimes you will certainly consider the usage of an internal case to be
odd. We are really are used to say when we need a doctor: menen lääkäriin
'I am going to see a doctor'. Further expressions:
Taivas meni pilveen. The sky clouded over
Nousen hevosen selkään. I am mounting a horse
Istun hevosen selässä. I am sitting on a horse, riding
Panen hatun päähän. 1 will put my hat on
Lähden marjaan, kalaan.. 1 will go picking berries, fishing
Puut puhkeavat lehteen / kukkaan. The trees are bursting into
leaf / bloom
Menen ulos hattu päässä I'll go out with my hat on
ja käsineet kädessä. and my gloves on
Saappaat / kengät ovat jalassa. The boots are on
Riisun saappaat / kengät jalasta. I take off my boots
Panen saappaat / kengät jalkaa(ni). 1 put the boots / shoes on
The meening of jalka, jalan, jalkaa, jalkoja, nominative pl. jalat, is in
Finnish not only the foot but the whole leg, also called sääri, säären,
säärtä, sääriä. In the above examples jalka was used in singular. Plural
forms are used if there is an adjective before the body part, e.g. vedän sukat
kylmiin jalkoihini 'I am dragging socks on my cold feet'. But if somebody
says saappaat ovat jaloissa, the boots are lying on the floor in people's way.
The expression olla päissään (inessive pl. + poss. suffix = humalassa, with
inessive sg.) 'to be drunk' is a phrase that has gone further from the concrete
use of a local case. Similarly we say e.g. olen tosissani 'I mean it seriously'.
The external cases of pää 'head' {päällä, päältä, päälle) are used when
pieces of clothing are put on somebody's "shoulders". The formula reads:
panna vaatteet / takki päälle 'to put on one's clothes / coat/jacket'.
Päähineet 'headgear', like hattu 'hat' and kypärä 'helmet' are put päähän 'on
the head, actually "into one's head'.

129
Chapter V, 4.2
About the use of the elative case:
Elative ("-stA", case number 8). In the phrase jonkun mielestä 'in
somebody's opinion', mieli 'mind' is in elative sg. Minun mielestäni 'in my
opinion' can be said more shortly either minusta or mielestäni.
Please note that pitää 'must' (+ basic form of another verb) is used in
another meaning and as a completely other verb when it is conjugated as a
normal verb pitää, pidän, piti, pitänyt, pidetään, pidettiin. In the meanings
'to like somebody/something' and 'to keep hold of it requires elative: pitää
jostakin and pitää kiinni jostakin.
Tykätä, tykkään jostakin 'to like something/somebody' means the same as
pitää jostakin, but as it is felt to be a Swedish loan, it is not recommended in
writing, until further notice. Pärjätä, pärjään jossakin / jollekin 'to get
along, beat' and meinata, meinaan 'to mean to do' are similarly colloquial
verbs. In fact, pärjätä is used widely and already felt a normal, useful verb.
Tästä (elative) minä tykkään. I'm fond of this
= Minä pidän tästä (elative). I like this
= Tämä (nominative) miellyttää minua (partitive). This pleases me
= Tätä (partitive) minä rakastan. I love this
About the use of the adessive case:
Adessive ("-HA" , case number 10) is used often because with it we express
possession. This was mentioned in point 2.3 of this Chapter V, but it is
worth of repeating before you read further. The way how we normally
express possession with the help of a grammatical construction, in Finnish
it is called omistusrakenne, may sound odd to foreigners.
The said possessive construction is built on the normally intransitive verb
olla 'to be'. The "possessor" that belongs to it is inflected in the adessive
case "-I1A". The predicate verb olla remains fixed in its 3rd p.sg. form,
mostly on, which is the indicative present tense form, but the past time
forms oli, on ollut and oli ollut, and the conditional and the potential moods
are also usable. - In my opinion, the possessed things are felt to be objects
as in other languages, too.

Chapter V, 4.2
130
The choice between case forms for the "possessed things" or objects, as we
are used to call them normally, goes between nominative and partitive, the
genitive case being impossible. For some pronouns we have special forms
marked by the ending "-t" to be used when the pronoun is understood to be
a "total object". - Go back to Chapter II, point 4.1.
Conclusion:
Obviously the possessed things are objects also in the Finnish
language, apart from the fact that the possessive construction uses
the normally intransitive olla as the predicate verb and inflects the
noun in adessive "-11A" to represent the "possessor" or "subject".
When we say, for instance, on hyvä (or oli hyvä), että minulla oli sinut
'it is/was good that I had got you', we take use of the "t-case" or the
"accusative" forms minut, sinut, hänet of some pronouns and give them the
place that is "reserved" for objects inflected in a case called "accusative",
like e.g. in the German language. Thus, that should mean that also all the
other words that are given that place in nominative or partitive are objects!
Naapureillamme on loistoauto, mutta heillä on myös polkupyöriä.
= Naapurimme (subject) omistaa loistoauton, mutta myös polkupyöriä (objects)
Our neighbours own a luxury car but also a lot of bikes
Minulla (tai minussa) on paha nuha ja vähän kuumetta
1 have a bad cold and some fever
The "possessor" that is inflected in adessive has got the role of being the
actual subject that is still and owns the things that are "around him". The
same thought can be expressed also by using the verb omistaa (< oma 'own')
'to own' which is a normal transitive verb. Omata, omaan 'to have' is more
seldom used in the same meaning. The adjective omaava 'having' is derived
from it. These words will be mentioned again in Chapter VI, point 2.1.
Adessive "-HA" is also widely used in adverbs of tools and manner (in
Finnish tavan adverbiaali). Then its meaning is 'with the help of, by means
of. In some expressions adessive is in temporal use. Examples:
Voit kirjoittaa sen (joko) kynällä (= käsin) tai koneella.
You can write it with a pen (= by hand) or you can type it up

131
Chapter V, 4.2, 5.1
Matkustatteko sinne junalla, laivalla vai lentokoneella?
Are you going to travel there by train, ship or aeroplane?
Sinun pitää nukkua völlä ia valvoa päivällä.
You must sleep at night and be awake by day
About the use of allative:
Allative ("-lie", case number 12) is widely used to express the thought of
addressing something to or for a person, e.g. sanon / annan sen sinulle 'I’ll
say / give it to you'. Sen 'it' is here the object in genitive sg. and sinulle 'to
you' is like a statement of place, the receiver, explained to be one kind of the
adverbials in the Finnish grammar, as far as I know.
Note: Terms like “second object” or "objective" of the English grammar are
not used in the Finnish grammar. The words objektiivi and linssi 'lens' are
connected with cameras. Objektiivinen 'objective' is puolueeton 'neutral'.
The adverb suunnilleen 'approximately, nearly' contains suunta 'direction' in
allative pl. "-ille", and in addition there is a possessive suffix.
5. COMITATIVE AND INSTRUCTIVE
5.1 Comitative, Case number 13, 'in the company of
The ending of comitative is "-ne", and it is always equipped with an i
("-ine") as a marker of plurality, and with a possessive suffix, which is
added once and to the main noun only, not to an attribute before it. The
comitative case has no singular forms. We cannot help it that vaimoineen
'with his wife' sounds plural, and that lapsineen 'with her/his child/children'
or ystävineen 'with her/his friends' does not tell other people if they are one
or more.
kaksi kättä > kaksine käsineen with his/her two hands
monta vaivaa > monine vaivoineen with his/her many troubles
Comitative is in one respect similar with the abessive case: both of them
can be replaced by a suitable preposition or postposition.

132
Chapter V, 5.1, 5.2
Kanssa 'with' is postposition that is well suitable to replace the comitative
case. It requires genitive and a possessive suffix can be added to it:
If there is a gradation before the comitative ending, the grade is strong.
The ending "-tAr" in tytär, tyttären, tytärtä, tyttäriä 'daughter' obeys
gradation, tt ~ t. just as "-tOn" does, for instance, rahaton, rahattoman,
rahatonta, rahattomia 'without money'.
The comitative form likaisine comes from likainen 'dirty' and that again
comes from lika, lian, likaa, likoja 'dirt'.
The suffixes of derivation will be handled in point 6.1 of this Chapter V.
In Chapter II, point 4, I warned you about excessive use of pronouns and
possessive suffixes.
5.2 	Instructive, case number 14, 'by means of
The ending is ”-n" in singular and "-in" in plural. In singular the forms are
identical with genitive sg. Therefore, instructive sg. is considered to be a
marginal case that no longer exists as a productive case. However, it still
exists in many fixed expressions, in which the endings look like genitive sg.
endings. For instance, ilman 'without' is ilma 'air' in the old instructive sg.
The word form jalan is both the genitive sg. and the instructive sg. form of
jalka 'foot, leg'. In connection with a suitable verb, such as mennä, menen
'and kulkea, kuljen 'to go' the meaning of jalan is 'by/on foot'.
The Finnish language also features a non-finite verbal form that ends in
”-en" and is called the 2nd infinitive in the instructive form (see Chapter
VI, point 1.2). Examples of it follow:
vaimon kanssa / vaimonsa kanssa (= vaimoineen)
pienen lapseni kanssa / pienten lasteni kanssa
(= pienine lapsineni)
kaksine / molempine tvttärineen < kaksi tytärtä
with his wife
with my small child /
with my small children
with her/his two daughters'
with his/her dirty shoes'
with his troops
likaisine kenkineen < likaiset kengät
joukkoineen < joukko
V&«4

133
Chapter V, 5.2
kävellen (= jalan, jalaisin) < kävellä on foot
mennen tullen < mennä, tulla "going coming”, there and back
tieten tahtoen < tietää, tahtoa "knowing willing", knowingly
In Chapter II, point 5 you got acquainted with the superlative of adjectives,
and now we note that superlative uses the same suffix "-in" in its basic
form as this instructive pl. In fact, these forms, the superlative and the
plural form of instructive are mostly identical as long as adjectives are
concerned. Suurin toiveeni (nominative sg.) would mean ’my greatest hope’.
The "superlative rule" is helpful.
The instructive pl. forms are often phrases that consist of two nouns, of
which the first one can also occur in another case:
Nominative sg. and pl. forms Instructive pl. forms
kaksi kättä, kahdet kädet
paljas pää, paljaat päät
tyhjä suu, tyhjät suut
herkkä mieli, herkät mielet
sankka joukko , sankat joukot
tämä tapa, nämä tavat
tämä maa, nämä tavat
hyvä mieli, hyvät mielet
kaksin käsin
paljain päin
tyhjin suin
herkin mielin
sankoin joukoin
tällä tavoin (= näin)
näillä main
hyvillä mielin
with two hands
hatless, bare-headed
empty (mouth)
with sensitive minds
in vast crowds
in this way
around here
in happy mood
Instructive pl. forms
pienin, suurin
löysin rantein (< ranne')
Genitive pl. forms
pienien /pienten; suurien / suurten
löysien / löysäin; ranteiden / ranteitten
The instructive pl. forms with "-in" might be confused with those
alternative genitive pl. forms that also end in "-in". Words that end in the vowel a
can have two alternative forms in genitive plural:
herkkä ’sensitive’ herkkäin = herkkien
ranta ’shore’ rantain = rantojen
Kautta rantain is a phrase where rantain must be ranta in genitive pl.
because kautta ’via, through’ is here a preposition that requires genitive.

Chapter V, 5.2, 6.1
134
Ranta and herkkä would read rannoin and herkin in instructive pl. If a noun
obeys gradation, it is weak before the instructive pl. forms, as you see.
Vaivoin 'with difficulty' is instructive pl., but vaivoin 'of difficulties' is
genitive pl. Both forms are built on the same noun vaiva, vaivan, vaivaa,
vaivoja 'trouble'. The word-final a has turned to o in instructive pl.
Because of an i vowel in the basic form, adjectives like kaunis, kauniin
'beautiful' > kauniimpi and kaunein (comparative and superlative) can get
similar forms when inflected in singular and plural cases. The superlative
form can do also for instructive (kaunein sanoin) but the use of it can be
avoided by using the adessive case: kaunilla sanoilla' with nice words'.
In principle, all the case forms of a Finnish noun always
differ from each other and cannot be confused.
6. 	MORE ABOUT THE FINNISH WORDS
6.1 	From shorter words to longer words; derivation
You have already noticed how Finnish words are built on each other, and
how they form families. Let's take the word kirja 'book' and make a list of
some of its "descendants or relatives":
kirje, kirjeen, kirjettä, kirjeitä > kirjoittaa to write
kirjasto, kirjaston, kirjastoa, kirjastoja > kirjoitus writing, text
kirjailija, kirjailijan, kirjailijaa, kirjailijoita > kirjallisuus literature
Adverbs ending in "-min" are bom from other adverbs as well as from the
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. From kova 'hard, loud' we
get the adverb kovaa on which we can ask miten kovaa, kuinka nopeasti or
äänekkäästi. From the comparing degrees kovempi and kovin we can derive
the adverbs kovemmin 'louder' and kovimmin 'most loudly'.
The corresponding derivations of hyvä 'good' are parempi and paras, and
furthermore of them we get paremmin 'in a better way' and parhaimmin /
parhaiten 'in the best way'.

135
Chapter V, 6.1
With a "-minen" ending we make nouns (substantives) from all verbs, e.g.
kirjoittaa > kirjoittaminen 'writing'. The form is called the 4th infinitive.
From nouns we build adjectives with the ending "-(i)nen". From tuli,
tulen, tulta, tulia 'fire' we get tulinen, tulisen, tulista, tulisia 'fiery, hot', and
from this we build an adverb of manner: tulisesti 'hotly'. More examples:
kirje
letter
>
kirjeellinen
> kirjeellisesti
by letter
kirja
book
>
kirjallinen
> kirjallisesti
in writing
kirjain
letter
>
kirjaimellinen
> kirjaimellisesti
literally
onni
luck
>
onnellinen
> onnellisesti
happily
ystävä
friend
>
ystävällinen
> ystävällisesti
friendly
With a shorter ending "-sti" wc form adverbs from every adjective this way:
suuri, suuren big, great > suuresti greatly
valitettava regrettable > valitettavasti regrettably
hidas, hitaan slow > hitaasti slowly
The above adverbs of manner answer the question "miten / kuinka jokin
tapahtuu" 'how, in which way something happens'.
Many undeclinable derivations are marked by an ending that is the
instructive pl. case, for instance, hyvin 'well', oikein 'right'. If such an
undeclinable word looks like the genitive sg., the case obviously is the
singular form of instructive: ihan oikein 'just right'.
A group of widely used endings, with which we build new words:
"-in: -ime-"
tulostin 'printer'
(genitive sg. tulostimen)
puhelin, puhelimen 'telephone'
< tulostaa
(< tulla
< puhua
to print
to come)
to speak
"-isin"
päivisin 'on day times'
iltaisin 'in the evenings'
< päivä
< ilta
day
evening
"-ittAin"
ajoittain 'at times'
parittain 'in pairs, two by two'
< aika, ajan
< pari
time
pair
"-jA"
tekijä 'maker, factor'
< tehdä
to make, do
ve-4

Chapter V, 6.1
136
-1A"
ravintola ’restaurant'
huvila ’villa, cottage'
< ravinto
< huvi
food, eating
pleasure, fun
-lAinen"
pakolainen ’fugitive, refugee'
< pako
flight, escape
-Uinen"
pakollinen 'compulsory, obligatory'
< pakko
compulsion,
force
-ntA"
hallinta ’occupation, possession'
< hallita
to control
-ntO"
tuotanto ’production'
< tuottaa
to produce
-stO"
laivasto ’navy'
vesistö ’river and lake system'
< laiva
< vesi
ship
water
-tUs"
hallitus ’government, board'
hälytys ’alarm'
< hallita
< hälyttää
to rule over
to alarm
-tAr"
tarjoilijatar 'waitress'
< tarjoilla
to serve
-tOn"
sanaton, sanattoman 'speechless'
arvoton, arvottoman 'worthless'
< sana
< arvo
word
worth
About the "-tOn" words:
The ending "-tOn" is added to nouns directly as done above: sana ('word')
+ "-tOn" = sanaton. From the word haju ('smell, odour1) we get:
haju > hajuton, hajuttoman, hajutonta, hajuttomia odourless
asunto > asunnoton, asunnottoman, asunnotonta, homeless
asunnottomia
luonto > luonnoton, luonnottoman, luonnotonta unnatural
luonnottomia (opposite: luonnollinen 'natural')
Please note that the "-tOn" words have a weak grade and a vowel stem in
the middle of their basic form: asunto > asunno-, ehto > ehdo- and luonto >
luonno-. The reason of the weak grade in ”-tOn" words is that it would be
U6-4

137
Chapter V, 6.1
too complicated to master two places of gradation in a word simultaneously:
first nt ~ nn or ht ~ hd and then the variation between t and tt in the suffix.
Later, in Chapter VI, 3.2, you will get acquainted with "-mAtOn". with
which we build adjectives from all verbs (for instance, sanoa 'to say' >
sanomaton 'unsaid').
About the "-kAs" words:
We have an ending "-kas" the meaning of which is 'equipped with,
containing or owing something'. Thus, it is an opposite of "-tOn" ('without
something'). For instance, from maku 'taste' we can derive two words
which have opposite meanings: maukas, maukkaan, maukasta, maukkaita
'tasty' and mauton, mauttoman, mautonta, mauttomia 'tasteless'.
The consonant k of the suffix "-kAs" represents the weak grade of kk.
More examples of words derived using the ending "-kAs":
onni > onnekas, onnekkaan, onnekasta, onnekkaita lucky
pelko > pelokas, pelokkaan, pelokasta, pelokkaita fearful
vara(t) > varakas, varakkaan, varakasta, varakkaita wealthy
About "-tAr" words:
The ending "-tAr" obeys the consonant grading tt ~ t. The "-tAr" words
refer to female persons and are inflected like tytär 'daughter': tytär, tyttären,
tytärtä, tyttäriä.
In earlier times, such words as sairaanhoitajatar, -hoitajattaren 'nurse',
opettajatar 'woman teacher' were used but in the modem world this suffix
"-tAr" is mostly unnecessary.
Instead, we say naisopettaja 'woman teacher', miesopettaja 'teacher' and
naispoliisi 'woman police officer', if the gender is significant in a situation
and the words opettaja and poliisi don't say enough.
Some female words are playful, e.g. pariisitar, pariisittaren 'Parisienne'.

138
Chapter V, 6.2
6.2 	Compound nouns
You should leam- like Finns themselves already in school should learn- to
master the compounds and know when two words are written together and
when apart. Forming compounds is a usual way to make new words. In
English you mostly write compound nouns separately or put a hyphen (-)
between the parts.
In Finnish compounds it is notable that the stress lies on the first part of the
combination. If the parts shall not be written together, both parts are equally
stressed. If you hear both parts equally stressed, you can be quite sure that
the successive words are not written together but are two separate words.
Finnish compounds are not always found in dictionaries because we can
build new ones and we can guess the meanings on the basis of their parts.
Compounds are mostly such nouns that we call substantiivi, and sometimes
they look very long. You will find the parts of a long word by reading it
syllable by syllable. That way it becomes easier to note, for instance, that
omakotitalo = o-ma-ko-ti-ta-lo 'a single-family house' consists of three
parts: oma 'own' + koti 'home' + talo 'house'.
Externally the compounds often seem to break the rule of vowel harmony
like aamupäivä 'forenoon', väliaika 'interval'. On these words you know
immediately that they must be compounds consisting of aamu + päivä and
väli + aika.
In Finland we have created norms for the written language. For instance, it
has been agreed that we write suomen kieli 'the Finnish language' with two
words. Please note that suomi, the language, is written with the small initial.
Written with a capital letter it means the country (Suomi = 'Finland').
The corresponding adjectives are written together with small initials:
suomen kieli > suomenkielinen 'written/spoken in Finnish'. Keski-Suomi
'Central Finland' > keskisuomalainen 'from Central Finland'.
We write äidinkieli 'native tongue' together while äidin kieli would refer to
the concrete thing ("mother's tongue"). Thus, separation of parts may give
another meaning, especially if the first part is in genitive.

139
Chapter V, 6.2
If the separation of parts does not affect meaning, then the parts can
sometimes be written apart in order to make the text look lighter.
It is not advisable to separate a compound word where the first part is in
nominative. It would be very confusing to see e.g. kirjakauppa 'bookshop'
written with two separate, independent words - actually it would mean
nothing at all. For instance, hyvä kauppa 'good deal, shop' would be a
meaningful nominal phrase. - Not at all all the Finns are experts to know
which words are written together and which apart.
Usually the first part of a compound noun is either
in the nominative or in the genitive case form.
The first part of a compound word often ends in "-n" or ”-s". The "-s"
ending mostly originates from "-nen" which has been shortened to end in
"-s": aamiaistunti < aamiainen + tunti 'breakfast time', suomalais- <
suomalainen. A dictionary is suomalais-englantilainen (= suomalainen +
englantilainen) sanakirja. Pohjois-Suomi 'northern Finland' is written so.
However, sometimes the "-s" in the middle of a compound noun is original
and not made of "-nen" but belongs to the first part. Keskus, keskuksen
'central' ends in "-s":, keskussairaala 'central hospital' as well as tapaus
'case, instance' > tapauskohtainen 'case by case', täysi 'full, complete' >
täysistunto 'plenary session'.
In some compound nouns the genitive form of the first part is possessive
while in some it is objective in its relation to the second part. The first part
must then be a derivation from a transitive verb, i.e. stay in the role of an
object to the second part. Even then it can be acceptable that the first part is
in nominative if a similar use of nominative is found in comparable words.
Uninflected first parts (in nominative) usually describe, explain or classify
the second part, or it can also be that the parts are of the same value, in
balance and therefore, both in nominative.
Other case forms are also met in compounds, for instance, the ablative (case
number 11): maaltapako 'rural depopulation' (< pako, paon, pakoa, pakoja
'escape, flight' < paeta 'to flee, pakenen 'I flee).

