Appendix:Finnish verbs

See also: Appendix:Finnish conjugation

Notes

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

Personal verb forms

Indicative

Singular

	first		second		third
present	ajan	I drive	ajat	you (sg.) drive	ajaa	he/she/it drives
past	ajoin	I drove	ajoit	you (sg.) drove	ajoi	he/she/it drove
perfect	olen ajanut	I have driven	olet ajanut	you (sg.) have driven	on ajanut	he/she/it has driven
pluperfect	olin ajanut	I had driven	olit ajanut	you (sg.) had driven	oli ajanut	he/she/it had driven

	first		second		third
present	en aja	I do not drive	et aja	you (sg.) do not drive	ei aja	he/she/it does not drive
past	en ajanut	I did not drive	et ajanut	you (sg.) did not drive	ei ajanut	he/she/it did not drive
perfect	en ole ajanut	I have not driven	et ole ajanut	you (sg.) have not driven	ei ole ajanut	he/she/it has not driven
pluperfect	en ollut ajanut	I had not driven	et ollut ajanut	you (sg.) had not driven	ei ollut ajanut	he/she/it had not driven

Plural

	first		second		third
present	ajamme	we drive	ajatte	you (pl.) drive	ajavat	they drive
past	ajoimme	we drove	ajoitte	you (pl.) drove	ajoivat	