Chapter V, 6.2
140
Examples with first parts the in nominative or in the genitive case:
maailma maa + ilma
kukkakauppa kukka + kauppa
tulovero tulo + vero
yksipuolinen yksi + puoli- + nen
kaksikielinen kaksi + kieli- + nen
hyväkuntoinen hyvä + kunto- + inen
earth + air = world
florist's
income tax
one-sided
bilingual
in good condition/shape
hyvännäköinen hyvä- n + näkö- + inen
äitienpäivä äiti- en + päivä
lainananto laina- n + anto (< antaa ’to give’)
illanvietto il-(ta) lan + vietto (< viettää)
työnantaja työ- n + antaja (<antaa)
veronpidätys vero- n + pidätys (< pidättää)
lending of money
evening entertainment
employer
tax deduction
good looking
mother's day
Separation of parts can result in another meaning, especially when the first
part is in genitive. The possibility to cut a too long compound into two parts
is sometimes welcome.
Separation can also be used occasionally to ensure proper understanding.
In speech we bind the words correct together through stress and intonation.
In writing it is possible to add a hyphen (-) when there are two successive
words in genitive in order to avoid possessive associations where it is not
a question of owning a thing:
Dalai Laman Kiinan-matka = Dalai Laman matka Kiinaan
Dalai Lama's trip to China
Suomen Oslon-suurlähettiläs Ole Norrback
Ole Norrback, the Finnish Ambassador to Oslo
About compound verbs:
Compound verbs are new, usually very modem verbs, such as koeajaa
’to test drive’ (a car), built after the noun koeajo. This word (koe + ajo)
obviously existed first. Our verbs are normally simple without any prefixes,
either, but "-epä" can be mentioned here. From e.g. onnistua ’to succeed’
and onni ’luck’ we get epäonnistua ’to fail, not succeed’, and epäonni ’failure,
misfortune’.

141
Chapter V, 6.2, 6.3
We have the verb uida ’to swim’, and from the expression uida avannossa
’to swim in a hole in the ice’ we get a name for the hobby, avantouinti
(spelled: a-van-to-uin-ti) ’winter swimming’. We do not have such a verb as
*avantouida, but we must say uida avannossa ’to swim in avanto’.
Many foreigners in Finland hear the word maahanmuuttaja ’immigrant’, but
the corresponding verb *maahanmuuttaa does not exist yet. If a verb is
needed to express that thought, the parts are used separately, mostly in
converted order: muuttaa maahan ’to immigrate (into the country)’.
6.3 	Model sentences where things are compared
Now we revert to the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives that
you learned in Chapter 2, point 5 ’’Comparison”. You noticed that gradation
mp - mm happens both in comparative and in superlative endings when
they are inflected in cases.
When we compare things we need words like kuin ’like, as’ and yhtä
’equal’, and the word pair yhtä - kuin ’as - as’ (+ the basic form).
Se oli kuin unta / uni.
Kaikki olivat yhtä hyviä.
Se on yhtä hyvä kuin tämä.
Se on parempi kuin tuo.
Mikä näistä on paras?
Mitä näistä pidät parhaana?
Hän oli paljon nopeampi kuin me /
Hän oli meitä nopeampi
Sinä puhut englantia vähän paremmin
kuin minä.
It was like a dream
All (of them) were equally good
It is as good as this
It is better than that
Which of these is the best?
Which of these do you find best?
He/she was much quicker than
we are/were.
You speak English a little better
than 1 do.
The positive grade is emphasised with adverbs: erittäin hyvä 'very good',
hyvin pieni 'very small', liian iso 'too big'.
The comparative forms are emphasised with the word pair mitä - sitä (or
alternatively mitä - sen) 'the - the', but for the superlative forms the mere
mitä is used:
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142
Chapter V, 6.3, 6.4
Mitä nopeampi lento, sitä/ sen parempi. the quicker the flight (is), the better
Sää on mitä parhain / mitä kaunein. the weather is most beautiful
It may be something special in the Finnish language that even some adverbs
and nouns can be equipped with a comparative or a superlative suffix and
inflected in cases, e.g.
kaukana
far away
>
kauempana, kauimpana
more / most far away
tuolla
there
>
tuonnempi > tuonnempana
more there
lähi
near
>
lähin > lähimpänä / lähinnä
most near (to)
ranta
shore
>
rannempi > rannemmalla
more there on the shore
kevät
spring
>
keväämpi > keväämmällä
later in the spring
Note: If you find the forms of comparison difficult in the beginning, you
may simplify the matter with the little words enemmän 'more' and eniten
'most' and say: enemmän hyvä, enemmän kaunis, eniten hyvä, eniten kaunis,
etc. But, please note that this usage is quite odd to a Finn, and only
complicates the adjectival inflection.
6.4 	More numerals and other useful words
Here we continue listing useful words for your pronouncing exercises:
100
sata {sata, sadan, sataa, satoja)
500
viisi sataa / viisisataa
1000
tuhat {tuhat, tuhannen, tuhatta, tuhansia)
2001
kaksituhattayksi
1 000 000
miljoona
2 000 000
kaksi miljoonaa / kaksimiljoonaa
500 000
puoli miljoonaa / viisisataa tuhatta
Toista, kymmentä, sataa* tuhatta and miljoonaa are partitive singular forms.
Toista is the partitive sg. form of toinen 'second, other' and its meaning is 'of
the second (tenth)'. Yksitoista is the first number of "ten again"and
kaksitoista is the second number of the second group of ten.
The word yksi 'one' is not needed before sata, tuhat, tuhatyhdeksänsataa,
miljoona, etc. because, of course, a word in nominative sg. is "one". Yksi
is used when counting things, as in mathematics.
ve-A

143
Chapter V, 6.4
Thus, when reading the years from our last century you must not start
saying [*yksituhatyhdeksänsataa] but you say tuhatyhdeksänsataa '1900'.
The abbreviation of the word vuosi is v. (= the letter v + point). If we see
"v. 2012" we read it: vuonna kaksituhatta kaksitoista.
In numerals from 11 to 19 the second part "-toista" remains even if the first
part were inflected: neliäksitoista päiväksi 'for 14 days' (translative sg.).
Therefore, by shortening, we need not write " 14:ksitoista", but "14:ksi"
is enough. Toista is the word toinen in nominative sg.
Ordinal numbers are equipped with a point, 20. = kahdeskymmenes. The
point should not be left out. The inflected forms of ordinals are quite
complicated because the suffix is repeated. For example, in genitive it goes
this way: 20. > "kahdennenkymmenennen", 11. > "yhdennentoista". - For
numerals, see Table 1, pages 3/6 and 6/6.
Ordinals (järjestysluvut)
Davs of the week (viikonpäivät)
1. ensimmäinen, ensimmäisen maanantai
2. toinen, toisen tiistai
3. kolmas, kolmannen keskiviikko
4. neljäs, neljännen torstai
5. viides, viidennen perjantai
6. kuudes, kuudennen lauantai
7. seitsemäs, seitsemännen sunnuntai
8. kahdeksas, kahdeksannen
9. yhdeksäs, yhdeksännen
10. kymmenes, kymmenennen
11. yhdestoista, yhdennentoista
12. kahdestoista, kahdennentoista
13. kolmastoista, kolmannentoista
Monday
T uesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
The ending "-tai" of the days of week has something in common with the
words that mean "day" in other European languages. It is a loaned ending.
Keskiviikko 'Wednesday' is a direct translation from the German
"Mittwoche" ('middle of the week').
On notice boards giving the office hours, you see how the days of week are
shortened to consist of two letters only: ma, ti, ke, to, pe, la, su.
1)&A

144
Chapter V, 6.4
Auki or avoinna means 'open', and kiinni or suljettu means 'closed',
aukioloaika (singular form) or aukioloajat (plural form) 'opening hours'.
The clock times are given after klo = kello 'clock'. In Finland the expression
kello 10 ('at 10 o'clock') can be understood either as aamupäivällä 'a.m.,
before noon' or iltapäivällä / illalla 'p.m., in the evening'. We don't use the
Latin (and English) abbreviations a.m. and p.m. but our ones ap. and ip.
The evening times are mostly announced by saying kello 18, kello 22, but if
it is clear that we are talking about the evening, then we can announce it
shorter: kello 6 = kuudelta (illalla) and kello 10 = kymmeneltä (illalla).
A date like 15.4.1900 is read [viidentenätoista päivänä huhtikuuta (vuonna)
tuhatyhdeksänsataa]. Alternatively, we can read it shorter: [viidestoista
neljättä 1900] or [huhtikuun viidestoista 1900]. - Please note that the
partitive form neljättä is used for the month. Neljännettä would be the
abessive form ("-ttA") of neljäs 'fourth'.
The essive case ("-nA") is used for weekdays, the word vuosi, etc.:
perjantaina, tänä vuonna, talvella > tänä talvena 'in winter, this winter'.
Viikko 'week' is inflected in adessive (-11A") when we say tällä viikolla,
ensi viikolla 'this week, next week'. Kuukausi 'month' occurs in inessive, for
instance, viime kuussa 'last month'.
When a text contains numbers we must know how to read them even if the
relevant case endings are not marked there but are meant to be read from the
following word, e.g. 27 [kahdestakymmenestäseitsemästä] maasta 'from 27
countries'. Other abbreviations, which may consist of capital letters, are
equipped with case endings after a colon, e.g. A:sta Ö. hön 'from A to Ö'.
Case ending is added when it is needed for a proper reading and
understanding. To leave the case endings away, it is the same as to demand that
a language that operates with prepositions should be understandable also
without prepositions.
You will get exercising in learning to read Finnish numerals as soon as you
are ready to read the last story "Winter tourism in Finland" in Chapter VIII
of this book where there are numbers with and without case endings.

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Chapter V, 6.5
6.5 	About singular and plural forms with numerals
If a figure before a noun is bigger than one (number 1 in its basic form),
then the counted thing gets the suffix of partitive singular ("-A/-tA").
Therefore, we say sata (100), but viisi sataa (500), kaksi pientä leipää
'two little breads', seitsemän veljestä '7 brothers' (veli > veljes, veljeksen).
If we inflect the numeral in a phrase, we must inflect the whole phrase
which may consist of pronouns, numerals, adjectives and nouns. (Note the
English word "noun"; in Finnish I would like to use the word substantiivi.)
Phrases in nominative and inflected in genitive and allative:
yksi vihainen koira yhden vihasen koiran takia because of 1 angry dog
kaksi mustaa kissaa kahdelle mustalle kissalle for (the) 2 black cats
seitsemän päivää seitsemän päivän aikana during/in 7 days
When the subject phrase contains a numeral, the predicate verb can stay
either in singular or in plural but not freely. This choosing possibility is one
of the ways we have in Finnish to replace the lack of definite and indefinite
articles. If the verb stays in plural (3rd p.pl. "-vAt"), it can be a question of
a certain group. Let's compare the sentences:
sg. Kaksi miestä tekee työn nopeammin kuin yksi (mies).
Two men do a/the job faster than one
sg. Neliä turistia hautautui lumeen Itävallassa.
Four tourists were buried in snow in Austria
But: Mitkä ovat Suomen neliä suurinta kaupunkia?
Which are the four biggest cities in Finland?
The first sentence was a general statement; nothing was said about two
particular men. The second was a piece of news that we could read as the
first news of an accident, (hautautua 'to be buried' < hauta 'grave'). If the
predicate verb had been hautautuivat. 3rd p.pl., it would sound very odd and
make us ask: Where did we hear about them earlier? Were they the only
tourists ever seen there?
Some nouns have their basic form in nominative plural:
V&Ji

Chapter V, 6.5, 6.6
146
aivot, aivojen, aivoja
kasvot, kasvojen, kasvoja
häät, häiden / häitten, häitä
hautajaiset, haustajaisten, hautajaisia
brain
face
wedding
funeral
When a plural word like häät has a numeral before it the numeral is
inflected in plural in the same case with it: yksi > yhdet 'ones', yksien, yksiä.
Olemme olleet kaksissa häissä 'we have visit two weddings'.
A newspaper (sanomalehti) writes as an institution in singular even if its
name should carry a plural ending: Helsingin Sanomat kirjoittaa '(the
newspaper) HS writes'. Furthermore, 'Yhdysvallat julisti sodan terrorismia
vastaan 'the U.S.A. waged war against terrorism'.
6.6 	Politeness through pronouns, endings, phrases
We do not have such a simple word as "please" in our language. Finns may
sound impolite when speaking English as they often forget to say "please".
Now I will try to explain why. Our ole hyvä and olkaa hyvä are not used in
the same way and as much as "please" is used. Ole and olkaa are imperative
forms of the verb olla - we ask, not even beg an other person to be "good".
And furthermore: When addressing our speech to a new person we meet, we
must first decide if we are going to speak formally or informally to the other
person, i.e. if we conjugate the verbs in the 2nd p.sg. or 2nd p.pl. and if we
use the pronoun sinä or te (Te in writing). In Finnish we say:
sinä > ole hyvä (to one person, familiarly)
te (Te) > olkaa hyvä (to one person, politely)
te > olkaa hyvä(t) (to several persons, familiarly or politely)
We use these words easily, for instance, when handing something over to
somebody: Tässä, ole hyvä! But we don't repeat our "ole hyvä" too often.
We have other ways to express courtesy, for instance, some special forms of
verbs like the conditional "-isi", with which we can tone down the message:
Olisitko hyvä ja...? 'would you please'.
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147
Chapter V, 6.6
Between friends, co-workers and young people we use the pronoun sinä
'you' quite freely everywhere. Therefore, you must not feel offended when a
Finn, according to his feeling of being "equal" with you, or being
accustomed to say sinä to everybody in his or her own surroundings, calls
you sinä, especially if you have introduced yourself with your first name.
If we use the first names, we also use the pronoun sinä.
The pronoun te 'you' (2nd p.pl.) and the word olkaa hyvä refer either to
several persons or a group of friends or strangers, or to one person, perhaps
a unfamiliar person or an elder person, to whom you address your speech in
a formal way. Finns, at least old people, still use the pronoun te (Te) to one
person more than Swedes use their courtesy pronoun "Ni" in Sweden.
In Finland many middle-aged woman can take it also as a compliment on
her "young" appearance or voice if she is called sinä, not tel When speaking
on streets, in shops or on the phone, it still is advisable to use the pronoun te
'you' to somebody we are meeting and speaking to for the first time, and
may not meet many times later, or if we doubt that the other is much older
and more notable than we are. - Formal speaking can, however, also be
used deliberately insulting. It depends on the situation.
Please note these special verbs we have in Finnish: sinutella 'to be on first
name terms with somebody' and teititellä 'to address somebody formally'.
Sinuttelemme toisiamme 'we say "sinä" to each other'. The verbs are derived
from pronouns sinä and te to which "-tellA" has been added. Puhutella 'to
speak to' < puhua 'to speak' and kätellä 'to shake hands' < käsi 'hand' have
been built with the same formula. The "-tellA" verbs require the partitive
case (toisiamme) and obey the consonant gradation tt ~ t.
Hvvästellä. hyvästelen 'to say goodbye to' comes from hyvä 'good'. It can be
used also with the total object's cases because it is possible to say goodbye
forever. The Finnish goodbye words are hyvästi and näkemiin (< nähdä).
The words we say on the phone are kuulemiin (< kuulla) or kiitos, hei, moi
or whatever people are used to say.
About the difference of verbal endings "-nUt" and "-neet":
(Te) olette tehnyt hyvää työtä. (said o one person)
(Te) olette tehneet hyvää työtä. (said to many persons)

Chapter V, 6.6, 6.7
148
Even if the translations of the Finnish words sinä olet tehnyt, Te olette
tehnyt and te olette tehneet into English is the same 'you have done', the
difference is big in Finnish.
If we wish to be very polite to one person, we use the plural pronoun te (Te)
together with the singular verbal ending "-nUt"of perfect and pluperfect
tenses (times of gone happening), but we use te (Te) and the plural ending
"-neet" when we speak to several persons.
In business and private letters we write the pronouns of the first person with
lower case initials (minä, me), and the courtesy pronouns of the second
person with upper case initials - Te, always and Sinä sometimes. We
choose the past time suffixes for verbs accordingly. We don't use separate
pronouns as subject unless they a stressed. We must not add possessive
pronouns or possessive suffixes unnecessarily to our utterances.
We usually end a letter with a phrase like Ystävällisin terveisin, Parhain
terveisin or only Terveisin 'Kind regards'. Only formal letters are closed
Kunnioittavasti or Kunnioittaen 'Yours faithfully / truly, Sincerely yours'.
6.7 	About Finnish names and titles
All Finnish family names that end in the syllable "-nen", for example,
Nykänen and Ahonen (< Aho 'meadow) reduce that ending to "se-" or a
mere s. Thus, the these words get a vowel stem and a consonant stem, to
which case endings are added. The content of the adjectival suffix "-nen"
is classifying, descriptive or diminishing,- See Table 1, where toinen is
given as a model word.
Finnish surnames usually obey gradation according to the corresponding
nouns, if the name happens to have a meaning as a Finnish word. Thus, if a
text contains surnames in inflected cases, you have to guess how they read
in their basic forms.
For instance, Mäen is a weak form (genitive) of Mäki ('hill') and Kokon is
Kokko ('bonfire, midsummer pyre') in it genitive case. Most but not all of
the Finnish first names obey gradation, e.g. Matti, Matin 'Mats', Heikki,
Heikin 'Henry', Jaakko, Jaakon 'Jack' and Satu, Sadun.
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Chapter V, 6.7
If a first name ends in "-s", it is possible that this end consonant changes to
"-kse-", as in vastaus, vastauksen 'reply'. Tuomas reads in genitive
Tuomaksen or Tuomaan according to the pattern word kevät, kevään,
kevättä. Tuomasta is its only form in partitive. Tuomaata is hardly usable
as a partitive form. Tuomaasta would be elative ("-stA").
Elvis is a foreign name and should get a binding vowel i before the case
endings (*Elvisin) but it does not get it. The name Elvis is inflected in
Finnish cases like vastaus, vastauksen: Elvis, Elviksen, Elvistä, Elviksiä.
The stress normally lies on the surname: Matti Meikäläinen. but people
often introduce themselves giving stress on the first name: Matti
Meikäläinen, as opposed to e.g. Mikko Meikäläinen. Meikäläinen is hiding
the pronoun me 'we' in it. Teikäläinen is equally derived from te 'you'.
Täkäläinen is rather an adjective than a surname. The meaning of
täkäläinen is 'a person living in this district' or 'something from here'. The
opposite word is sikäläinen. It means 'somebody or something from there'.
Where relatives are concerned, the stress lies on the first word of
expressions, as in Anni-täti with stress on the name Anni (täti 'aunt'), and as in
Matti-enoni 'my uncle Matti' (eno 'maternal uncle'). Anna-sisar / Anna-
sisko 'sister Anna', with stress on the name, would also be one's relative.
Inflected in allative it would read Anni-siskolle. Please note the use of
hyphen (-) and try to understand where it is used.
Sisar Anna would be a nun. Sisar, sisaren, sisarta, sisaria stays in its basic
form before the first name. In a children's song we have a "täti Monika"
who tryes to be sophisticated. - Here you could repeat Chapter I, point 2.2
"How do you spell your name to a Finn?"
On grounds of a person's occupation, people have got titles that stay as such
before their surname, for instance, toimitusjohtaja 'managing director',
johtaja 'director' and asianajaja 'solicitor, attorney-at-law'. Otherwise in
general, it is a custom to use nothing but the surname or the whole name, i.e.
first name and family name together.
Finns do not use the word herra, the Finnish equivalent of Mr., in the same
way and as much as "Mr." is used in other countries, in speech and writing.
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Chapter V, 6.7
150
In Finnish the word herra has many contrasting meanings. Dictionaries
translate it with words like 'man, Mr., master, the Lord, superior, chief, boss,
gentleman'. Herra is not used before names very often in Finland.
The use of the word herra lightly gives the impression that the man doesn't
own a "title" which could be used in speech and documents together with
his name to refer to his position or educational level: he possibly is a mere
workman (työläinen). The plural form herrat often refers to the elite class
of the society and to the employers.
Herra sounds suitable in certain situations where one's personal name does
not matter at all but the person is called according to his (or her) position.
In the court of justice a citizen may talk: Anteeksi, herra tuomari (or rouva
tuomari) 'excuse me, Your Honour'.
On festivities, when opening the occasion, the first speeker can say: Arvoisa
herra (or rouva) Tasavallan Presidentti ja muut juhlavieraat...
As it has already been mentioned, we are used to call persons, men and
women as well by the whole name or nothing but the last name. As to the
female words "Mrs. / Frau / fru" which are used in other languages, the
word rouva plus a surname can be used in Finnish speech. For "Miss /
Fräulein / fröken" we have a beautiful Finnish word neiti, neidin, neitiä,
neitejä. The first name remains unsaid when these female "titles" are used
in the purpose to be polite.
When people are calling each others with the first names they usually also
use the singular pronoun sinä. If two persons have started to address each
other using the pronouns te (Te) and have not yet, according to an old
custom, agreed about first name terms (made sinunkaupat), they continue on
the formal level and use the plural forms, or turn to singular forms
unnoticed.
For "Messrs." we have T:mi (= toiminimi 'private firm'), but it is used only
if it belongs to the registered name. The abbreviation Oy comes from
osakeyhtiö 'limited' or "share company" (osake 'share' + yhtiö company,
firm). In Oyj the j stays for julkinen 'public' possibly referring to a big
pörssiyhtiö 'stock exchange company'.

151
Chapter VI, 1.1
VI THE NON-FINITE FORMS OF VERBS
1. 	THE FOUR FINNISH INFINITIVES
The non-finite forms do not serve as predicates, i.e. they cannot be the main
verb in a sentence because only finite forms will do. The non-finite forms
of verbs, including the infinitives and participles, are inflected in cases. The
number of Finnish infinitives is four but two of them have two subtypes.
We begin with the infinitives, and proceed then to deal with the participles.
1.1 Two forms of the 1st infinitive
a) The basic form of verbs, the shorter form "-A"
The basic form of a verb is called the first infinitive. You know about it
because verbs are listed in dictionaries according to their basic forms. The
basic forms of verbs are like these: laulaa, asua, syödä, pestä, purra, tulla,
mennä ('to sing, live, eat, wash, bite, come, go).
The first infinitive always ends in "-A" (A = a or ä). Before it, the verb-
final A there can be the same vowel, put in other words, the basic forms can
end in a long vowel. Before the verb-final A there can also be a different
vowel or a consonant. The possible consonants are d, t, r, 1 and n.
Normally, verbs occur in their basic forms only together with finite forms of
verbs as a complement to their meaning. There can be several basic forms
of verbs after each other, for instance, minun piti yrittää juosta 'I had to try
to run'. Sometimes but seldom, a basic form of a verb can be given the role
of a subject which does not suit it very well.
Instead of the basic form, we use the fourth infinitive that ends in "-minen"
as subject. With that suffix the basic forms of verbs are turned to nouns
("substantives"). - More about this follows in point 1.4 of this Chapter VI.
Some predicate verbs easily take one or several infinitives
after itself and build a chain of verbs together with them.

Chapter VI, 1.1
152
A verbal chain usually contains the predicate verb and one infinitive of the
basic form and often, in addition to that, also another infinitive or still more
of the infinitives that the Finnish language can offer:
Aion lähteä /mennä uimaan. 1 am going to swim
Nyt alan opiskella / Nyt rupean opiskelemaan. Now I'll start studying
Six principal parts of some different verbs:
aikoa
aion, aikoi, aikonut, aiotaan, aiottiin
to intend
lähteä
lähden, lähti, lähtenyt, lähdetään, lähdettiin
to leave, go'
ruveta
rupean, rupesi, ruvennut, ruvetaan, ruvettiin
to start
ryhtyä
ryhdyn, ryhtyi, ryhtynyt, ryhdytään, ryhdyttiin
to start
mennä
menen, meni, mennyt, mennään, mentiin
to go
uida
uin, ui, uinut, uidaan, uitiin
to swim
saunoa
saunon, saunoi, saunonut, saunotaan,
to take a sauna bath
saunottiin
Ways in which the first infinitive is used:
There is a verbal construction, in which we only have the short basic form
and in addition to that, before it, a past tense form oli of the verb olla. You
will understand the meaning if you add to it an adverb, vähällä, lähellä
'near'.
Hän oli (vähällä) kuolla siihen. He almost died of it, was about dying
Hän oli (vähällä) menettää henkensä siinä. He was about dying/loosing his life in it
It is also possible to say the first infinitive first and the finite verbal form
after it. This is a popular style of speaking in a lively manner that authors
use. When somebody came unexpectedly, hän tulla tupsahti, or said
something unkindly, hän vain sanoa töksäytti sen. When this "somebody"
rang the doorbell, he perhaps did it quickly, hän soittaa rimpautti ovikelloa.
Perfect and pluperfect tenses can also be used in this construction:
Hän on / oli tulla tupsahtanut. She has/had come fully unexpected
The basic forms of verbs are also used to complete the modal verbs pitää,
täytyy 'must' that express necessity. - You can go back and refresh your
knowledge about the Finnish modal verbs in Chapter V, point 2.3.

153
Chapter VI, 1.1
Note: The general "object rules” are in effect also in connection with the
pitää, täytyy verbs that can form verbal chains. Because the subject stays in
genitive, the case forms available for objects belonging to the infinitives are
nominative (the"t-case" of pronouns included) and partitive:
Minun pitää tehdä se/sitä.
Minun pitää mennä tekemään se/sitä.
Minun pitää ehtiä tehdä se/sitä.
Sinun täytyy saada tavata hänet.
1 must do it
1 must go and do it
1 must have the time to do it
You must be allowed meet him
The basic form of a verb can also be placed after an adjective or a noun
("substantive"), like in the following sentences after vaikea, aika and lupa:
Tätä asiaa (minun) on / (Tämä asia) on vaikea ymmärtää, (active, monopersonal)
This matter is (for me) difficult to understand
Nyt on (meidän) aika sanoa näkemiin.
Now it is time (for us) to say goodbye
Äiti antoi (meille) luvan ottaa lapsestaan valokuvan.
The mother permitted us to take a picture of her child
Saimme äidiltä luvan ottaa lapsesta valokuvan.
(The mother permitted us to take a picture of her child)
Äidiltä pyydettiin lupa / lupaa ottaa lapsesta valokuva.
The mother was asked for permission to take a picture of the child
(active, monopersonal)
(active form)
(active form)
(passive form)
The nominative case in lupa. luvan, lupaa, lupia (as in the last passive
sentence before) lets us understand that the permission was granted.
It is good to remember the strong effect of passive (no objects in genitive)
as well as of negation (all objects in partitive if the message is negative).
The above model sentences were to describe the difference between active
and passive sentences when there are several verbs and their objects or
complements in a chain. Long chains of verbs easily create difficult
constructions and problems with the objects. Therefore,
it can be more advisable to let the object remain uninflected
than inflect it unnecessarily in the genitive case.
ve-4

Chapter VI, 1.1, 1.2
154
b) 	The longer form "-ksi" of the 1st infinitive
instead of 'että' clauses
If we add the translative ending "-ksi" (> "-kse") and a possessive suffix to
a verb's basic form, we get a construction called "the final construction".
This is used instead of an että / jotta clause where the predicate's form
would be the conditional "-isi" mood: että olisin > (minun) ollakseni. The
possessive suffix (here "-ni") refers to the subject of the sentence. The
subject is mostly missing, but if it is there, it is in genitive minun, sinun, etc.
ollakseni, ollaksesi, ollakseen. in order to be (+ I, you, he, etc.)
ollaksemme, ollaksenne, ollakseen
(minun) tietääkseni, (sinun) tietääksesi. as far as 1 know, as far as you know, etc.
(hänen) tietääkseen, tietääksemme, etc
Emme elä syödäksemme. We are not living to eat
Totta puhuakseni olen hyvin yllättynyt. To be honest, 1 am very surprised
1.2 Two forms of the 2nd infinitive
a) The 2nd infinitive "-essA" and and other temporal
constructions instead of 'kun1 clauses
An active subordinated sentence that begins with the temporal conjunction
kun ’when, while’) can be shortened and replaced by an active temporal
construction in which the inessive case and a poss. suffix are featuring. The
predicate verb is turned to end in "-essA" and a poss. suffix is mostly added
to refer to the subject of the same person. The case of the subject is
genitive, if the subject is put or can be put out.
olla > ollessani, ollessasi, ollessaan, ollessamme, ollessanne, ollessaan
When I am/while being, I, you, he/she, we, you, they...
tietää > tietäessäni. tietäessäsi. tietäessään. tietäessämme. tietäessänne...
When/while knowing, I, you, he/she, we, you, they...
Kun opiskelen suomea /Kun opiskelin suomea When 1 study/studied Finnish
= suomea opiskellessani minä = while studying Finnish, 1

155
Chapter VI, 1.2 a)
Lasten syödessä päivällistä...
Kuollessaan hän oli vain 40-vuotias.
Kirjaa lukiessani minua alkoi väsyttää.
While the children were dining...
He was only 40 years old when he died
When reading the book 1 got tired
The possessive suffix should always refer to the actual subject that is
understood to be there in the situation, e.g. suomea opiskellessasi (sinä)...
Partitive is the natural case for an object of a transitive verb in this
construction. In the model sentences, suomea, päivällistä and kirjaa are objects.
Inessive "-ssA" suits to the 2nd infinitive where the happening is going on.
Here again you note that the subject is in the genitive form in all kind of the
Finnish constructions with non-finite forms, if the subject is somehow
present (lasten). The poss. suffix is alone enough without the corresponding
pronoun in genitive minun, sinun etc. when it should refer to the same
person in the main sentence. Thus, for instance, in the last sentence it would
be tautological to add minun before lukiessani: Kirjaa (*minun) lukiessani
minua alkoi väsyttää < Kun (minä) luin kirjaa, minua alkoi väsyttää.
Also a passive "kun" sentence can be shortened:
For passive temporal sentences, the suffix of the 2nd infinitive in inessive is
a little longer, namely "-(t)tAessaA". With it kun ollaan (and also oltiin)
'when we/you are/were' turns to oltaessa 'when being, when one is', and
furthermore: syödä > syötäessä, lukea > luettaessa, mennä > mentäessä,
haluta > haluttaessa, pyytää > pyydettäessä. Because of the passive feature
this passive construction does not contain any possessive suffixes.
Kun opiskellaan suomea (= kun opiskelee suomea) = suomea opiskeltaessa
When one is (you are) learning
An active "kun" sentence referring to past times can be shortened:
The suffix "-(t)tUA" + a poss. suffix, often including the partitive ending
"-A", is based on an active verb in the "kun" clause. It only looks passive
because the main part ”-(t)tU" comes from from the passive conjugation.
(Ruokansa) syötyään lapset saivat mennä katsomaan TV. tä.
As soon as the children had eaten the food, they could go and watch the TV
Työnsä tehtyään ja sen sanottuaan hän lähti.
After having done his job and said that, he left / went away

Chapter VI, 1.2, a), b)
156
When you are still studying Finnish you should use the complete "kun"
sentences rather than to try to shorten them. You will read and hear how the
non-finite constructions are used, and then you will learn them.
b) 	The 2nd infinitive "-en" instead of 'ja' clauses
The second infinitive is used in the instructive case for shortening if a
conjunction ja 'and' between two verbs in their finite forms can be avoided, and
a simultaneous happening is concerned. A proverb like "mikä laulaen tulee,
se viheltäen menee" ('what singing somes, whistling goes') could but is not
returned to the form "mikä laulaa ja tulee, se viheltää ja menee". These
non-finite instructive sg. forms "-en" of verbs are common in many fixed
expressions, and there often but not always is a subject in genitive and an
object either in nominative or in partitive:
tilaisuuden tullen when there is (comes) an opportunity
näin ollen under these circumstances
totta puhuen true speaking, to be honest
toisin sanoen put in other words
Notes about the forms alkaen ('beginning'') and koskien ('concerning'):
Alkaen beginning (< alkaa, alan, alkoi, alkanut 'to begin') is widely used:
alkaen klo 10 = kello 10:stä alkaen 'from 10 o'clock onwards'. In shops and
advertisements you may see alkaen shortened to "alk." and placed before a a
price quotation: alkaen 100 euroa which actually means 'from 100 euros
upwards, at least' because alkaa and lähteä would require elative, "-stA":
Kello kymmenestä alkaen beginning at ten o'clock
Sain työpaikan maanantaista lähtien. 1 got a job from Monday onwards
In English the word "concerning" is frequently used. In Finnish we try to
avoid its literal translation koskien (< koskea, kosken, koski, koskenut) 'to
concern, regard' + "something" in partitive because "koskien" doesn't always
sound quite "Finnish", and koskea johonkin (with illative) is very concrete.
We prefer to use our adjectival participles (jotakin) koskeva and koskenut.
Tämä on sinuakin koskeva asia This is a matter (that is) concerning you, too
= Tämä on asia, ioka koskee sinuakin.

157
Chapter VI, 1.3
1.3 	The 3rd infinitive "-mA-"
is inflected in many cases
The third infinitive looks like the adjectival agential participle that ends in
"-mA". We haven't had the agential participle yet, it will be handled in
point 3 of this Chapter VI. The third infinitive is built with the same
syllable "-mA-" but it is a different non-finite form of verbs. It is inflected
in cases, and it is used to complete the meaning of many other verbs. With
the help of the third infinitive's features we can produce adverbs of manner
from transitive and intransitive verbs, for instance syödä and juoda:
syömättä without eating syömään to eat
syömässä (when/while) eating syömällä by eating
syömästä from eating juomalla by drinking
As the third infinitive completes the meaning of the main verb, it suits well
to olla, e.g. olla syömättä, and to verbs that express movement like mennä
syömään 'go to eat', tulla syömästä 'return from eating', and action like
juomalla joi, i.e. drunk a lot.
In the following sentences we have a predicate verb and a "-mA" infinitive
of some second verb which are nukkua, sanoa, lukea and tehdä inflected
in different cases:
Lapsi on nukkumassa - nousee nukkumasta -menee nukkumaan
a/the child is sleeping - gets up - goes to bed
Hän lähti talosta sanaakaan sanomatta.
he left the house without saying a word
Kirjoja lukemalla oppii (3rd p.sg., present tense, generally used) uusia asioita.
by reading books, you learn (one learns) new things
Tämä työ jouduttiin (passive, past tense) tekemään toiseen kertaan.
it became necessary to do this work a second time
Jouduin (active, past tense) tekemään tämän työn toiseen kertaan.
1 had to do this work once again
Notes about the verb joutua, joudun. joutui, joutunut. joudutaan {johonkin ):

158
Chapter VI, 1.3, 1.4
The meaning of joutua (+ tekemään, jotakin) contains the thought of being
forced and a direction somewhere. Therefore, the third infinitive appears
with it inflected in illative, i.e. case number 9, and also in translative and
allative, number 6 and number 12, according to my numbering from 1 to 12.
The first infinitive cannot replace the third infinitive if the main verb, like
joutua, requires to get the complement in some of the three cases of
direction somewhere to, for instance
joutua tappelemaan = joutua tappeluun to get into a fight'
joutua todistamaan = joutua todistajaksi to become a witness
Note: When a verb, or an adjective or a preposition, is said to require a
certain case of other words in connection to it, it is the question of a
linguistic phenomena that is called rektio.- See Chapter VIII, Ex. 3.c.
1.4 	The 4th infinitive "-minen" is a clear noun
This ending "-minen" can be added to any verb, and the form is
commonly used instead of the first infinitive forms as a subject, or when a noun
(substantive) is needed. The "-minen" words are used when in English one
would use the basic forms of verbs, with or without the marker "to", or
when you use gerund which in English is built with the ending "-ing".
All "-minen" words are inflected in cases according to nouns ending in
"-nen". You won't find all "-minen" words in your dictionary, so you
have to guess the basic form and conclude the meaning on grounds of that.
olla > oleminen, olemisen, olemista being, existence
tulla > tuleminen, tulemisen, tulemista coming, arrival
mennä > meneminen, menemisen, menemistä going
The advantage of the "-minen" derivations of verbs is just the possibility to
use a noun instead of a personal form of the verb in an että sentence
{oleminen = että ollaan). The result is a different construction of the
sentence, a new point of view to the things, and a generalisation of the
verb's meaning. - The same thought is often expressed with shorter nouns
from the same family of words: olo, tulo, meno (= oleminen, tuleminen,
meneminen).

159
Chapter VI, 1.4
Different attributes in different cases that are like subjects or objects can be
placed before the "-minen" infinitives. The cases depend on the verb's
original requirements, for instance, pitää jostakin 'to like something'. Words
in this kind of a "-minen" compound is written apart.
puhua jostakin > vaikeuksista(an) puhuminen
to talk about something > talking about (one s) difficulties
tulla johonkin > kotiin tuleminen / kotiintulo
home coming (tulla to come somewhere, direction "to")
talking about
home coming
lähteä jostakin jonnekin /johonkin, e.g. eläkkeelle
> eläkkeelle lähteminen / lähtö
to retire,
retirement
After such words as paljon 'much', vähän 'a little', jotain 'something', and
mitään 'no, any, nothing', the "-minen" word follows in the partitive case:
Meillä on paljon puhumista. We have much to talk about
Siihen minulla ei ole mitään sanomista. 1 have nothing to say to that
Genitive attributes are commonly used before the "-minen" words, and
they can be either objective or subjective and therefore they deserve a
special attention.
If the genitive attribute is objective, the "-minen" word must be built on a
transitive verb, such as oppia 'to learn something'. In the phrase suomen
kielen oppiminen 'learning the Finnish language', the genitive attribute
kielen is objective, kieli is the concern (object) of the learning.
In the phrase oppilaan suomen oppiminen, the genitive attribute oppilaan is
subjective, not objective. He is the learner, and the purpose was to say:
Oppilas oppi suomea nopeasti The pupil learned Finnish quickly
= Se että oppilas oppi suomea, His learning Finnish happened quickly
tapahtui nopeasti.
Further examples with subjective and objective attributes in genitive:
1>6-4

Chapter VI, 1.4
160
Opettajien hakeutuminen paremmin palkattuihin töihin (subjective)
jatkuu (= Opettajat hakeutuvat jatkuvasti töihin, jotka
ovat paremmin palkattuja.)
teachers keep seeking better paid jobs
Taudin paheneminen alkoi olla huolestuttavaa (subjective)
the illness was getting worse alarmingly
Pientenkin muutosten tekeminen (= teko) siihen on vaikeaa. (objective)
(= Siihen on vaikea tehdä edes pieniäkään muutoksia.)
it is difficult to make even small changes in it
Jatkamme tämän asian opettelemista (= opettelua) huomenna. (objective)
we shall continue learning this matter tomorrow
The different ways of understanding the genitive attribute
of a "-minen" infinitive can sometimes cause problems.
However, we usually understand the meanings correctly and do not note the
possible ambiguity. Our general knowledge about the world helps us to
interpret the meanings correctly.
Translative is one of the further cases, in which "-minen" infinitives are
used often. In translative the ending turns to "-miseksi", e.g.
asian ymmärtämiseksi = jotta ymmärtäisin /
ymmärtäisimme asian = jotta asia ymmärrettäisiin
that we would understand the matter
tiedon saamiseksi asiasta = jotta (minä) saisin / (me) saisimme
tiedon /tietoa asiasta = jotta asiasta saataisiin tietoa / tieto
in order to get (the) information
Note: On the phone we say kuulemiin and when leaving a place we say
näkemiin. No doubt the forms are plural forms of illative (case number 9),
and, of course, these wishes of hearing and seeing again were once bom
from the verbs kuulla, kuulen and nähdä, näen. I propose that they are
shortened forms from kuulemisiin and näkemisiin which would be illative
plural forms from kuuleminen and näkeminen.

161
Chapter VI, 2.
2. 	PRESENT AND PAST TENSE PARTICIPLES
Both the present tense and the past tense participles are available separately
in active and passive forms to be used as descriptive adjectives, and in order
to shorten a longer construction. The participles mostly replace an että
clause ('that') but also a relative joka clause ('that, which') can be concerned.
In English you have the gerund forms of verbs that end in "-ing". To some
extent they correspond to the Finnish present tense participles. When
conjugating verbs you get a past tense participle that ends in "-ed" or "-en".
In Finnish the corresponding verbal participles are adjectives and are
therefore inflected in cases.
In Finnish we differentiate between active and passive events, as well as
between endless (present tense) and completed (past tense) forms. The
Finnish system of non-finite forms of verbs is a rather complicated but
logical. According to the idea of the Finnish passive, there is always behind
the event a human being who has done or is doing something, but who it is
that is not mentioned.
2.1 The active participles "-vA" and "-nUt"
a) The adjectival present tense participle "-vA"
We participle ending in the syllable "-vA" is called present tense participle.
With the help of it we can turn the basic forms of verbs to describing
adjectives that refer to the present time. The English “-ing” gerund has the
same use and content. In both languages the meaning is active, i.e.
something is happening or somebody is just doing something.
The present tense participle is "-vA" in singular and "-vAt" in plural. The
plural form can be taken directly from the personal forms of 3rd p.pl. e.g.
jossain (= jossakin) Belgiassa asuvat ihmiset
= ihmiset, jotka asuvat jossain Belgiassa
those who lie / are living somewhere in Belgium
V&A

162
Chapter VI, 2.1 a)
As you see, this form can replace a relative joka (and mikä) sentence. One
more phrase as an example:
lapsi, joka itkee = itkevä lapsi a/the crying child
(itkevän lapsen, itkevää lasta, itkeviä lapsia)
From the verb istua 'to sit' we get a concrete adjective istuva 'sitting'.
However, istuva presidentti most likely is 'the incumbent president', and not
just 'a sitting president'. These adjectives that end in the syllable “-vA” are
inflected in cases like the pattern words hyvä 'good' and ystävä 'friend':
olemassa olevat rakennukset the existing buildings
= rakennukset, jotka ovat olemassa
Sano tähän sopivia esimerkkejää Please give examples
= Sano esimerkkejä, jotka sopivat tähän. here suitable.
The adjective omaava < omata, omaan 'to own' is very formal. You can
see it in job advertisements: hyvän kokemuksen omaya ‘(equipped) with a
good experience’.
Especially, in the TV news and newspapers we encounter long noun phrases
in which a person's name is equipped with participle attributes before the
name, and those attributes may again have their own attributes. Look at this
excerpt that I read in the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat on 9.10.2000:
Ensimmäistä kertaa myös \ Belgiassa asuvat muiden EU-maiden
kansalaiset \ saivat äänestää kunnallisvaaleissa.
For the first time, also the citizens of other EU countries
living in Belgium could vote in local government elections
The first occurring "-vAt" word is an adjective inflected in nominative pl.,
and the second "-vAt" word saivat is a predicate verb conjugated in the
3rd p.pl., past tense indicative form. The past tense is marked by the i
before the ending of 3rd p.pl.
You must remain alert and wait until you hear
the predicate verb of the sentence, before
you can understand the whole message.

163
Chapter VI, 2.1 a), b)
Note: We have words like päivä 'day', hyvä 'good', tulva 'flood', selvä
'clear', vakava 'serious' that end in "-vA" but are not derived from any
verbs, or we cannot state it. Instead, they themselves are a source for many
new words, e.g. päiväys 'date', päivällinen 'dinner,' hyvyys 'goodness',
selvyys ‘clearness’, selvittää 'to clear, find out', selvitys ‘account’, vakavuus
‘seriousness’.
b) 	The adjectival past tense participle "-nUt"
You remember the forms on ollut, ovat olleet, on asunut, ovat asuneet (see
Table 2 at the end of this book). In English you have an ending "-ed" in a
comparable use, e.g. "they have lived". When these forms are taken into
adjectival use in Finnish, they are called "past tense participle".
The ending "-nUt" represents the nominative singular case, and the ending
"-neet" is the same in plural. Note: forms like ol-lut and ol-leet contain an
old assimilation from n to 1 < *ol-nut and *ol-neet. These forms refer to
a time that has gone or to a happening that is ended or that was long lasting.
Below follows a group of adjectival nouns that are derived from verbs listed
with their four principal parts:
olla
> ollut, olleen, ollutta, olleita
been, existed
mennä
> mennyt, menneen, mennyttä, menneitä
gone
syntyä
> syntynyt, syntyneen, syntynyttä, syntyneitä
bom
kuolla
> kuollut, kuolleen, kuollutta, kuolleita
dead
kuulua
> kuulunut, kuuluneen, kuulunutta, kuuluneita
belonged
Näin tiellä kuolleen koiran = Näin tiellä koiran,
joka oli kuollut. (= Näin koiran, joka oli kuollut tiellä. ?)
I saw a dead dog on the road
Nämä ovat isälleni kuuluneita esineitä = Nämä ovat
esineitä, jotka kuuluivat (tai ovat kuuluneet) isälleni.
These are things which belonged to my father
V6-A

164
Chapter VI, 2.1 c)
c) 	The use of participles for shortening
of että ('that') clauses
Both the genitive forms of the active present tense participles ("-vA" in
nominative sg., "-vAn" in genitive sg.) and the perfect participles ("-nUt"
in nominative sg., "-neen" in genitive sg.) can be used for shortening of
että clauses. The Finnish name for this construction is partisiippirakenne.
The original subject is usually in the genitive form, but may also occur in
the partitive or nominative form, if those forms could occur in the complete
että clause. Jotta is sometimes used instead of että. The participle
represents the original predicate verb and will always stay fixed in its
genitive form, ending in "-n".
Uskon, että hän tulee. = Uskon hänen tulevan.
I believe that he / she is coming
Tiedän, että hän tuli / on tullut. = Tiedän hänen tulleen.
1 know that he / she came / has come
Näen, että lapsi juoksee. = Näen lapsen juoksevan .
1 see that the child is running. 1 see a/the child running
But if the word order is this: näen juoksevan lapsen, the situation is the
same, but grammatically this now originates from a relative joka sentence,
namely näen lapsen, joka juoksee 'I see a child who is running'. We could
imagine that there are the phrases "hän tuleva", "hän tullut" and "lapsi
juokseva" inflected in genitive in these constructions.
Active and passive sentences that contain such intransitive verbs as näkyä
'to be seen' (used in the 3rd p.sg. form näkyy) näyttää + joltakin 'to seem,
look like' (conjugated in all persons), are difficult to analyse, but let's try:
Näin lapsen syöneen omenaa / omenan.
= Näin, että lapsi oli syönyt omenaa / omenan. (active main clause)
I saw that the child had eaten an / the apple (partly/wholly)
Hänen nähtiin tekevän sen / sitä.
= Nähtiin, että hän teki sen /sitä. (passive main clause)
he/she was seen doing it

165
Chapter VI, 2.1 c)
Se näkyy olevan / Se näyttää olevan maan tapa
= Näyttää siltä, että se on maan tapa.
It seems to be a custom in the country
(active main clause)
(active main clause,
mono personal)
Lähes 70 kaivosmiehen pelätään kuolleen.
= Pelätään, että lähes 70 kaivosmiestä on kuollut.
They are afraid that nearly 70 miners died
[seitsemänkymmenen]
(passive main clauses)
Pojan katoamiseen uskotaan liittyvän rikos
= Uskotaan, että pojan katoamiseen liittyy rikos.
They believe that there is a crime involved
in the disappearance of the boy
(passive main clause)
(subject at the end!)
Ihmiset kertoivat heille vakuutetun, että...
= Ihmiset kertoivat, että heille oli vakuutettu, että.
People told (us) that they had been assured that...
(passive että sub-clause)
In the last example the first että sentence is a passive sub-clause You see
that by using the participle construction we avoid the result of two että
clauses after each other.
In a passive shortening there is no subject or ’’agent" in genitive (or
nominative or partitive). Vakuutetun (< vakuutettu. passive past tense
participle) is in the genitive form without any subject to it because the
corresponding complete että clause would read in passive: että heille
vakuutettiin or heille on vakuutettu. without any subject.
If we have to say a thought negatively the predicate verb is made negative in
the main sentence because a negative että sub-clause cannot be shortened.
Negation is placed in the finite verb as it cannot be added to the participle.
Example sentences and their alternatives:
En usko heidän pitävän siitä (active, negative)
= Uskon, että he eivät (= etteivät he) pidä siitä.
I don't believe that they (would) like it
Pojan katoamiseen ei uskota liittyvän rikosta (passive, negative)
= Uskotaan, että pojan katoamiseen ei liity rikosta.
= Ei uskota, että pojan katomaiseen liittyy / liittyisi rikos(ta).
They do not believe that the boy's disappearance is connected with a crime

Chapter VI, 2.1 d, 2.2 a)
166
d) 	An "as though" ending "-vinA" + possessive suffix
Please note this prolongation of the "-vA" forms with an essive plural
ending and a poss. suffix added to it (tekevänä sg. >: tekevinä pl. + poss.
suffix): olla tekevinään jotakin (= muka tehdä jotakin) ‘to pretend doing
something’.
olla tekevinään jotakin
= muka(mas) tehdä jotakin to pretend doing something
Olin uskovinani häntä I behaved as if I had believed him/her
Hän ei ollut näkevinäänkään minua. He pretended as if he did not see me at all
= Hän oli kuin ei näkisi minua.
2.2 	The passive participles "-(t)tAvA" and "-(t)tU"
The change from active forms to passive forms makes you to change your view
from subject to object. We have two different classes of passive participles: one
for the present tense view, and another for the past tense view.
a) 	The passive present tense participle M-(t)tAvAM
as an adjective
The active present tense participle ff-vAff is made passive by adding a
syllable ff-(t)tA-ff to it. These forms are very common, but a foreigner may
have difficulties in trying to imagine the meaning of these passive parts of
speech. They can be inflected in cases and used in phrases.
oleva
>
oltava
That must be (on the consonant stem ol-)
asuva
>
asuttava
That allows living in or where one can live
nukkuva
>
nukuttava
That allows sleeping on or makes you sleep
itkevä
>
itkettävä
That makes you cry
menevä
>
mentävä
That allows going to or through
sanova
>
sanottava
That must or can be said
myyvä >
myytävä
It allows selling or is something
that must be sold
Talo (on) myytävänä, (essive sg.) The house (is) for sale
Auto on korjattavana. The car is being repaired

167
Chapter VI, 2.2 a), b)
A person can be added also before these passive participles as an "agent" or
subject in the genitive case, as it is usual for subjects when non-finite verbal
forms are concerned:
Kenen tehtäväksi se annettiin?
Kenen tehtäväksi annoit sen?
Se annettiin minun tehtäväkseni.
Jätin sen heidän tehtäväkseen.
To whom was it (the task) given?
To whom did you give the task?
It (the task) was given to me
I left it for them to do
b) 	The passive present tense participle "-(t)tAvA"
can express necessity
The necessity can be expressed through a passive participle form"-(t)tAvA"
of a meaningful verb. Olla 'to be' is used as an auxiliary verb and
conjugated always in its 3rd p.sg. form expressing also the relevant tense
and modus. Because the meaningful verb is fixed in its passive participle
form, it cannot express time and manner:
olla > on oltava, oli oltava, on/oli ollut oltava, olisi oltava, olisi ollut...
has to be, had to be, should have been, should have had to be
sanoa > on sanottava, oli sanottava, on/oli/olisi ollut sanottava...
has to say, had to say, has had to say / had had to say (something)
If there is a subject, its case is genitive as it is usual with the non-finite
phrases. The form of the verb is passive, and there is an inactive object
either in nominative or partitive in the situation if the verb is transitive:
Kenen on oltava (siellä)? Who must be (there)?
Sinun on oltava siellä You must be there
Minun on oltava ahkera. 1 must be diligent
Sinun on tehtävä se tvö /sitä työtä You must do that work
If we drop the genitive subject of these "necessity constructions",
the meaning of the main verb becomes general: the speaker speaks
about human beings in general, perhaps including himself.

Chapter VI, 2.2 b), c)
168
When there is no subject, there is an empty place where the human being
can be added in genitive, if somebody so wishes.
Thus, when there is a place like "reserved", such as minun, jonkun, kaikkien,
could be added there.
Työ on (sinun) tehtävä huolellisesti. The work must be done carefully (by you)
Tuohon (minun) on sanottava (se), että... To that it is to be said /1 must say that
This passive participle is an alternative to another, more frequently used
construction which uses the modal verbs täytyy / pitää together with the
basic forms of verbs. (See the end of Exercise 3 in Chapter VIII.)
Therefore, these forms mean the same:
Nyt täytyy mennä kotiin = Nyt on mentävä kotiin.
= Nyt (sinun / meidän) tävtvv (pitää / on pakko ) mennä kotiin.
Now you (or we) must go home.
c) 	The passive past tense participle "-(t)tU"
as an adjective
The ending is
ff-(t)tUff in sg., ,f-tUtff or ff-dUt" in pl., e.g.
tehdä >
tehty, tehdyn, tehtyä, tehtyjä
done
suosia >
suosittu, suositun, suosittua, suosittuja
popular
hylätä >
hylätty, hylätyn, hylättyä, hylättyjä
rejected
varata >
varattu, varatun, varattua, varattuja
reserved
valmistaa >
valmistettu, valmistetun,
valmistettua, valmistettuja
prepared
Asuttu kaupunki is an inhabited city. The opposite is asumaton 'uninhabited,
unoccupied' or autio 'uninhabited, empty'.
Here the verb asua 'to reside' is in transitive use (kaupunki, jota asutaan)
just as the English verb 'to inhabit something'. In Finnish we normally say
the place names in inessive when we use this verb asua 'to live somewhere'
(jossakin).

169
Chapter VI, 2.2 d)
d) 	The passive past tense participle
instead of 'kun' clauses
You should now look back to point 1.2 a) of this Chapter VI where we had
the 2nd infinitive in inessive, and the temporal past tense ending "-(t)tUA"
was mentioned. The ending "-t(t)U" is used equally temporarily when an
active kun clause is shortened. The passive past tense participles like oltu
'been', tultu 'come', nähty 'seen' are used together with a subject in genitive,
if subject is needed, and the relevant possessive suffixes "-ni", "-si", etc.
come last. Oltuani = (sen jälkeen) kun olin ollut.
The passive past tense participle that is based on a verb can be inflected in
partitive: oltua, tultua, nähtyä. The short vowel "-A" is there for the
partitive case. It is prolonged when a possessive suffix of the third person
{hän, he) that ends in -n is added:
tulla > Kotiin tultuaan hän lepäsi After his arrival at home he rested
sanoa > Sen sanottuani minä lähdin. After having said it I left
alkaa > Te lähditte heti ohjelman alettua. You left as soon as the program
had begun
From the intransitive verb lähteä 'to leave', the participle in question reads
lähdetty. It comes from the the past tense conjugation on/oli lähdetty. Let's
replace '£w«' clauses with help of it and possessive suffixes:
sg. lähdettyäni, lähdettyäsi, lähdettyään / lähdettyänsä
pl. lähdettyämme, lähdettyänne, lähdettyään / lähdettyänsä
Note: The difference between passive and active participles can be
remarkable. Please compare the differences in the following phrases
containing adjectival shortenings (actually from relative joka clauses!):
pass. (se on) syötävää ruokaa (it is) eat able food
pass. puoliksi syöty omena a half-eaten apple (half of it eaten)
pass. hyvin syötetty sika a well fed big
act. hyvin syönyt ihminen a person who has eaten well
Syöty = joka on syöty, on tullut syödyksi. Syötetty (=jota on syötetty) comes
from the verb syöttää, syötän 'to give food to somebody'.
V&Ji

Chapter VI, 2.2 e)
170
e) 	Constructions with tehtyä, tehdyksi, tehneeksi ('done')
Let's take up another, but common construction which actually does not
hide a kun sentence, even if the same passive past tense participle "-(t)tU"
is characteristic by this formulating.
In the following model sentences, the predicate verb is either saada, saan,
sai, saanut, saadaan 'to get' or tulla, tulen, tuli, tullut, tullaan 'to come,
manage', and the meaningful verbs are hidden in the passive past tense
participles, which are inflected either in partitive or translative (syöty, 'eaten'
> syötyä / syödyksi: säästetty 'saved' > säätettyä / säätetyksi, and sanottu
'said' > sanottua and sanotuksi).
Two examples to show two alternative ways to express the same thought by
using the verb saada together with a passive past tense participle:
saada > (Minä) en saanut mitään syötyä / syödyksi.
I could not eat anything at all
saada > (Minä) sain säästettyä /säästetyksi rahaa lomamatkaan.
1 managed to save money for a holiday/vacation trip
If the verb tulla is used together with a passive past tense participle, then the
subject's case is genitive, and the passive participle's case is only partitive
(tehtyä, sanottua). Plese note how these sentences are different:
tulla > Mitä (sinun) tuli tehtyä? = Mitä (sinä) tulit tehneeksi?
What did you happen to do?
tulla > Mitä (sinun) tuli sanottua? = Mitä (sinä) tulit sanoneeksi?
What did you happen to do / say?
The second alternative on the above lines contains subjects in nominative
isinä), followed by active past tense participles in translative (tehnyt 'done,
made' > tulin tehneeksi: sanonut 'said' > tulin sanoneeksi).
Mitä is the partitive form of the relative and interrogative pronoun mikä
'what'.
Pattern sentences with approximate translations into English:

171
Chapter VI, 2.2 e), 3.1
These constructions should not be mixed:
Joku saa tehtyä jotakin.
= Joku saa tehdyksi jotakin (= sen / sitä).
Somebody gets something done
Jonkun tulee tehtyä jotakin (se / sitä).
= Joku tulee tehneeksi jotakin (= sen / sitä).
Somebody manages or
happens to do something
3. THE AGENTIAL PARTICIPLE "-MA"
3.1 It replaces a relative 'joka' sentence
Here we have the construction of jonkun tekemä that corresponds to the
English construction 'made by somebody'. In Finnish there is this active,
adjectival participle that ends in "-mA" and requires an agent in the
genitive form always present:
(jonkun) sanoma < sanoa, sanon, sanoi, sanonut to say
message, something said by somebody
(jonkun) pelkäämä < pelätä, pelkään, pelkäsi, pelännyt to be afraid
something of what somebody is afraid
(jonkun) syömä < syödä, syön, söi, syönyt to eat
something that is eaten by somebody
(jonkun) haluama < haluta, haluan, halusi, halunnut to desire
something that is desired by somebody
When this participle is used as an adjectival attribute it is inflected in the
same case as the main word of the phrase. It is also used alone as a
predicate complement to the verb olla ’to be’.
One possessive suffix is enough, and it is placed to the participle when there
is a possessive pronoun before it. To a question like kenen tekemä teos? the
answer is: hänen tekemänsä teos (not *tekemänsä *teoksensa).
Tytöllä on äidin tekemät vaatteet. (adjectival attribute)
= Tytön vaatteet ovat äidin tekemät / tekemiä. (predicate complements)
The girl wears clothes that her mother has made

172
Chapter VI, 3.1, 3.2
Asumme hänen tekemässään talossa /Asumme isän tekemässä talossa..
We live in a house built by him / built by Father
(Minun) eilen näkemäni filmi oli hyvä. = Filmi, jonka eilen näin, oli hyvä.
The film that I saw yesterday was good
Elokuvan nimi oli Tuulen viemää (= "jotain, minkä tuuli vei").
The name of the film was "Gone with the Wind"
Note: The 3rd infinitive (point 1.3 above) contains the same syllable
ff-mA-ff as this agential participle, but its use is different even if both of
them are inflected in cases.
The third infinitive is often used in verbal chains with predicate verbs.
These are sentences, where we have the third infinitive, do not contain an
agential participle:
Mies on tekemässä / tekee ostoksia rautakaupassa,
koska hän on rakentamassa / rakentaa taloa.
The man is shopping in a hardware shop/store because he is building a house
3.2 	From the agential participle we get "-mAtOn"
If we add a syllable "-tOn" (= ilman 'without, -less') as a suffix to the
above mentioned agential participle "-mA", we get an adjective of the
opposite meaning: "something that has not been or cannot be done".
When these negative adjectives are inflected in cases, we see that their
suffix obeys the consonant gradation tt~ t.
asua
>
asumaton, asumattoman
uninhabited, waste
sanoa
>
sanomaton, sanomattoman
unsaid, what cannot be said
tietää
>
tietämätön, tietämättömän
ignorant, who doesn't know
syödä
>
syömätön, syömättömän
someth. that was not eaten,
someb. who does not eat
tehdä
>
tekemätön työ, tekemättömän työn,
tekemätöntä työtä, tekemättömiä töitä
undone work’

173
Chapter VI, 3.2 - 3.4
uskoa > uskomaton asia, uskomattoman asian, unbelievable matter
uskomatonta asiaa, uskomattomia asioita
The syllable "-mA" lacks when the suffix ”-tOn" is added to a noun, for
instance, leipä, leivän > leivätön pöytä 'breadless table' and rasva >
rasvaton maito 'skimmed milk, fatless milk'. Voi hyvä tavaton! 'goodness
me!'. Actually, the suffix "-tOn" is a totally different suffix because it is
not connected with verbs.
3.3 	An "almost" ending "-mAisillA"
+ possessive suffix
Note this pattern: olla sanomaisillaan 'to be near/about to say something'
where the ending is "-maisillaan/-mäisillään" = "-mA" + "isi" + the
adessive case "-11A" + a poss. suffix. This non-finite form is also called
"the 5th infinitive".
Olin tekemäisilläni tyhmyyden = Olin (vähällä) tehdä tyhmyyden.
1 almost did a stupid thing / made a fool of myself
An alternative form to this expression was mentioned in point 1.1a) where
the first infinitive was handled.
3.4 	Some nouns have the same ending "-mA"
There are nouns that end in "-mA" and are clearly built on a verb, e.g.
näkymä 'view', syntymä 'birth', elämä 'life, living', kuolema 'death',
halkeama 'split, crack', juoma 'drink', tuntuma 'touch, contact', kokoelma
'collection'.
Furthermore, there are some words whose origin we don't know, namely e.g.
maisema 'landscape', kylmä 'cold', kuuma 'hot', loma 'holiday, vacation'.
Most of these words have the ending "-miA" in the partitive pl. form, but
ilma 'air, weather', sama 'same' and lama 'depression' read ilmoja, samoja,
lamoja (better: lamakausia).
V&A

Chapter VI
174
An extra exercise:
Can you read recipes in Finnish?
Do you know how to make a cake?
Piimäkakku
Ainekset:
(ingredients)
(buttermilk cake)
4 dl
vehnäjauhoja
leipoa
leivon
2 dl
sokeria
leivot
1 tl
soodaa
leipoo
2 tl
neilikkaa
leivomme
2 tl
inkivääriä
leivotte
1 dl
rusinoita
leipovat
1 dl
voisulaa
leivotaan
3 dl
piimää
leivottiin
Sekoita kuivat aineet keskenään.
Lisää mukaan voisula ja piimä.
Hämmennä taikina tasaiseksi.
Kaada taikina voideltuun ja
korppujauhotettuun vuokaan.
Paista 175 asteessa tunnin verran.
Tarkista kypsyys puutikulla.
Kumoa kakku taijoiluvadille
hiukan jäähtyneenä.
You could use this recipe (resepti) as a basis, on which you can exercise
your skill to manage the different forms of conjugation and declination.
First of all, you must consult your dictionary to understand every word
separately. The basic forms of the verbs that occur are: leipoa, valmistaa,
sekoittaa, lisätä, hämmentää, kaataa, paistaa, tarkistaa, kumota, jäähtyä...
Please turn the singular commands into plural: sekoittakaa, lisätkää, or into
passive forms sekoitetaan, lisätään. Then you could read the text in the first
person sg. and different tenses: sekoitan, lisään, sekoitin, lisäsin, etc. You
could imagine how you would tell your friend that you made a cake:
Leivoin / Olen leiponut kakun. Tein sen näin: ensin sekoitin ainekset, sitten..
Please remember to change the forms of the objects when you move from the
active verbal forms to passive forms. If the partitive case is possible, use it.
Anyhow, please try it, too, for the objects.
Valmistus:
(preparation)

175
Chapter VII, 1.
VII 	EXCERCISES WITH NOUNS AND VERBS
By now, you may already know many sample words by heart, so you have
an idea about the possibilities of the different endings or suffixes for
substantives, adjectives, pronouns, numerals and verbs. When starting to do
the following exercises, you will need a good dictionary as everything is not
translated into English. The first two exercises concern nouns, and the last
two exercises concern verbs.
Exercise 1 - Single nouns
The type numbers are mentioned as per the types of nouns in Nykysuomen
sanakirja, 1970, and Käänteissanakirja - Reverse Dictionary of Modern
Standard Finnish, 1979. (See point 3.2 in Chapter II.)
Please try to inflect the words in all the 12 cases in sg. and in pl. (If
comitative and instructive are included, the number of cases is 14.)
1. a) talo, talon, taloa, taloja ‘house’
or teko, teon, tekoa, tekoja ‘act, deed, work’
or tyttö, tytön, tyttöä, tyttöjä ‘girl’ (Type 01)
lasku
bill, invoice
aalto, aallon
wave
lähetystö
embassy, delegation
apu, avun
help, aid, support
neuvo
advice, suggestion
kunto, kunnon
condition, order
puuro
porridge
polku, polun
path
sivu
page
serkku, serkun
cousin
suihku
shower
taito, taidon
skill
syksy
autumn
veto, vedon
tag/bet
sähkö
electricity
vety, vedyn
hydrogen
vero
tax, duty
voitto, voiton
victory, profits
1. b) hyvä, hyvän, hyvää, hyviä ‘good’ (Types 11, 13, 16)
isoisä
grandfather
luokka, luokan
class, category
kynä
pen, pencil
nurkka, nurkan
comer, nook
lentäjä
flyer, pilot
sulka, sulan
feather, plume
nolla
zero, nil
kuoppa, kuopan
pit, hollow
ohjelma
program
ruoka, ruoan/ruuan
food, meal
opettaja
teacher
setä, sedän
(paternal) uncle, man
1>6-4

Chapter VII, 1.
176
But. please note this partitive plural form: (Types 14, 15, 17, 18)
harjoittelija, -n, -a, harjoittelijoita trainee, pupil
opiskelija, -n, -a, opiskelijoita student, pupil
hallitsija, -n, -a, hallitsijoita ruler, monarch
kulkija, -n,
-a, kulkijoita
wanderer, vagabond
peruna, -n,
-a, perunoita
potato
1. c) vanha, vanhan, vanhaa, vanhoja ‘old’ (Type 10)
kansa
people, nation
halpa, halvan
cheap, inexpensive
kirja
book
hinta, hinnan
price
lahja
gift, present
kampa, kamman
comb
paha
bad, evil
kauppa, kaupan
business, shop
patja
mattress
palkka, palkan
salary, payment
sarja
series, set
takka, takan
fireplace
sauna
bath
ranta, rannan
shore, strand
seura
company, society
vapa, vavan
rod
suola
salt
velka, velan
debt
tarha
kindergarten
lauta, laudan
board, plank
1. d) pieni, pienen, pientä, pieniä ‘little, small’ (Types 38, 39, 32, 33)
§hiiri
mouse
huoli
care, anxiety
liemi
bouillon, liquid
lohi
salmon
meri
sea
moni
many
nuori
young
saari
island
suuri
big, great
sääri
leg
tiili
brick, tile
tuli
fire
tuuli
wind
uni
sleep, dream
veri
blood
ääni
voice, sound
1. e) pankki, pankin, pankkia, pankkeja ‘bank’ (Types 04, 06)
bensiini
petrol, gasoline
englanti, englannin
English
hissi
elevator
laki, lain
law, act, statute
insinööri
engineer
merkki, merkin
mark, sign
konkurssi
bankruptcy
muoti, muodin
fashion
kriisi
crisis
sentti, sentin
cent
muovi
plastic
tauti, taudin
illness
pianisti
piano-player
tuonti, tuonnin
import
vitsi
joke
vienti, viennin
export

177
Chapter VII, 1.
1. f) paperi, paperin, paperia, papereita ‘paper’ (Type 05)
or kaupunki, kaupungin, kaupunkia, kaupunkeja ‘city, town9
kiikari, kiikarin, kiikaria, kiikareita
leninki, leningin, leninkiä, leninkejä
lääkäri, lääkärin, lääkäriä, lääkäreitä
moottori, moottorin, moottoria, moottoreita
taikuri, taikurin, taikuria taikureita
pastilli, pastillin, pastillia, pastilleja / pastilleita
sipuli, sipulin, sipulia, sipuleja / sipuleita
field-glasses
dress, frock
doctor, physician
motor, engine
magician
pastille
onion, bulb
1. g) toinen, toisen, toista, toisia ‘second, another’ (Type 63)
ensimmäinen
hevonen
ihminen
kotimainen
suomalainen
ulkomaalainen
ulkomainen
viranomainen
first (in order)
horse
man, person, human being
domestic, home, native
Finn, Finnish
foreigner
foreign
(proper) authority
1. h) kone [kone’], koneen, konetta, koneita ‘machine, appliance'
or tuote [tuote’], tuotteen, tuotetta, tuotteita ‘product’ (Type 78)
aihe
theme, subject
aloite, aloitteen
initiative
ase
weapon
eläke, eläkkeen
pension
ennuste
forecast, prognosis
kastike, kastikkeen
sauce, dressing
esine
object, thing
laite, laitteen
device, gadget
haave
dream
liike, liikkeen
motion, business
hiutale
flake
liikenne, liikenteen
traffic
home
mould, mildew
liite, liitteen
enclosure, appendix
huone
room
osake, osakkeen
share
ihme
wonder, miracle
ote, otteen
hold, grip, extract
kiire
hurry, rush
pyörre, pyörteen
whirl
kirje
letter (to somebody)
sade, sateen
rain
nokare
pat (e.g. of butter)
taide, taiteen
art
perhe
family
tiede, tieteen
science
piste
point, full stop
tarve, tarpeen
need, want
sose
mash, (apple) sauce
turve, turpeen
turf, peat
valhe
lie, an untrue statem.
vaate, vaatteen
piece of clothing
virhe
fault, slip, error
viihde, viihteen
light entertainment

Chapter VII, 1.
178
1. i) kaunis, kauniin, kaunista, kauniita ‘nice’
or opas, oppaan, opasta, oppaita ‘guide’ (Types 66, 68, 69)
autuas
blissful, blessed
asukas, asukkaan
inhabitant, resident
kallis
expensive, dear
itsekäs, itsekkään
selfish, egoistic
pylväs
pillar, column
kirkas, kirkkaan
clear, bright
saalis
prey, catch
porras, portaan
step, stair
sairas
sick, ill
rengas, renkaan
ring, link, tyre/tire
taivas
sky, heaven
ruis, rukiin
rye, cereal
tiivis
tight, compact
tehdas, tehtaan
factory
valmis
ready, prepared
tehokas, tehokkaan
efficient
vieras
strange®, guest
varas, varkaan
thief
1. j) vastaus, vastauksen, vastausta, vastauksia ‘answer, reply’ (Type 64)
aikomus
intention, pian
koulutus
schooling, training
kysymys
question
tarkastus
examination,control
rakennus
building
määräys
order, prescription
hius
hear
ennätys
record, achievement
ananas
pineapple
tulos
result, outcome
annos
portion, dose
jäljennös
copy, reproduction
teräs
steel
ymmärrys
understanding,
sence
1. k) korkeus, korkeuden, korkeutta, korkeuksia ‘height’ (Type 65)
ikävyys
trouble, tedium
tyhmyys
stupidity, nonsense
lapsuus
childhood
uutuus
newness, novelty
totuus
truth
vaikeus
difficulty
tulevaisuus
future
yhteys
connection, context
Exercise 2 - Prepositions and postpositions
that require a certain case
Requiring the partitive case (se > sitä ‘it’):
ilman sitä / sitä ilman without it
ennen sitä / sitä ennen before it
kohti sitä / sitä kohti towards it
paitsi sitä / sitä paitsi without it / besides
päin sitä / sitä päin towards, against it
pitkin sitä / sitä pitkin along it

179
Chapter VII, 2., 3.
vastapäätä sitä / sitä vastapäätä
opposite to it
vasten sitä / sitä vasten
against it
keskellä, keskeltä, keskelle sitä /
sen keskellä, keskeltä, -lie
among, in the middle of it
lähellä, läheltä, lähelle sitä /
sen lähellä, läheltä, lähelle
near it
Requiring the genitive case (se > sen ‘its’):
(sen) alla, alta, alle
under it
(sen) edellä, edeltä, edelle
before it
(sen) edessä, edestä, eteen
before it
(sen) päällä, päältä, päälle
above it, on it
(sen) takana, takaa, taakse
behind it
(sen) kohdalla, kohdalta, -lie
by/at, from, to it
(sen) luona, luota, luokse
by/at, from, to it
(sen) lähellä, läheltä, lähelle
by/at, from, to it
(sen) ansiosta
thanks to it
(sen) aikana
during it
(sen) jäljessä, jälkeen
after it
(sen) halki /poikki
across it
(sen) kautta / läpi
through it
(sen) mukaan
according to it
(sen) mukana / kanssa
with it
(sen) perusteella
on grounds of it
(sen) hyväksi
for it, for the benefit of it
(sen) johdosta
because of it
Requiring the elative case (se > siitä.
“-stA,v):
siitä / jostakin huolimatta
in spite of, despite something
siitä/jostakin lähtien
from, since
Exercise 3 - Verbs that require a certain case
jta =
jotakin
(partitive)
(a part of) something, person or thing
jna =
jonakin
(essive)
as somebody, something
jks =
joksikin
(translative)
to (be or become) somebody, something
jssa =
jossakin
(inessive)
in somebody, something, in/on a place
jsta =
jostakin
(elative)
from/of somebody, something, from a place

Chapter VII, 3.a)
180
jhn =
johonkin
(illative)
jlla =
jollakin
(adessive)
jlta =
joltakin
(ablative)
jlle =
jollekin
(allative)
to somebody, something, somewhere
on/by somebody, something, on/by a place
from/of somebody, something, from a place
to somebody, something, to a place
3. a) Verbs that occur with their objects
always in partitive “-(t)tA”)
Note: Nominative and genitive cases would be unnatural or require an explanation
of the totality or the finality of the action. (Now you need your dictionary.)
ajatella jta sta
Ajattelen sinua (usein): mitä sinä ajattelet tästä?
arvostaa j ta
Arvostan sinua (suuresti)
auttaa jta jssä
Autan sinua (siinä, sen tekemisessä, tekemään jta)
edellyttää jta jlta
Edellytän sitä (sinulta)
edustaa jta j ssä
Edustan sinua (siinä, siellä)
epäillä jta jsta
Epäilen sinua (siitä, sen tekemisestä)
etsiä/hakea jta jsta
Etsin / hain sinua (siitä, sieltä)
harkita jta
Harkitsen sitä (sinne menemistä)
harrastaa jta
Harrastan sitä (lukemista)
haukkua jta jks
Minä haukuin häntä (siaksH
(but note: Hän haukkui minut pataluhaksi.)
hävetä jta
Minä häpeän sinua
ihailla jta
Ihailen sinua
ihmetellä jta
Ihmettelen sinua
ikävöidä jta
Ikävöin sinua
inhota jta
Minä inhoan riitelyä (riitelemistä)
jatkaa jta
Jatkan sitä (lukemista) (huomenna)
juhlia jta
Minä juhlin sitä (syntymäpäivääni)
kannustaa jta jhn
Kannustan sinua (jatkamaan sitä, tekemään sen)
katsella jta
Katselen sinua (televisiota koko illan)
katsoa jta jhn
Katson sinua (suoraan silmiin)
kiittää jta jsta
Kiitän sinua (siitä, sen tekemisestä)
kiusata jta
Onko joku kiusannut sinua?
kohdella jta
Kohtele häntä varovasti!
kokeilla jta
Kokeile tätä (sen tekemistä)!
korostaa jta
Korostan sitä (että asia on tärkeä)
kosia jta jks
Mies kosii naista (vaimokseen)
kuunnella jta
Kuuntelen sinua (mielelläni)
käskeä jta jhn
Käsken sinua siihen (lähtemään pois)
V&A

181
Chapter VII, 3 a)
loukata j tä
Nyt sinä loukkaat minua!
luulla jtajks
Luulin sinua ystäväksi
lyödä j tä j llä jhn
Mies löi (toista miestä) (pullolla) (päähän)
lähestyä j tä
Auto lähestyy (Helsinkiä), kello lähestyy kuutta
mainostaa j tä j ssä
Tuotetta on mainostettu (televisiossa) (paljon)
merkitä j tä j lie
Mitä tämä merkitsee (sinulle)?
miellyttää jta
Asunto miellyttää minua
miettiä j tä
Mitä sinä mietit?
moittia jta jsta
Tästä (sen tekemisestä) minä moitin sinua
muistella jta
Muistelen sinua (usein)
muistuttaa jta
Lapset muistuttavat vanhempiaan
neuvoa j ta j ssa/j hn
Neuvon sinua (siinä asiassa) (olemaan hiljaa)
noudattaa jta
Neuvon sinua vain noudattamaan ohjeita
näytellä jta jssa
Hän on näytellyt Hamletia (teatterissa)
odottaa jta j ssä
Vaimo odottaa lasta (huhtikuussa). Odota minua!
onnitella jta jsta
Onnittelen sinua (siitä, sen johdosta)
opiskella jta jssa
Opiskelen venäjää (yliopistossa, kursseilla)
palvella jta jssa
Palveltiinko sinua (siellä) (ystävällisesti)?
pelata jta
Suomessa pelataan pesäpalloa
pelästyä jta
Minä pelästyin (haukkuvaa koiraa)
pelätä jta
Minä pelkään pimeää. Mitä sinä pelkäät?
pitää jta jna
Pidän sinua mukavana (ihmisenä).
Koiria ja kissoja pidetään kotieläiminä.
puolustaa jta j lie
Puolustan sinua (hänelle) (mielelläni)
purra jta jhn
Koira puri Kallea (jalkaan)
pyytää jta jltä
Pyydän sinulta tätä (palvelusta)
rakastaa jta
Minä rakastan sinua (ja syömistä ja nukkumista)
rukoilla jta jlta
Rukoilemme Jumalaa (Jumalalta apua)
sanoa jta jks
Hän sanoi (kutsui) minua Kalleksi
seurata jta jhn
Seuraan sinua (sinne, bussipysäkille)
sinutella jta
Saanko sinutella teitä?
soittaa jta / jlla
Soitan viulua / ovikelloa / puhelimella
suosia jta
Suosin sitä (kotimaista ruokaa) (aina)
surra jta
Suren sitä (asiaa) (valtavasti)
suunnitella jta
Suunnittelen sitä (etelänmatkaa) (kevääksi)
syyttää jta jsta
Sinä syytät minua (aina) (kaikesta)
sääliä jta jsta
Minä säälin sinua (siitä syystä)
tarkoittaa jta jlla
Ketä sinä (sillä) tarkoitat?
tervehtiä jta
Hän tervehtii minua (aina) (ystävällisesti)
toivoa jta
Toivon sitä (sinne pääsemistä / pääseväni sinne).
Toivon sinulle kaikkea hyvää.
V6*A

Chapter VII, 3 b), c)
182
totella jta Kiltti lapsi tottelee äitiä
varoa jta Varokaa vihaista koiraa!
vastustaa jta jssa Vastustan sinua (tässä asiassa)
verrata jta jhn Vertaan sinua häneen (hintaa laatuun)
vertailla jta jhn Vertailemme hintoja (kaksosia toisiinsa)
vihata jta Vihaan sitä (epärehellisyyttä)
3. b) Verbs that require elative (”-stA”)
erehtyä jsta (jssa)
Erehdyin ovesta (ovissa, nimissä)
erota j sta
esim. työpaikasta, puolisostaan, toisistaan
erottaa (joku/jokin) jsta
Kaksoset erotettiin (pieninä) toisistaan
etsiä jta jsta
Etsin sinua sieltä (siitä talosta, kaikkialta)
haaveilla jsta
Mistä (kenestä) sinä haaveilet?
huolehtia jsta
Huolehtisitko tästä (työstä) (vähän aikaa)?
huolestua jsta
Olen huolestunut sinusta
hämmästyä jsta
Hämmästyin siitä (hänen sanoistaan)
iloita jsta
Lapsi iloitsee siitä (uusista leluista)
innostua jsta
Olen innostunut tästä (lukemisesta)
johtua jsta
Mistä tämä johtuu?
kertoa jsta jlie
Mitä olet kertonut minusta hänelle?
keskustella jsta
Keskustelemme asioista (yhdessä)
kieltäytyä jsta
Et voi kieltäytyä tästä (tarjouksesta)
kiinnostua jsta
Kiinnostuin (heti) siitä asiasta
kärsiä jsta
Olen kärsinyt unettomuudesta (viime aikoina)
luopua jsta
Hän luopui palkinnostaan
löytää jsta
Löysin sen tästä paikasta (kadulta)
nauttia jsta
Nautin tästä (vapaa-ajasta)
neuvotella jsta
Tästä (asiasta) pitää neuvotella
piristyä jsta
Kahvista (ihminen) piristyy (nopeasti)
pitää jsta
Minä pidän sinusta (lukemisesta)
puhua jsta jlie
Oletko puhunut minusta hänelle?
riidellä jsta
Ei (nyt) riidellä tästä (asiasta)!
riippua jsta
Riippuu asianhaaroista! Lamppu riippuu katosta.
selvitä jsta
Selviätkö tästä (yksin)?
valittaa jsta jlle
Aion valittaa sinusta hänelle (opettajalle)
vastata j sta j lie
Tehdas vastaa tuotteistaan kuluttajille
välittää jsta
Älä välitä hänestä!
yllättyä jsta
Hän yllättyi siitä (saamastaan palkinnosta)

183
Chapter VII, 3 c)
3. 	c) Verbs that require illative
(”-VhVn”, ’’-seen”, ”-siin”, ”-mAAn”)
asettua jhn
Asetuimme taloon (asumaan) (taloksi)
erikoistua jhn
Hän on erikoistunut siihen (sen tekemiseen)
hukkuajhn
Veteen voi hukkua
ihastua jhn
Poika ihastui tyttöön
joutua jhn
Mies joutui (menemään) vankilaan.
jättää jta jhn
Hän jätti meidät sinne (bussipysäkille) (seisomaan)
keskittyä jhn
Keskityn nyt vain tähän (lukemiseen)
kokoontua jhn/jssa
Kokoonnumme tähän / tässä (kello 10)
kompastua jhn
Lapsi kompastui kiveen
kyetä jhn
Kyllä sinä kykenet tähän (työhön)
kyllästyä jhn
Olen kyllästynyt tähän (työhön)
laskeutua jhn
Kone laskeutuu Helsinkiin (lentokentälle)
liittyä jhn
Mihin asiaan tämä liittyy?
lisätä jhn
Lisään kirjeeseen jotakin (pari lausetta)
luottaa jhn
Minä luotan sinuun
mahtua jhn
Bussiin mahtuu 40 henkeä
nojata jhn
Nojatkaa tähän (seinään, minun käsivarteeni)!
osallistua jhn
Mc osallistumme siihen (keräykseen, kurssille)
pakottaa jhn
Ystäväni pakotti minut lähtemään mukaansa
pyrkiä jhn
Pyrin (pääsemään) johonkin (koulutukseen)
päästä jhn
Pääsin (mukaan) koulutukseen
rakastua jhn
Tyttö rakastui poikaan
saapuajhn
Saavuimme Lontooseen (hyvissä ajoin)
sairastua jhn
Mihin (tautiin) hän sairastui?
sisältyä jhn
Hintaan sisältyy alv (= arvonlisävero)
sopeutua jhn
Olen sopeutunut tähän (elämään täällä)
suhtautua jhn
Suhtaudun siihen (elämään) rauhallisesti
suostua jhn
Suostun siihen (tekemään sitä/sen)
tarttua jhn
Liima tarttuu tähän (paperiin) (hyvin)
tottua jhn
Olen tottunut siihen (tekemään sitä)
tutustua jhn
Olen tutustunut häneen (Suomessa) (vähitellen)
tyytyä jhn
Olen tyytynyt (= tyytyväinen) siihen (vähään)
unohtaa jta jhn
Unohdin sen (matkalippuni) sinne (kotiin)
vaihtaa jta jhn
Vaihdoin tämän (tavaran) uuteen (tavaraan)
valmistautua jhn
Valmistaudumme siihen (laskeutumaan)
vedota jhn
Vetoan asiantuntijoihin
väsyäjhn
Väsyn tähän (lukemiseen) (nopeasti)
yhtyä jhn
Yhdyn mielipiteeseesi (= olen samaa mieltä)

Chapter VII, 3 d), c)
184
opetella tekemään jta Olen opetellut hiihtämään
oppia tekemään jta Olen oppinut ymmärtämään suomalaisia
opettaa jku/jkuta teke- Kuka sinut/sinua on opettanut puhumaan suomea?
mään jta
3. d) Verbs that occur with a personal pronoun in "accusative" (= "t-case")
with other kind of objects either in genitive sg. or in nominative.
The result is in general final. Partitive comes only in negative sentences.
erottaa joku sta
haastaa joku jhn jst
julistaa joku jks
kiinnittää joku jhn jks
kutsua joku jhn jks
määrätä joku jks jhn
nimittää joku jks jhn
palkita joku jsta
pelastaa joku jst
päästää joku jsta jhn
todeta joku jks
tunnistaa joku jks
valita joku jks
äänestää joku jks
Erotin sinut heti muiden joukosta.
Haastan sinut tästä oikeuteen (kaksintaisteluun)
Mika Häkkinen julistettiin voittajaksi
Hänet kiinnitettiin oopperan johtajaksi
Hänet kutsuttiin kentälle erotuomariksi
Hänet määrättiin lähettilääksi Singaporeen
Kimmo Sasi nimitettiin ministeriksi hallitukseen
Kilpailijat palkitaan hyvistä suorituksista
Äiti pelasti lapsensa vedestä (hukkumasta)
Päästän sinut ovesta (ulos tai sisään) (menemään)
Tuomari totesi miehen syylliseksi
Tunnistin (= tunsin) hänet (samaksi ihmiseksi)
Valitsimme hänet (joukon johtajaksi)
Suomalaiset äänestivät presidentiksi Tarja Halosen
3. e) Verbs that mostly occur with the first infinitive form
(basic form) of another verb. (The second verb can be
either transitive or intransitive, with or without an object.)
Ability to think and work:
aikoa tehdä jta
ajatella tehdä jta
ehtiä tehdä jta
huomata tehdä jta
jaksaa tehdä jta
koettaa tehdä jta
luvata (jlle) tehdä jta
muistaa tehdä jta
osata tehdä jta
pelätä tehdä jta
Aioin opiskella (suomea) ahkerasti
Ajattelin mennä nukkumaan
Ehdit mennä kotiin myöhemminkin
Huomasitko ottaa sateenvarjon mukaasi?
En jaksa opiskella (englantia) (jatkuvasti)
Koeta nyt vain olla kärsivällinen!
Lupasit (minulle) opiskella (suomea) (ahkerasti)
Muista ottaa sateenvarjo mukaasi!
Osaatko luetella numerot suomeksi?
Lapsi pelkää mennä kouluun

185
Chapter VII, 3 c)
päättää tehdä jta Päätin pitää (opiskeluissani) pienen tauon
saada tehdä jta Saat syödä niin paljon kuin haluat
uhata tehdä jta Hän uhkasi lyödä minua (kepillä)
unohtaa tehdä jta Unohdin sanoa sinulle yhden asian
uskaltaa tehdä jta Uskallatko lähteä yksin merelle?
Making other people do something (+ genitive of the person):
käskeä, antaa sallia (jonkun) tehdä jotakin
Minun käskettiin mennä kotiin / tehdä se/sitä They told me to go home (passive)
Käskin hänen lähteä / tehdä sen/sitä. I told him to leave / to do it (active)
Annan muiden (ihmisten) tehdä sen/sitä. 1 am letting other people do it
Anna minun tehdä se/sitä. Please let me do it!
En anna/salli sinun tehdä sellaista. I don't let you do such a thing.
Sitä heidän ei annettu tehdä. They were not allowed to do it.
Pakottaa, saada (joku) tekemään jotakin (third infinitive)
Heidät pakotettiin /saatiin lähtemään They were compelled to leave
kodeistaan. their homes.
People are put obligations to do someting:
(jonkun) on hyvä /pakko /paras /parasta tehdä jotakin (se tai sitä)
Sinun on hyvä levätä hetki (hetken verran). It is good for you to take a rest
Oliko (sinun) pakko sanoa se (ääneen)? Was i necessary to say it (aloud)?
(Sinun) on paras olla paikalla,. It is best (for you) to be present
kun posti tulee. when the mail arrives
(jonkun) kannattaa / tarvitsee / kuuluu / tulee tehdä jotakin (se tai sitä)
(Sinun) kannattaa opiskella (sitä). It's worth your studying / learning
it.
Kaikkien kannattaisi lukea (tätä/tämä). Everybody should gain by reading
this (partly or wholly)

Chapter VII, 4 a)
186
Sinun tarvitsee (vain) lukea se/sitä. You only need to read it / in it.
Sinun ei tarvitse syödä (sitä kaikkea). You need not eat (all of it)
Kansalaisten kuuluu noudattaa lakeja. Citizens are supposed to follow
the laws
(jonkun) pitää /täytyy tehdä jotakin (se tai sitä)
Minun pitää tehdä nämä tehtävät (tämä työ). I must do these tasks (this work)
(Tässä) (meidän) täytyy vain odottaa bussia. (Here) we just have to wait for
the bus
Note this: The modal verb täytyy is not used in negative forms. The
verbs pitää and saada can be used negatively instead of it.
Tästä sinun ei pidä hermostua. You must not get nervous
= Sinä et saa hermostua tästä. about this
Tästä ei pidä kenenkään luulla, että... No one must think
(= Kukaan ei saa luulla tästä, että...) about this that..
Exercise 4 - Verbs, listed with their principal parts
Two lists of verbs with six or seven principal parts
As to the principal parts, see Chapter II, point 2.2 (nouns), Chapter III, point
4 	(active) and the beginning of IV (passive).
From a basic form like alkaa ‘to begin’, you know to say the forms of
personal conjugation: alan, alat, alkaa, alamme, alatte, alkavat, aletaan.
The types of conjugation that repeat themselves are not very many, five or
six, if grouped as usually done in textbooks. I am not going to copy one of
them here but give my own collection of verbs, see 4. a) below.
In addition to that, I have chosen to complete this version of my book with a
list of verb types (see 4. b) below), as is given in Suomen kielen
perussanakirja, much shorter there than the types are given in the older basic work,
Nykysuomen sanakirja.
1)6*4

187
Chapter VII, 4 a)
4. a) Finnish verbs in alphabetical order
ajatella, ajattelen, ajatteli, ajatellut, ajatellaan, ajateltiin
to think
ampua, ammun, ampui, ampunut, ammutaan, ammuttiin
to shoot, fire
antaa, annan, antoi, antanut, annetaan, annettiin
to give, hand
ehtiä, ehdin, ehti, ehtinyt, ehditään, ehdittiin
to arrive in time
hakea, haen, haki, hakenut, haetaan, haettiin
to get, look for
hylätä, hylkään, hylkäsi, hylännyt, hylätään, hylättiin
to reject, eliminate
hymyillä, hymyilen, hymyili, hymyillyt, hymyillään, -tiin
to smile
istua, istun, istui, istunut, istutaan, istuttiin
tosit
kaivata, kaipaan, kaipasi, kaivannut, kaivataan, -ttiin
to long for, miss
karata, karkaan, karkasi, karannut, karataan, -ttiin
to escape
keittää, keitän, keitti, keittänyt, keitetään, keitettiin
to cook
kerrata, kertaan, kertasi, kerrannut, kerrataan, -ttiin
to repeat
kertoa, kerron, kertoi, kertonut, kerrotaan, kerrottiin
to tell
kiertää, kierrän, kiersi, kiertänyt, kierretään, kierrettiin
to turn, go round
kietoa, kiedon, kietoi, kietonut, kiedotaan, kiedottiin
to wind, wrap
kiivetä, kiipeän, kiipesi, kiivennyt, kiivetään, kiivettiin
to climb
kulkea, kuljen, kulki, kulkenut, kuljetaan, kuljettiin
to go, walk
laskea, lasken, laski, laskenut, lasketaan, laskettiin
to go/take down; count
leikata, leikkaan, leikkasi, leikannut, leikataan, -ttiin
to cut, operate
levätä, lepään, lepäsi, levännyt, levätään, levättiin
to rest, repose
liata, likaan, likasi, liannut, liataan, liattiin
to dirty
loppua, lopun, loppui, loppunut, (loputaan, loputttiin)
to end, run out
luvata, lupaan, lupasi, luvannut, luvataan, luvattiin
to promise
lyödä, lyön, löi, lyönyt, lyödään, lyötiin
to hit, beat
maata, makaan, makasi, maannut, maataan, -ttiin
to lie, lie around
menetellä, menettelen, menetteli, -tellyt, -tellään, -teltiin
to act, do

Chapter VII, 4 a)
188
menettää, menetän, menetti, menettänyt, menetetään, -ttiin
to lose
muistaa, muistan, muisti, muistanut, muistetaan, -ttiin
to remember
näytellä, näyttelen, näytteli, näytellyt, näytellään, -tiin
to play
näyttää, näytän, näytti, näyttänyt, näytetään, -ttiin
to show
paeta, pakenen, pakeni, paennut, paetaan, paettiin
to flee, take to flight
pakata, pakkaan, pakkasi, pakannut, pakataan, -ttiin
to pack
palkata, palkkaan, palkkasi, palkannut, palkataan, -ttiin
to hire
peitellä, peittelen, peitteli, peitellyt, peitellään, -tiin
to cover, hide
pesettää, pesetän, pesetti, pesettänyt, pesetetään, -ttiin
to let sb wash, clean
pestä, pesen, pesi, pessyt, pestään, pestiin
to wash
pudota, putoan, putosi, pudonnut, pudotaan, -ttiin
to fall
pudottaa, pudotan, pudotti, pudottanut, pudotetaan, -ttiin
to let fall, drop
purra, puren, puri, purrut, purraan, purtiin
to bite
päättää, päätän, päätti, päättänyt, päätetään, -ttiin
to decide, end
rohjeta, rohkenen, rohkeni, rohjennut, rohjetaan, -ttiin
to dear
saapua, saavun, saapui, saapunut, saavutaan, -ttiin
to arrive
sitoa, sidon, sitoi, sitonut, sidotaan, sidottiin
to bind
sitoutua, sitoudun, sitoutui, sitoutunut, sitoudutaan, -ttiin
to commit oneself
suoda, suon, soi, suonut, suodaan, suotiin
to allow, let, give
suudella, suutelen, suuteli, suudellut, suudellaan, -tiin
to kiss
tahtoa, tahdon, tahtoi, tahtonut, tahdotaan, -ttiin
to will, wish
taikoa, taion, taikoi, taikonut, taiotaan, taiottiin
to do magic
tarvita, tarvitsen, tarvitsi, tarvinnut, tarvitaan, -ttiin
to need
tuntea, tunnen, tunsi, tuntenut, tunnetaan, -ttiin
to know; feel
tuoda, tuon, toi, tuonut, tuodaan, tuotiin
to bring, import
tuottaa, tuotan, tuotti, tuottanut, tuotetaan, -ttiin
to cause; produce
udella, utelen, uteli, udellut, udellaan, udeltiin
to pyr, keep asking
uhata, uhkaan, uhkasi, uhannut, uhataan, uhattiin
to threaten

189
Chapter VII, 4 a), b)
vaatia, vaadin, vaati, vaatinut, vaaditaan, vaadittiin to demand, require
valita, valitsen, valitsi, valinnut, valitaan, -ttiin to choose, elect
valittaa, valitan, valitti, valittanut, valitetaan, -ttiin to complain, be sorry
vetää, vedän, veti, vetänyt, vedetään, vedettiin to draw
vetäytyä, vetäydyn, vetäytyi, vetäytynyt, vetäydytään, -ttiin to withdraw, move back
viihtyä, viihdyn, viihtyi, viihtynyt, viihdytään, viihdyttiin to be happy, feel at home
väittää, väitän, väitti, väittänyt, väitetään, väitettiin to claim, say
4. 	b) Verb types, numbered according to
Suomen kielen perussanakirja
See Volume A-K, page XVII Verbs, Edita, Helsinki 2004, or some latter
issue of Research Institute for the Languages of Finland, www.kotus.fi.
Verb type number and the principal parts:
Type
Verb
52
sanoa, sanon, sanoi, sanoisi, sanokoon, sanonut, sanottiin
53
muistaa, muistan, muisti, muistaisi, muistakoon, muistanut, muistettiin
54
huutaa, huudan, huusi, huutaisi, huutakoon, huutanut, huudettiin
55
soutaa, soudan, souti /sousi, soutaisi, soutakoon, soutanut, soudettiin
56
kaivaa, kaivan, kaivoi, kaivaisi, kaivakoon, kaivanut, kaivettiin
57
saartaa, saarran, saartoi /saarsi, saartaisi, saatakoon, saartanut, saarrettiin
58
laskea, lasken, laski, laskisi, laskekoon, laskenut, laskettiin
59
tuntea, tunnen, tunsi, tuntisi, tuntekoon, tuntenut, tunnettiin
60
lähteä, lähden, lähti (läksi), lähtisi, lähteköön, lähtenyt, lähdettiin
61
sallia, sallin, salli, sallisi, sallikoon, sallinut, sallittiin

Chapter VII, 4 b)
190
62 voida, voin, voi, voisi, voikoon, voinut, voitiin
63 saada, saan, sai, saisi, saakoon, saanut, saatiin
64 juoda, juon, joi, joisi, juokoon, juonut, juotiin
65 käydä, käyn, kävi, kävisi, käyköön, käynyt, käytiin
66 rohkaista, rohkaisen, rohkaisi, rohkaisisi, rohkaiskoon,
rohkaissut, rohkaistiin
67 tulla, tulen, tuli, tulisi, tulkoon, tullut, tultiin
68 tupakoida, tupakoin (tupakoitsen), tupakoi (tupakoitsi),
tupakoisi (tupakoitsisi), tupakoikoon, tupakoinut, tupakoitiin
69 valita, valitsen, valitsi, valitsisi, valitkoon, valinnut, valittiin
70 juosta, juoksen, juoksi, juoksisi, juoskoon, juossut, juostiin
71 nähdä, näen, näki, näkisi, nähköön, nähnyt, nähtiin
72 vanheta, vanhenen, vanheni, vanhenisi, vanhetkoon,
vanhennut, vanhettiin
73 salata, salaan, säläsi, salannut, salataan, salattiin
74 katketa, katkean, katkesi, katkeaisi (katkeisi), katketkoon,
katkennut, katkettiin
75 selvitä, selviän, selvisi, selviäisi, selvitköön, selvinnyt, selvittiin
76 taitaa, taidan, taisi, taitaisi, taitakoon, taitanut / tainnut, taidettiin
77
78
V&A

191
Chapter VIII, 1.
VIII 	EXERCISES WITH STORIES
1. 	Review of terms and principles
Let's repeat the lessons so that you can recollect the importance of the many
opposite terms that you have noticed. Please try to recall in which connection you
should have learned these opposite terms:
Vowels:
frontal
back
Consonants:
single
double
Sounds:
short
long
Change of sounds, through
consonant changes
vowel changes
or
grading
assimilation
Grade (consonant changes):
strong
weak
Syllables:
open
closed
or
short
long
Stems:
vowel stem
consonant stem
Number:
singular
plural
Words:
nouns
verbs
Phrases:
noun phrase
verbal phrase (chain)
Forms of words:
basic
inflected / conjugated
Compound nouns:
genitive: objective
nominative: (mostly)
or
possessive (first part)
descriptive (first part)
Subjects
nominative case
partitive case
or
nominative case
genitive case
Objects:
partial (in partitive)
total (in genitive
or in nominative)
or
unfinished (action)
completed (action)
Verbal classes:
transitive
intransitive
Main classes (voices):
active
passive
Verbal forms:
finite
non-finite (infinite)
or
positive (affirmative)
negative
Moods (manners):
indicative
conditional/potential
Tenses (times):
present tense
past tense
perfect
pluperfect

192
Chapter VIII, 2.
2. 	Two first stories
When trying to read any short text in Finnish, you will soon note that you
may encounter any of the grammatical forms you have just learned.
Therefore, you might need some good advice to encourage you to start
reading headlines, news and comics in Finnish newspapers, for instance.
You need not take it for granted that all written Finnish is correct as to the
forms of objects and subjects, which I find most important to be correct to
ensure proper understanding. The written language sometimes contains
typographical errors, but in general, you can rely on written Finnish and
study Finnish in newspapers, as well.
With the help of the next short text taken from a newspaper, I am showing
you one way how you can proceed systematically when trying to understand
a text. After this first reading exercise, you will get five real stories that you
can try to manage more and more alone with another alternative technique.
The first text Explanation, the
word bv word:
basic form and the ending
Translation of the words
Suomessa
Suomi
case 7 sg.
in Finland
huvipuistojen
huvi + puisto
case 2 pl.
fun-fair, amusement park
laitteille
laite
case 12 pl.
device, equipment
ei ole
olla (neg.)
3rd p.sg.
is not, there are no
teknisiä
tekninen
case 3 pl.
technical, technological
määräyksiä,
määräys
case 3 pl.
order, rule
mutta
mutta
but
poliisi
poliisi
case 1 sg.
the police
vaatii
vaatia
3rd p.sg.
demands, requires
tarkastukset
tarkastus
case 1 pl.
inspection, check, control
kuukausittain.
kuukausi
case 14 pl.
monthly
Tarkastaja
tarkastaja
case 1 sg.
inspector, examiner
katsoo
katsoa
3rd p.sg.
looks, checks
rakenteiden
rakenne
case 2 pl.
structure, construction
kunnon
kunto
case2 sg.
condition, shape
ja
ja
and
laitteiden
laite
case 2 pl.
device, equipment
toiminnan.
toiminta
case 2 sg.
operation, functioning
V&*4

193
Chapter VIII, 2.
Hiukankin
epäilyttävään
pitää
puuttua
heti,
hiukan (+ "-kin")
epäilyttävä case 9 sg.
pitää 3rd p.sg.
puuttua I st inf.
heti
sanoa 3rd p.sg.
= DI case 1 sg.
(name omitted)
a little
suspicious, dubious
must
to step in, intervene
at once
says
graduate engineer,
master of science
sanoo
diplomi-insinööri = DI
How much did you understand with the help of that kind of listing the
words? - Now we proceed to the first "real" story, and to a different
technique. This is a report that was issued in the newspaper Helsingin
Sanomat 50 years ago when the United Nations completed its huge new
headquarters.
Because the predicate verb is the heart of the message, you should
preferably start by underlining the finite verbal forms (as done already).
The suffixes of those forms are shown in the pattern tables of verbs at the
end of this book.
The second text: YK muuttanut pilvenpiirtäjäänsä
(Helsingin Sanomien kirjeenvaihtajalta)
New York, 27.12. (UP)
YK siirtyi tiistaina virallisesti Manhattanilla sijaitsevaan lasi-ja marmori-
pilvenpiirtäjäänsä jo elokuussa alkaneen muuttotoiminnan päätyttyä.
YK:n sihteeristö, 3.500-jäsenisine hcnkilökuntineen, ei löytänyt paperipalaakaan
väärältä paikalta, sanoi muuttoa johtanut Byron Wood tähdentäen muuton
joustavuutta.
V6>A

194
Chapter VIII, 2.
Sihteeristön siirtäminen Lake Successista alkoi io elokuussa, mutta ettei
yleiskokouksen istuntoa häirittäisi, kuljetettiin tavaroita vanhasta päämajasta
uuteen ainoastaan öisin ja viikonloppuina.
Jokaiseen huonekaluun ja asiakirjamappiin merkittiin tarkkaan sen
sijoituspaikka uudessa rakennuksessa, ettei sekaannusta pääsisi syntymään.
When reading a Finnish text, which you want to understand, you can
proceed in this order: 1. verbs, 2. nouns, 3. vocabulary, 4. translation.
Together with the finite forms of verbs, you can pick up entire chains of
verbs if there are several verbs (both finite and non-finite), such as the basic
forms and the third infinitives of verbs if there are any.
Study the forms of verbs by asking yourself: - Positive or negative? -
Active or passive? - Which mood (indicative, conditional, potential)? -
Which tense (present or past)? - Is there a separate subject or any subject at
all? Or is the subject contained in the verb or the previous clause? - Are
there any shortened verbal clauses containing a hidden kun or että?
Next you should study the noun phrases, the units that consist of one or
several words with case endings including the "-minen" infinitives: -
Which case endings do you see there? - Are there some possessive suffixes
or end particles (-pA, -kin, -kAAn, -hAn)? - Are there any verbal
participles as adjectival attributes which can be replaced with a sub-clause?
- How do the nouns read in their basic forms?
If a noun phrase is long, you must first understand it in its basic form. In
this story you find many phrases that consist of more than one word. The
underlined words are present tense and past tense participles, here used as
adjectival attributes. The underlining of them helps you to note that you can
study them as verbs, e.g. yhdistyneet is a plural past tense participle form of
yhdistyä 'to be united', which you can find in your dictionary. The ending "-
neet" is the nominative pl. form of "-nUt". Yhdistyä, (on) yhdistynyt (sg.),
(ovat) yhdistyneet (pl.).

195
Chapter VIII, 2.
Yhdistyneet kansakunnat (= YK)
Helsingin Sanomien kirjeenvaihtaja
Manhattanilla sijaitseva
lasi- ja marmoripilvenpiirtäjä
jo elokuussa alkanut muuttotoiminta
YK:n sihteeristö
3.500-jäseninen henkilökunta
väärä paikka
muuttoa johtanut Byron Wood
muuton joustavuus
sihteeristön siirtäminen
Lake Successista
yleiskokouksen istunto
vanha päämaja
uusi (päämaja)
jokainen huonekalu ja asiakirjamappi
sen sijoituspaikka
uudessa rakennuksessa
United Nations (= UN)
a correspondent of HS
the skyscraper of glass and marble
(situated) at Manhattan
removal activity which began
already in August
Secretariat of the UN
a staff of 3 500 members
wrong place
B.W. who lead the removing
flexibility of the removal
the act of removing the Secretariat
from Lake Success (elsewhere)
session of the General Assembly
old head quarter
new head quarter
every piece of furniture and each file
its location
in the new building
Note: Did you also notice this shortening?
kun muuttotoiminta oli päättynyt
= muuttotoiminnan päätyttyä after the removing (act) had ended
After having settled the basic forms of the meaningful verbs and the noun
phrase units, you could also study the roles of the noun phrases: are they
subjects or objects, or do they express time, manner or place?
Then you can start making a list of the words that are new to you in the
story. Perhaps you should first list the verbs, then the conjunctions and
other small words, and lastly the nouns, or you can proceed from word to
word. If you typed it all into your computer, you can arrange the words
alphabetically (as I have done below).
Words in "YK muuttanut pilvenpiirtäjäänsä":
ainoastaan
only
< ainoa
alkoi, alkaneen (< alkanut)
started
< alkaa
asiakirjamappi
file
< asia + kirja + mappi
elokuu
August
< elo + kuu
ettei
that not
< että + ei
henkilökunta
staff, personnel
< henkilö + kunta
V£*A

196
Chapter VIII, 2.
huonekalu
ei häirittäisi
istunto
jo
johtanut
jokainen
joustavuus
3.500-jäseninen
kansakunta
kirjeeenvaihtaja
kuljetettiin
lasi
ei löytänyt
marmori
merkittiin
muutto
muuttotoiminta
paikka
/?tf/?m'(n)pala
pilvenpiirtäjä
päämaja
pääsisi
päätyttyä
rakennus
sekaannus
sihteeristö
siirtyi
siirtyminen
siirtäminen
(jssa) sijaitseva
sijoituspaikka (jssa)
syntymään
tarkasti = tarkkaan
tavara
tiistai
tähdentäen
uusi
vanha
viikonloppu
virallisesti
väärä
yhdistynyt
yleiskokous
öisin
piece of furniture
not be disturbed
session
already
lead, manage
every, each
flexibility
(how many members)
nation
correspondent
was/were carried
glass
did not find
marble
was/were labelled
removal
act of removing
place
piece of paper
skyscraper
headquarter
could not (happen)
after the end
building
confusion, "mix-up"
secretariat
moved, was moved
removal
being removed
situated
place, location
be bom, appear
precisely
goods
T uesday
laying stress on
new
old
weekend
officially
wrong
united
general assemble
by night, all nights
< huone + kalu
< häiritä jta
< istua
< johtaa
< joka + -inen
< joustaa
<jäsen
< kansa + kunta
< vaihtaa kirjeitä
< kuljettaa (jsta jhn)
< löytää (jsta / jlta)
< merkitä (jhk)
< muuttaa (jsta jhk)
< muutto + toimia
< paperi + pala
< pilvi + piirtää
< pää + maja
< päästä (jsta jhk)
< päättyä (jhk / jssa)
< rakentaa
< sekoittaa, sekaantua
< sihteeri + -stö
< siirtyä (jsta jhk)
< siirtyä (jsta jhk)
< siirtää (jsta jhk)
< sijaita (jssa)
< sijoittaa (jhk)
< syntyä
< tarkka
< tähdentää jta
< viikko + loppu
< virallinen
< yhdistyä jhk
< yleinen + kokous
< yö
1)6*4

197
Chapter VIII, 2.
You should still consider the context for a while before trying to translate
the sentences. What is the situation in the story? Then try to say roughly
the same thoughts in your language.
Here you also have an opportunity to start thinking in Finnish if you
imagine how you would tell the story further to a Finn in Finnish and
describe what you understood and remember about it. Or you can change
the story and make it completely new if you change the words into new ones
and try to find the corresponding forms for them
3. 	About punctuation and commas
Commas are used for grammatical reasons in Finnish, and not to show a
stop. With commas we make a list of words, or we show that a part of a
longer sentence is submitted or added to the main clause. The presence of
commas when placed according to the Finnish norms, will also be a help to
you when trying to understand a Finnish text.
I advise you to pay some attention to the commas in Finnish when you read
Finnish texts because commas belong to school texts and business letters
and other informative reading. And they are used even in comic strips as
they should be used. Commas must not be left out entirely or used too
much, either.
4. 	Four more stories
The finite forms of verbs (the predicates) are also already underlined to help
you to get a safe starting point. The first text is a short presentation of a
new book of fairy tales for children. (Unfortunately the book is out of sale
already, but it was published by Aika Oy, home page: www.aikaoy.fi.)
Number 2 and Number 3 among these "stories" consist of two news or
reports, which were issued for the first time 50 years ago, and now in
November 2000, they were repeated again in Helsingin Sanomat. Number 4
was a statistical report concerning tourism in Finland in winter as issued in
February 2001.
V&A

Chapter VIII, 2.
198
The first story:
"A fearful squirrel"
Carlson - Reichstein
TUPSU - satu pelokkaasta oravasta
Tupsu rakastaa suurta metsää, kotimetsäänsä. Eräänä päivänä ilkeä
Kettu kertoo Tupsulle monista vaaroista, jotka vaanivat metsässä.
Tupsu alkaa nähdä pelottavia asioita ympärillään. Se säikähtää
valtavaa nälkäistä karhua. Se kauhistuu nähdessään suuren, oravia
syövän hirviöpuun. Tupsu ei enää uskalla leikkiä ystäviensä kanssa.
Lopulta eräs ystävä auttaa Tupsua huomaamaan, että asiat, joita se
pelkäsi, ovatkin tavallisia metsään kuuluvia asioita.
The second storv:
"Winter storms in Europe"
Talvimyrskyt riehuvat Euroopassa
Lontoo, 21.11. (STT - Reuter)
Ensimmäiset talvimyrskyt ja niitä seuranneet kaatosateet aiheuttivat
tiistaina suuria vahinkoja Länsi-Euroopan maissa. Monet laivat
joutuivat merihätään. Eiffelin tornin huipulla Pariisissa mitattiin
tuulen nopeudeksi 130 km tunnissa. Ranskan ja Sveitsin rajalla on
esiintynyt pahoja tulvia. Sveitsissä Simplonin tunnelissa aiheutti
maanvyörymä - jo toinen viikon kuluessa - monen tunnin
liikenneseisauksen.

199
Chapter VIII, 2.
The third story:
"A mother cow"
Lehmä-äiti, joka rakasti yksinäisyyttä
Oulu, tiistaina
Suomussalmen Selkoskylässä pääsi Anni Korhosen omistama lehmä
karkaamaan navetasta metsään. Aamulla navettaan mentyään emäntä
havaitsi lehmän lähteneen omille teilleen ja hälytti etsijöitä. Lehmä
lövdettiinkin noin kahden kilometrin päästä talosta erään puun alta,
jonne se yöllä oli poikinut terveen vasikan. Lehmä saatettiin
"lapsineen" lähimpään navettaan.
The fourth storv:
"Winter tourism in Finland"
Talvituristien määrä kaksinkertaistui
vajaassa kymmenessä vuodessa
Ulkomaiset lomailijat suosivat lunta ja pakkasta: talven vapaa-ajan
matkat ovat yli kaksinkertaistuneet vajaassa kymmenessä vuodessa.
Talvikaudella 1993-1994 yöpyjiä oli 325 000 ja 1999-2000 noin
660 600. Liikematkustus kasvoi samaan aikaan 31 prosenttia.
Yhteensä liike-ja vapaa-ajan matkojen yöpymisiä kertyi viime talvena
1,425 miljoonaa.
Turistien suosituin talvipuuha on perinteinen maastohiihto.

200
Chapter VIII, 2.
Sen jälkeen tulevat moottorikelkkasafarit, koira- ja porosafarit.
Eteläeurooppalaisia kiinnostavat yhä enemmän pitkät ja raskaat
hiihtovaellukset sekä useampien päivien huskysafarit.
Erityisesti britit ja venäläiset ovat löytäneet Suomen. Venäläisten
määrä kasvoi 39 000:11a, brittien 6 200:11a ja ruotsalaisten 22 300:11a
matkailijalla. Myös saksalaisten matkustus kääntyi nousuun, heidän
määränsä kasvoi 7 000:11a. Sen sijaan virolaisten määrä väheni.
Japanilaisia Suomeen vetävät revontulet. He uskovat revontulien
tuovan hyvää onnea, erityisesti lapsionnea. Hankyu Express
-matkatoimisto tuo Suomeen tänä talvena 1 700 japanilaista.
Talvituristit tuovat Suomeen yli 700 miljoonaa markkaa. Jos mukaan
lasketaan sukulaisten ja tuttavien vierailut, summa nousee lähes
miljardiin.
Suomen talvituotteita markkinoidaan parhaillaan Saariselällä
Matkailun edistämiskeskuksen, Finnairin ja alueellisten
organisaatioiden ja yrittäjien markkinointitapahtumassa Snowballissa.
Mukana on 370 matkailun ammattilaista. Ostajia tulee 27 maasta.
Tapahtuma jäljestetään joka toinen vuosi.
Snowball-myyntitapahtuma
Saariselällä 12. - 14. helmikuuta 2001.
Source: Helsingin Sanomat 14.2.2001

201
CLOSING WORDS
Dear Readers,
It is my hope that by now you have learned to master the Finnish grammar
system and to use your dictionary. You have reached the goal of this book,
even if you have only understood the "stories", but cannot produce a
translation of everything yet. I believe that after having settled these stories that
way, you can go ahead with any Finnish text and try to understand it. Now
you know in what kind of forms you can expect to encounter words in
Finnish sentences. Finally, I wish that you will also get your opportunity to
learn to speak Finnish.
End of the Lessons and Exercises. Thank you.
Helsinki, June 2002 (and January 2013)
Vuokko Heikura
Books

202
ENCLOSURE = TABLES, 1 -5 Page
INDEX 202
Table 1
Model nouns inflected in 12 cases, singular and plural 216
Table 2
Model verbs conjugated in active finite forms, positively 222
Table 3
Model verbs conjugated in active finite forms, negatively 226
Table 4
Model verbs conjugated in passive finite forms, positively 228
and negatively 229
Model verbs conjugated in forms of the potential mood 230
Table 5
Repetition of the Finnish cases (with help of four triangles) 231
Note / Huomautus:
Pictures nos. 1 -6 were added before the Chapters I-III and V-VII without page
numbers. For that reason, 12 pages are missing in the total numbering of pages and
considered here before the Tables. See page 18.
Kuvat 1- 6 on lisätty sivujen väleihin numeroimattomilla lehdillä. Jotta viimeinen
sivu näyttäisi kokonaissivumäärän 233 oikein, sivujen numerointi hyppää tässä
taulukko-osan edellä 12 sivun yli. Kuvien luettelo s. 18.

KUVA 1
Ristijärventie Sotkamosta Ristijärvelle.
Ristijärventie from Sotkamo to Ristijärvi.

KUVA 2
Kissa on kotieläin ja lemmikki.
Cat is a domestic animal and pet.

KUVA 3
Heinäpelloilla voi heinäkuussa nähdä vielä tällaistakin
työskentelyä käsivoimin ilman heinänkorjuukoneitten apua.
Kumoon niitetyt heinät nostetaan seipäille kuivumaan.
On a hay field in July, you can still see people working this way
without any help of harvesters. The burdens of mown hay are
lifted up by hand to dry on poles.

KUVA 4
Pesäpallo on suosittu urheilulaji kesällä Suomessa. Joillakin
paikkakunnilla se on näkyvämpi harrastus kuin jalkapallo.
Finnish baseball is a popular sport in summer in Finland. In some
localities it is an interest that seems to occupy people more than football.

KUVA 5
Oma kesämökki järven rannalla on suomalaisten unelma.
Mökkejä myös vuokrataan lomalaisille.
Summer cottage of your own, situated on a lake, is the Finnish dream.
Cottages are also hired out to holidaymakers.
1>6-4

KUVA 6
Paluu kotiin tai mökille hiihtolenkin jälkeen.
Tämä kuva on otettu keväällä pääsiäisen tienoilla.
Coming back home or to the cottage after having made a skiing trip.
This picture was taken in the springtime at about Easter.

NOUNS / Table 1, Page 1 /6
Cases: 1. Nominative 2. Genitive-n; 3. Partitive 4. Essive 5. Abessive 6. Translative
Endings: sg. pi. -t -Ien/-iden/-(it)ten/-in -A/-tA; -IAZ-itA -nA; -inA -ttA; -ittA -ksi; -iksi
Cases: 7. Inessive 8. Elative 9. Illative 10. Adessive 11. Ablative 12. Allative
Endings: -ssA: -issA -stA: -istA -VrhWn/-seen: -i(¥)in/-siin -11A; -illA -ItA: -iltA -lie: -ille
1. TEKO 'act, deed, work' (noun, Type 01, like TALO but with gradation)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: teko teon tekoa tekona teotta teoksi
Pl: teot tekojen tekoja tekoina teoitta teoiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: teossa teosta tekoon teolla teolta teolle
Pl: teoissa teoista tekoihin teoilla teoilta teoille
2. SANA 'word' (noun, Type 10)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: sana sanan sanaa sanana sanatta sanaksi
Pl: sanat sanojen sanoja sanoina sanoitta sanoiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: sanassa sanasta sanaan sanalla sanalta sanalle
Pl: sanoissa sanoista sanoihin sanoilla sanoilta sanoille
3. TEOS 'work, book' (noun, Type 64)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: teos teoksen teosta teoksena teoksetta teokseksi
Pl: teokset teoksien / teosten teoksia teoksina teoksitta teoksiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: teoksessa teoksesta teokseen teoksella teoksesta teokselle
Pl: teoksissa teoksista teoksiin teoksilla teoksilta teoksille
216

NOUNS / Table 1, Page 2 / 6
4. MAA ’land, earth, country* (noun, Type 28)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: maa maan maata maana maatta maaksi
Pl: maat maiden / maitten maita maina maitta maiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: maassa maasta maahan maalla maalta maalle
Pl: maissa maista maihin mailla mailta maille
5. PIENI 'little, small' (adjective, Type 38)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: pieni pienen pientä pienenä pienettä pieneksi
Pl: pienet pienien / pienten pieniä pieninä pienittä pieniksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: pienessä pienestä pieneen pienellä pieneltä pienelle
Pl: pienissä pienistä pieniin pienillä pieniltä pienille
6. LAPSI ’child’ (noun, Type 45)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: lapsi lapsen lasta lapsena lapsetta lapseksi
Pl: lapset lapsien / lasten lapsia lapsina lapsitta lapsiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: lapsessa lapsesta lapseen lapsella lapselta lapselle
Pl: lapsissa lapsista lapsiin lapsilla lapsilta lapsille
7. PANKKI ’bank’ (noun, Type 04)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: pankki pankin pankkia pankkina pankitta pankiksi
Pl: pankit pankkien pankkeja pankkeina pankeitta pankeiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: pankissa pankista pankkiin pankilla pankilta pankille
Pl: pankeissa pankeista pankkeihin pankeilla pankeilta pankeille
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NOUNS / Table 1, Page 3/6
8. PAPERI 'paper' (noun, Type 05)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: paperi paperin paperia paperina paperitta paperiksi
Pl: paperit paperien / papereiden papereita papereina papereitta papereiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: paperissa paperista paperiin paperilla paperilta paperille
Pl: papereissa papereista papereihin papereilla papereilta papereille
9. KORKEA 'high'(adjective, Type 21)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: korkea korkean korkeaa / korkeata korkeana korkeatta korkeaksi
Pl: korkeat korkeiden / korkeitten korkeita korkeina korkeitta korkeiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: korkeassa korkeasta korkeaan korkealla korkealta korkealle
Pl: korkeissa korkeista korkeisiin /korkeihin korkeilla korkeilta korkeille
10. TOINEN 'second, another' (ordinal number and pronoun, Type 63)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: toinen toisen toista toisena toisetta toiseksi
Pl: toiset toisien / toisten toisia toisina toisitta toisiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: toisessa toisesta toiseen toisella toiselta toiselle
Pl: toisissa toisista toisiin toisilla toisilta toisille
11. KOLMAS 'third' (ordinal number, Type 75).
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: kolmas kolmannen kolmatta kolmantena kolmannetta kolmanneksi
Pl: kolmannet kolmansien kolmansia kolmansina kolmansitta kolmansiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: kolmannessa kolmannesta kolmanteen kolmannella kolmannelta kolmannelle
Pl: kolmansissa kolmansista kolmansiin kolmansilla kolmansilta kolmansille
218

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NOUNS / Table 1, Page 4 / 6
12. KONE 'machine, engine' (noun, Type 78)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: kone [kone'] koneen konetta koneena koneetta koneeksi
Pl: koneet koneiden / koneitten koneita koneina koneitta koneiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: koneessa koneesta koneeseen koneella koneelta koneelle
Pl: koneissa koneista koneisiin koneilla koneilta koneille
13. KEVÄT 'spring' (noun, Type 74)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: kevät kevään kevättä keväänä keväättä kevääksi
Pl: keväät keväiden keväitä keväinä keväittä keväiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: keväässä keväästä kevääseen keväällä keväältä keväälle
Pl: keväissä keväistä keväisiin keväillä keväiltä keväille
14. KAUNIS 'beautiful, pretty' (adjective, Type 69)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: kaunis kauniin kaunista kauniina kauniitta kauniiksi
Pl: kauniit kauniiden / kauniitten kauniita kauniina kauniitta kauniiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: kauniissa kauniista kauniiseen kauniilla kauniilta kauniille
Pl: kauniissa kauniista kauniisiin kauniilla kauniilta kauniille
15. LÄMMIN 'warm' (adjective, Type 58)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: lämmin lämpimän lämmintä lämpimänä lämpimänä lämpimäksi
Pl: lämpimät lämpimien lämpimiä lämpiminä lämpimittä lämpimiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: lämpimässä lämpimästä lämpimään lämpimällä lämpimältä lämpimälle
Pl: lämpimissä lämpimistä lämpimiin lämpimillä lämpimiltä lämpimille
219

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NOUNS / Table 1, Page 5/6
16. SISAR 'sister' (noun, Type 54)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: sisar sisaren sisarta sisarena sisaretta sisareksi
Pl: sisaret sisarien / sisarten sisaria sisarina sisaritta sisariksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: sisaressa sisaresta sisareen sisarella sisarelta sisarelle
Pl: sisarissa sisarista sisariin sisarilla sisarilta sisarille
17. MIES 'man, male' (noun, Type72)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: mies miehen miestä miehenä miehettä mieheksi
Pl: miehet miehien / miesten miehiä miehinä miehittä miehiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: miehessä miehestä mieheen miehellä mieheltä miehelle
Pl: miehissä miehistä miehiin miehillä miehiltä miehille
18. VASTAUS 'reply, answer' (noun, Type 64)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: vastaus vastauksen vastausta vastauksena vastauksetta vastaukseksi
Pl: vastaukset vastauksien /vastausten vastauksia vastauksina vastauksitta vastauksiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: vastauksessa vastauksesta vastaukseen vastauksella vastaukselta vastaukselle
Pl: vastauksissa vastauksista vastauksiin vastauksilla vastauksilta vastauksille
19. KORKEUS 'height, altitude, pitch' (noun, Type 65)
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: korkeus korkeuden korkeutta korkeutena korkeudetta korkeudeksi
Pl: korkeudet korkeuksien korkeuksia korkeuksina korkeuksitta korkeuksiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: korkeudessa korkeudesta korkeuteen korkeudella korkeudelta korkeudelle
Pl* korkeuksissa korkeuksista korkeuksiin korkeuksilla korkeuksilta korkeuksille
220

NOUNS / Table 1, Page 6/6
20. NUMERALS: 1 one, 2 two / 3 three, 4 four / 5 five, 6 six/7seven, 8 eight, 9 nine, 10 ten, 100 hundred / 1000 thousand
1. Nominatiivi 2. Genetiivi 3. Partitiivi 4. Essiivi 5. Abessiivi 6. Translatiivi
Sg: 1 yksi, 2 kaksi yhden, kahden yhtä, kahta yhtenä, kahtena yhdettä, kahdetta yhdeksi, kahdeksi
Pl: yhdet, kahdet yksien, kaksien yksiä, kaksia yksinä, kaksina yksittä, kaksitta yksiksi, kaksiksi
Sg: 3 kolme, 4 neljä kolmen, neljän kolmea, neljää kolmena, neljänä kolmetta, neljättä kolmeksi, neljäksi
Pl: kolmet, neljät kolmien, neljien kolmia, neljiä kolmina, neljinä kolmitta, neljittä kolmiksi, neljiksi
Sg: 5 viisi, 6 kuusi viiden, kuuden viittä, kuutta viitenä, kuutena viidettä, kuudetta viideksi, kuudeksi
Pl: viidet, kuudet viisien, kuusien viisiä, kuusia viisinä, kuusina viisittä, kuusitta viisiksi, kuusiksi
Sg: 7 seitsemän seitsemän seitsemää seitsemänä (ilman seitsemää) seitsemäksi
Sg: 8 kahdeksan kahdeksan kahdeksaa kahdeksana (ilman kahdeksaa) kahdeksaksi
Sg. 9 yhdeksän yhdeksän yhdeksää yhdeksänä (ilman yhdeksää) yhdeksäksi
Sg: 10 kymmenen kymmenen kymmentä kymmenenä (ilman kymmentä) kymmeneksi
Sg: 100 sata, 1000 tuhat sadan, tuhannen sataa, tuhatta satana, tuhanten (ilman sataa, tuhatta) sadaksi, tuhanneksi
Pl: sadat, tuhannet satojen, tuhansien satoja, tuhansia satoina, tuhansina sadoitta, tuhansitta sadoiksi, tuhansiksi
7. Inessiivi 8. Elatiivi 9. Illatiivi 10. Adessiivi 11. Ablatiivi 12. Allatiivi
Sg: yhdessä, kahdessa yhdestä, kahdesta yhteen, kahteen yhdellä, kahdella yhdeltä, kahdelta yhdelle, kahdelle
Pl: yksissä, kaksissa yksistä, kaksista, yksiin, kaksiin yksillä, kaksilla yksiltä, kaksilta yksille, kaksille
Sg: kolmessa, neljässä kolmesta, neljästä kolmeen, neljään kolmella, neljällä kolmelta, neljältä kolmelle, neljälle
Pl: kolmissa, neljissä kolmista, neljistä kolmiin, neljiin kolmilla, neljillä kolmilta, neljiltä kolmille, neljille
Sg: viidessä, kuudessa viidestä, kuudesta viiteen, kuuteen viidellä, kuudella viideltä, kuudelta viidelle, kuudelle
Pl: viisissä, kuusissa viisistä, kuusista viisiin, kuusiin viisillä, kuusilla viisiltä, kuusilta viisille, kuusille
Sg: seitsemässä seitsemästä seitsemään seitsemällä seitsemältä seitsemälle
Sg. kahdeksassa kahdeksasta kahdeksaan kahdeksalla kahdeksalta kahdeksalle
Sg- yhdeksässä yhdeksästä yhdeksään yhdeksällä yhdeksältä yhdeksälle
Sg: kymmenessä kymmenestä kymmeneen kymmenellä kymmeneltä kymmenelle
Sg: sadassa, tuhannessa sadasta, tuhannesta sataan, tuhanteen sadalla, tuhannella sadalta, tuhannelta sadalle, tuhannelle
Pl: sadoissa, tuhansissa sadoista, tuhansista satoihin, tuhansiin sadoilla, tuhansilla sadoilta, tuhansilta sadoille, tuhansille
221

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VERBS / Table 2, Page 1 /4
Person: 1st p.sg. (T) 2nd p.sg. ('you') 3rd p.sg. ('he/she/it') Is'p.pl. ('we') 2nd p.pl. ('you') 3rd p.pl. ('they')
Pronoun: MINÄ SINÄ HÄN / SE ME TE HE / NE
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
POSITIVELY
1. OLLA. OLEN. OLI. OLLUT 'to be, exist' — positively OLEN, OLET 'lam, you are', etc.
1) INDIKATIIVI, the indicative mood (for stating facts, Tense 1 also referring to the future)
Tense 1: olen 'I am' olet 'you are' on 'he/she/it is' olemme 'we are' olette 'you are' ovat 'they are'
Tense 2: olin 'I was' olit 'you were' oli 'he/she/it was' olimme 'we were' olitte 'you were olivat 'they were'
Tense 3: olen ollut olet ollut on ollut olemme olleet olette olleet olivat olleet
Tense 4: olin ollut olit ollut oli ollut olimme olleet olitte olleet olivat olleet
2) KONDITIONAALI, the conditional mood "-isi-" 'if (for conditions, wishes, doubts)
Tense 1: olisin olisit olisi olisimme olisitte olisivat
Tense 3: olisin ollut olisit ollut olisi ollut olisimme olleet olisitte olleet olisivat olleet
2. ASUA. ASUN. ASUI. ASUNUT 'to live somewhere, inhabit something.
1) INDIKATIIVI
Tense 1: asun asut asuu asumme asutte asuvat
Tense 2: asuin asuit asui asuimme asuitte asuivat
Tense 3: olen asunut olet asunut on asunut olemme asuneet olette asuneet ovat asuneet
Tense 4: olin asunut olit asunut oli asunut olimme asuneet olitte asuneet olivat asuneet
2) KONDITIONAALI
Tense 1: asuisin asuisit asuisi asuisimme asuisitte asuisivat
Tense 3: olisin asunut olisit asunut olisi asunut olisimme asuneet olisitte asuneet olisivat asuneet
'(if) I had lived' '(if) you had lived' '(if) he had lived' '(if) we had lived' '(if) you had lived' '(if) they had lived'
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VERBS / Table 2, Page 2 / 4
Pronoun: MINÄ SINÄ HÄN / SE ME TE HE/NE
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
POSITIVELY
3. TULLA, TULEN, TULI, TULLUT 'to come, to arrive, to become'
1. tulen tulet tulee tulemme tulette tulevat
2. tulin tulit tuli tulimme tulitte tulivat
3. olen tullut olet tullut on tullut olemme tulleet olette tulleet ovat tulleet
4. olin tullut olit tullut oli tullut olimme tulleet olitte tulleet olivat tulleet
1. tulisin tulisit tulisi tulisimme tulisitte tulisivat
3. olisin tullut olisit tullut olisi tullut olisimme tulleet olisitte tulleet olisivat tulleet
4. SYÖDÄ, SYÖN, SÖI, SYÖNYT 'to eat, to take'
1. syön syöt syö syömme syötte syövät
2. söin söit söi söimme söitte söivät
3. olen syönyt olet syönyt on syönyt olemme syöneet olette syöneet ovat syöneet
4. olin syönyt olit syönyt oli syönyt olimme syöneet olitte syöneet olivat syöneet
1. söisin söisit söisi söisimme söisitte söisivät
3. olisin syönyt olisit syönyt olisi syönyt olisimme syöneet olisitte syöneet olisivat syöneet
5. KÄYDÄ, KÄYN, KÄVI, KÄYNYT 'to go, to walk, to visit’
1. käyn käyt käy käymme käytte käyvät
2. kävin kävit kävi kävimme kävitte kävivät
3. olen käynyt olet käynyt on käynyt olemme käyneet olette käyneet ovat käyneet
4. olin käynyt olit käynyt oli käynyt olimme käyneet olitte käyneet olivat käyneet
1. kävisin kävisit kävisi kävisimme kävisitte kävisivät
3. olisin käynyt olisit käynyt olisi käynyt olisimme käyneet olisitte käyneet olisivat käyneet
223

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VERBS / Table 2, Page 3/4
Pronoun: MINÄ SINÄ HÄN / SE ME TE HE /NE
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
POSITIVELY
6. NÄHDÄ, NÄIN, NÄKI, NÄHNYT 'to see'
1. näen näet näkee näemme näette näkevät
2. näin näit näki näimme näitte näkivät
3. olen nähnyt olet nähnyt on nähnyt olemme nähneet olette nähneet ovat nähneet
4. olin nähnyt olit nähnyt oli nähnyt olimme nähneet olitte nähneet olivat nähneet
1. näkisin näkisit näkisi näkisimme näkisitte näkisivät
7. HALUTA, HALUAN, HALUSI, HALUNNUT 'to want, to wish'
1. haluan haluat haluaa haluamme haluatte haluavat
2. halusin halusit halusi halusimme halusitte halusivat
3. olen halunnut olet halunnut on halunnut olemme halunneet olette halunneet ovat halunneet
4. olin halunnut olit halunnut oli halunnut olimme halunneet olitte halunneet olivat halunneet
1. haluaisin haluaisit haluaisi haluaisimme haluaisitte haluaisivat
8. PELÄTÄ, PELKÄÄN, PELKÄSI, PELÄNNYT 'to be afraid'
1. pelkään pelkäät pelkää pelkäämme pelkäätte pelkäävät
2 pelkäsin pelkäsit pelkäsi pelkäsimme pelkäsitte pelkäsivät
3. olen pelännyt olet pelännyt on pelännyt olemme pelänneet olette pelänneet ovat pelänneet
4. olin pelännyt olit pelännyt oli pelännyt olimme pelänneet olitte pelänneet olivat pelänneet
1. pelkäisin pelkäisit pelkäisi pelkäisimme pelkäisitte pelkäisivät
9. ALKAA, ALAN, ALKOI, ALKANUT 'to begin, to start'
1; alan alat alkaa alamme alatte alkavat
2: aloin aloit alkoi aloimme aloitte alkoivat
3: olen alkanut olet alkanut on alkanut olemme alkaneet olette alkaneet ovat alkaneet
4: olin alkanut olit alkanut oli alkanut olimme alkaneet olitte alkaneet olivat alkaneet
1: alkaisin alkaisit alkaisi alkaisimme alkaisitte alkaisivat
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VERBS / Table 2, Page 4 / 4
Pronoun: MINÄ SINÄ HÄN / SE ME TE HE/NE
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
POSITIVELY
10. MUUTTAA, MUUTAN, MUUTTI, MUUTTANUT ’to move, to change, to alter’
1: muutan muutat muuttaa muutamme muutatte muuttavat
2: muutin muutit muutti muutimme muutitte muuttivat
3: olen muuttanut olet muuttanut on muuttanut olemme muuttaneet olette muuttaneet ovat muuttaneet
4: olin muuttanut olit muuttanut oli muuttanut olimme muuttaneet olitte muuttaneet olivat muuttaneet
1: muuttaisin muuttaisit muuttaisi muuttaisimme muuttaisitte muuttaisivat
11. HARKITA, HARKITSEN, HARKITSI, HARKINNUT ’to consider’
1. harkitsen harkitset harkitsee harkitsemme harkitsette harkitsevat
2. harkitsin harkitsit harkitsi harkitsimme harkitsitte harkitsivat
3. olen harkinnut olet harkinnut on harkinnut olemme harkinneet olette harkinneet ovat harkinneet
4. olin harkinnut olit harkinnut oli harkinnut olimme harkinneet olitte harkinneet olivat harkinneet
1. harkitsisin harkitsisit harkitsisi harkitsisimme harkitsisitte harkitsisivat
12. LÄHTEÄ, LÄHDEN, LÄHTI, LÄHTENYT ’to leave, to go’
1: lähden lähdet lähtee lähdemme lähdette lähtevät
2: lähdin lähdit lähti lähdimme lähditte lähtivät
3. olen lähtenyt olet lähtenyt on lähtenyt olemme lähteneet olette lähteneet ovat lähteneet
4: olin lähtenyt olit lähtenyt oli lähtenyt olimme lähteneet olitte lähteneet olivat lähteneet
1: lähtisin lähtisit lähtisi lähtisimme lähtisitte lähtisivät
13. TOTTUA, TOTUN, TOTTUI, TOTTUNUT ’to accustom oneself to’
1. totun totut tottuu totumme totutte tottuvat
2. totuin totuit tottui totuimme totuitte tottuivat
3. olen tottunut olet tottunut on tottunut olemme tottuneet olette tottuneet ovat tottuneet
4. olin tottunut olit tottunut oli tottunut olimme tottuneet olitte tottuneet olivat tottuneet
1. tottuisin tottuisit tottuisi tottuisimme tottuisitte tottuisivat
225

1
VERBS / Table 3, Page 1 /2
Negation: MINÄ EN 'I not’ SINÄ ET 'you not' HÄN / SE EI ME EMME 'we not' TE ETTE 'you not' HE / NE EIVÄT
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
NEGATIVELY
1. OLLA. OLEN. OLI. OLLUT 'to be, exist' en ole, et ole 'I am not, you are not', etc.
1) INDIKATIIVI, the indicative mood (for stating facts, Tense 1 also referring to the future)
Tense 1: en ole et ole ei ole emme ole ette ole eivät ole
Tense 2: en ollut et ollut ei ollut emme olleet ette olleet eivät olleet
Tense 3: en ole ollut et ole ollut ei ole ollut emme ole olleet ette ole olleet eivät ole olleet
Tense 4: en ollut ollut et ollut ollut ei ollut ollut emme olleet olleet ette olleet olleet eivät olleet olleet
'I had not been' 'you had not been' 'he had not been' 'we had not been' 'you had not been' 'they had not been'
2) KONDITIONAALI, the conditional mood "-isi" 'if (for conditions, wishes, doubts)
Tense 1: en olisi et olisi ei olisi emme olisi ette olisi eivät olisi
Tense 3: en olisi ollut et olisi ollut ei olisi ollut emme olisi olleet ette olisi olleet eivät olisi olleet
2. ASUA. ASUN. ASUI. ASUNUT 'to live somewhere, inhabit something' en asu, et asu 'I don't live, you don't live', etc.
1) INDIKATIIVI, the indicative mood (for stating facts, Tense 1 also referring to the future)
Tense 1: en asu et asu ei asu emme asu ette asu eivät asu
Tense 2: en asunut et asunut ei asunut emme asuneet ette asuneet eivät asuneet
Tense 3: en ole asunut et ole asunut ei ole asunut emme ole asuneet ette ole asuneet eivät ole asuneet
Tense 4: en ollut asunut et ollut asunut ei ollut asunut emme olleet asuneet ette olleet asuneet eivät olleet asuneet
2) KONDITIONAALI, the conditional mood "-isi" 'if (for conditions, wishes, doubts)
Tense 1: en asuisi et asuisi ei asuisi emme asuisi ette asuisi eivät asuisi
Tense 3: en olisi asunut et olisi asunut ei olisi asunut emme olisi asuneet ette olisi asuneet eivät olisi asuneet
226

VERBS / Table 3, Page 2 / 2
Negation: MINÄ EN 'I not' SINÄ ET 'you not' HÄN / SE EI ME EMME 'we not' TE ETTE 'you not' HE / NE EIVÄT
Active Finite Forms of Verbs
TEHDÄ,TEEN, TEKI, TEHNYT ’to make, to do’ en tee, et tee 'I don't, you dont do', etc. NEGATIVELY
Tense 1: entee ettee ei tee emme tee ette tee eivät tee
Tense 2: en tehnyt et tehnyt ei tehnyt emme tehneet ette tehneet eivät tehneet
Tense 3: en ole tehnyt et ole tehnyt ei ole tehnyt emme ole tehneet ette ole tehneet eivät ole tehneet
Tense 4: en ollut tehnyt et ollut tehnyt ei ollut tehnyt emme olleet tehneet ette olleet tehneet eivät olleet tehneet
Tense 1: en tekisi et tekisi ei tekisi emme tekisi ette tekisi eivät tekisi
Tense 3: en olisi tehnyt et olisi tehnyt ei olisi tehnyt emme olisi tehneet ette olisi tehneet eivät olisi tehneet
4. PELÄTÄ, PELKÄÄN, PELKÄSI, PELÄNNYT ’to be afraid’
Tense 1: en pelkää et pelkää ei pelkää emme pelkää ette pelkää eivät pelkää
Tense 2: en pelännyt et pelännyt ei pelännyt emme pelänneet ette pelänneet eivät pelänneet
Tense 3: en ole pelännyt et ole pelännyt ei ole pelännyt emme ole pelänneet ette ole pelänneet eivät ole pelänneet
Tense 4: en ollut pelännyt et ollut pelännyt ei ollut pelännyt emme olleet pelänneet ette olleet pelänneet eivät olleet pelänneet
Tense 1: en pelkäisi et pelkäisi ei pelkäisi emme pelkäisi ette pelkäisi eivät pelkäisi
Tense 3: en olisi pelännyt et olisi pelännyt ei olisi pelännyt emme olisi pelänneet ette olisi pelänneet eivät olisi pelänneet
5. KÄYDÄ, KÄYN, KÄVI, KÄYNYT 'to go, to walk, to visit'
Tense 1. en käy et käy ei käy emme käy ette käy eivät käy
Tense 2. en käynyt et käynyt ei käynyt emme käyneet ette käyneet eivät käyneet
Tense 3. en ole käynyt et ole käynyt ei ole käynyt olemme ole käyneet olette ole käyneet eivät ole käyneet
Tense 1. en kävisi et kävisi ei kävisi emme kävisi ette kävisi eivät kävisi
Tense 3. en olisi käynyt et olisi käynyt ei olisi käynyt emme olisi käyneet ette olisi käyneet eivät olisi käyneet
6. NÄHDÄ, NÄIN, NÄKI, NÄHNYT 'to see'
Tense 1. en näe et näe ei näe emme näe ette näe eivät näe
Tense 2. en nähnyt et nähnyt ei nähnyt emme nähneet ette nähneet eivät nähneet
Tense 1. en näkisi et näkisi ei näkisi emme näkisi ette näkisi eivät näkisi
Tense 3. en olisi nähnyt et olisi nähnyt ei olisi nähnyt emme olisi nähneet ette olisi nähneet eivät olisi nähneet
227

VERBS / Table 4, Page 1/3
OLLA, ASUA, TULLA, SYÖDÄ, KÄYDÄ, TEHDÄ, HALUTA, PELÄTÄ, Passive Finite Forms of Verbs
ALKAA, MUUTTAA, HARKITA, LÄHTEÄ, TOTTUA, MENNÄ, OTTAA, JUOSTA
1) INDIKATIIVI, the indicative mood in passive and its tenses: POS ITIVELY
1. Preesens: -(t/d^AAn
ollaan, asutaan, tullaan, syödään, käydään, tehdään, halutaan, pelätään,
aletaan, muutetaan, harkitaan, lähdetään, totutaan, mennään, otetaan, juostaan
2. Imperfekti: -(t)tiin
oltiin, asuttiin, tultiin, syötiin, käytiin, tehtiin, haluttiin, pelättiin,
alettiin, muutettiin, harkittiin, lähdettiin, totuttiin, mentiin, otettiin, juostiin
3. Perfekti: on + -(f)tU
on oltu, on asuttu, on tultu, on syöty, on käyty, on tehty, on haluttu, on pelätty,
alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
4. Pluskvamperf.: oli + -(fltU
oli oltu, oli asuttu, oli tultu, oli syöty, oli käyty, oli tehty, oli haluttu, oli pelätty
alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
2) KONDITIONAALI, the conditional mood in passive and its tenses: POS ITIVELY
1. Preesens: -(t)tAisiin
oltaisiin, asuttaisiin, tultaisiin, syötäisiin, käytäisiin, tehtäisiin, haluttaisiin, pelättäisiin,
alettaisiin, muutettaisiin, harkittaisiin, lähdettäisiin, totuttaisiin, mentäisiin, otettaisiin, juostaisiin
3. Perfekti: olisi + -(fltU
olisi oltu, olisi asuttu, olisi tultu, olisi syöty, olisi käyty, olisi tehty, olisi haluttu, olisi pelätty,
alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
228

VERBS / Table 4, Page 2 / 3
OLLA, ASUA, TULLA, SYÖDÄ, KÄYDÄ, TEHDÄ, HALUTA, PELÄTÄ, Passive Finite Forms of Verbs
ALKAA, MUUTTAA, HARKITA, LÄHTEÄ, TOTTUA, MENNÄ, OTTAA, JUOSTA
1) INDIKATIIVI, the inciative mood in passive and its tenses: NEGATIVELY
Preesens: ei + -(t/d)A
ei olla, ei asuta, tulla, syödä, ei käydä, tehdä, haluta, pelätä, aleta, muuteta, harkita, lähdetä, totuta, mennä, oteta, juosta
Imperfekti: ei + -(t)tU
ei oltu, ei asuttu, tultu, syöty, käyty, tehty, haluttu, pelätty, alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
Perfekti: ei ole + -(t)tU
ei ole oltu, ei ole asuttu, tultu, syöty, tehty, haluttu, pelätty, alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
Pluskvamperf.: ei ollut + -(t)tU
ei ollut oltu, ei ollut asuttu, tultu, syöty, käyty, tehty, haluttu, pelätty alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty
2) KONDITIONAALI, the conditional mood in passive and its tenses:
Preesens: ei + -(f)tA + -isi
ei oltaisi, ei asuttaisi, ei tultaisi, ei syötäisi,ei käytäisi, ei tehtäisi, ei haluttaisi, ei pelättäisi,
ei alettaisi, ei muutettaisi, ei harkittaisi, ei lähdettäisi, ei totuttaisi, ei mentäisi, ei otettaisi, ei juostaisi
Perfekti: ei olisi + -(tttU
ei olisi oltu, ei olisi asuttu, ei olisi tultu, ei olisi syöty, ei olisi käyty, ei olisi tehty, ei olisi haluttu, ei olisi pelätty,
ei olisi alettu, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, totuttu, menty, otettu, juostu
229

VERBS / Table 4, Page 3/3
POTENTIAALI, the potential mood in active, in passive and its two tenses The Potential Mood of Verbs
The potential mood of a verb is marked by "-ne-" 'may be, perhaps’. Seldon used. Instead of it, some verbs like saattaa +
+ "tehdä jotakin" ('to do something') can be used. Please note the use of a specialverb "lie-" in Tense 3 and the negative forms.
Conjugated forms in active, positively:
1. Preesens: asunen (< asua) asunet asunee asunemme asunette asunevat
3. Perfekti: lienen asunut lienet asunut lienee asunut lienemme asuneet lienette asuneet lienevät asuneet
1. Preesens: alkanen (< alkaa) alkanet alkanee alkanemme alkanette alkanevat
3. Perfekti: lienen alkanut lienet alkanut lienee alkanut lienemme alkaneet lienette alkaneet lienevät alkaneet
1. Preesens: mennen (< mennä) mennet mennee mennemme mennette mennevät
3. Perfekti: lienen mennyt lienet mennyt lienee mennyt lienemme menneet lienette menneet lienevät menneet
1. Preesens: tehnen (< tehdä) tehnet tehnee tehnemme tehnette tehnevät
1. Preesens: tullen (< tulla) tullet tullee tullemme tullette tullevat
1. Preesens: pelännen (< pelätä) pelännet pelännee pelannemme pelannette pelännevät
Conjugated forms in active, negatively:
1. Preesens: en liene (< olla) et liene ei liene emme liene ette liene eivät liene
3. Perfekti: en liene ollut et liene ollut ei liene ollut emme liene olleet ette liene olleet eivät liene olleet'
1. Preesens: en asune (< asua) et asune ei asune emme asune ette asune eivät asune
3. Perfekti: en liene asunut et liene asunut ei liene asunut emme liene asuneet ette liene asuneet eivät liene asuneet
Conjugated forms in passive, positively:
1. Preesens: oltaneen, asuttaneen, tultaneen, syötäneen, käytäneen, tehtäneen, haluttaneen, pelättäneen, alettaneen, otettaneen, mentäneen
3. Perfekti: lienee oltu, lienee asuttu, tultu, syöty, käyty, tehty, haluttu, pelätty, alettu, muutettu, lähdetty, menty, otettu, juostu, menty
Conjugated forms in passive, negatively:
1. Preesens: ei oltane, ei asuttane, tultane, syötäne, käytäne, tehtäne, haluttane, pelättäne, harkittane, lähdettäne, mentäne, otettane, juostane
2. Perfekti: ei liene oltu, ei liene asuttu, tultu, syöty, käyty, tehty, haluttu, pelätty, muutettu, harkittu, lähdetty, menty, otettu, juostu
230

NOUNS / Table 5, Page 1 /3
REPETING THE FINNISH CASES - SUOMEN SIJOJEN KERTAUSTA
a) The first three cases nos. 1, 2. 3 (ensimmäiset kolme sijaa): b) The next three cases nos. 4, 5. 6 (toiset kolme sijaaV
taloa, taloja (TALO ’house' in the partitive case) talotta, taloitta (= ilman taloa, taloja)
toista, toisia (TOINEN 'other’ in the partitive case) toisetta, toisitta (= ilman toista, toisia)
korkeaa, korkeita (KORKEA 'high' in the partitive case) korkeatta, korkeitta (= ilman korkeaa, korkeita)
lasia, laseja (LASI 'glass' in the partitive case) lasitta, laseitta (= ilman lasia, laseja)
vettä, vesiä (VESI 'water' in the partitive case) vedettä, vesittä (= ilman vettä, vesiä)
annosta, annoksia (ANNOS ’portion’ in the partitive case) annoksetta, annoksitta (= ilman annosta, annoksia)
venettä, veneitä (VENE 'boat' in the partititive case) veneettä, veneittä (= ilman venettä, veneitä)
vikaa, vikoja (VIKA 'fault' in the partitive case) viatta, vioitta (= ilman vikaa, vikoja)
A“ Ä™
1. Nominatiivi (pl. -t) 2. Genetiivi (-n) 4. Essiivi (-na, -nä) 6. Translatiivi (-ksi)
TALO talo, talot talon, talojen talona, taloina taloksi, taloiksi
TOINEN toinen, toiset toisen, toisien / toisten toisena, toisina toiseksi, toisiksi
KORKEA korkea, korkeat korkean, korkeiden / korkeitten korkeana, korkeina korkeaksi, korkeiksi
LASI lasi, lasit lasin, lasien lasina, laseina lasiksi, laseiksi
ANNOS annos, annokset annoksen, annoksien / annosten annoksena, annoksina annokseksi, annoksiksi
VESI vesi, vedet veden, vesien / vetten vetenä, vesinä vedeksi, vesiksi
VENE vene, veneet veneen, veneiden / veneitten veneenä, veneinä veneeksi, veneiksi
VIKA vika, viat vian, vikojen vikana, vikoina viaksi, vioiksi
231

1
NOUNS / Table 5, Page 2 / 3
c) The inner local cases nos. 7. 8, 9 (sisäpaikallissijat): d) The outer local cases nos. 10.11.12 (ulkopaikallissijat):
talosta, taloista (TALO in the elative case) talolta, taloilta
toisesta, toisista (TOINEN in the elative case) toiselta, toisilta
korkeasta, korkeista (KORKEA in the elative case) korkealta, korkeilta
lasista, laseista (LASI in the elative case) lasilta, laseilta
vedestä, vesistä (VESI in the elative case) vedeltä, vesiltä
annoksesta, annoksista (ANNOS in the elative case) annokselta, annoksilta
veneestä, veneistä (VENE in the elative case) veneeltä, veneiltä
viasta, vioista (VIKA in the elative case) vialta, vioilta
^^^^^^Elatiivi (-sta, -stä) Ablatiivi (-lta, -Itä)
7. Inessiivi (-ssä, -ssä) 9. Illatiivi (VV+n / -h-n) 10. Adessiivi (-llä, -llä) 12. Allatiivi (-lie)
talossa, taloissa taloon, taloihin talolla, taloilla talolle, taloille
toisessa, toisissa toiseen, toisiin toisella, toisilla toiselle, toisille
korkeassa, korkeissa korkeaan, korkeisiin korkealla, korkeilla korkealle, korkeille
lasissa, laseissa lasiin, laseihin lasilla, laseilla lasille, laseille
annoksessa, annoksissa annokseen, annoksiin annoksella, annoksilla annokselle, annoksille
vedessä, vesissä veteen, vesiin vedellä, vesillä vedelle, vesille
veneessä, veneissä veneeseen, veneisiin veneellä, veneillä veneelle, veneille
viassa, vioissa vikaan, vikoihin vialla, vioilla vialle, vioille
232

Mi
NOUNS / Table 5, Page 3/3
Do you know how to inflect any Finnish noun word in these 12 cases?
Osaatko taivuttaa minkä tahansa sijamuodoissa taipuvan sanan näissä 12 sijassa?
Partitiivi (-a, -ä, -ta, -tä) Abessiivi (-tta, -ttä)
1. Nominatiivi (pl. -t) 2. Genetiivi (-n) 4. Essiivi (-na,-nä) 6. Translatiivi (-ksi)
^^^^^^latiivi (-sta, -stä) AblatHvi ('lta’ 'ltä)
7. Inessiivi (-ssä,-ssä) 9. Illatiivi (VV+n /-h-n) 10. Adessiivi (-llä,-llä) 12. Allatiivi (-lie)
233

It is pity that many foreigners and immigrants in Finland give up
their trials to learn Finnish as soon as they notice that all Finns
speak English to them. In addition, they may have experienced
that Finns were not eager to teach Finnish. On the contrary they
use the opportunity to practice their own skills of speaking English
with a foreigner. We are so selfish! Or could the reason be such
that we would feel that we could not manage it? Do we suppose
that it would be a hard task? We had to learn a lot of grammatical
terms about our native language in school, and most adults don't
remember them. However, some knowledge of the grammatical
principles are needed as a basis if the pupil should learn much
more than just some words and sayings.
The author of this book wanted to do something for our common
good in the situation. She started composing a description of the
Finnish language as if she were writing a letter to her English
speaking friend to encourage her to study Finnish. That is why this
grammar book is written using the first-person pronouns. In 2003
she got her work translated into Finnish and into Russian for the
first time. This book in your hands, is a translation of the latest
Finnish version, 4th edition, Nov. 2012.
This book suits persons who can study alone. However, it is
preferable to do it together with a Finn who is willing to teach Finnish
to him or her and to try to do it with the help of this book. Actually,
the content of this book is not much more than a refreshing
repetition of what we should have learned about our native
language in school. Please note that you need a good bilingual
dictionary.
Lessons on Finnish Grammar in English
6th impr. edition 2013 (hard covered)
ISBN 978-952-67875-1-0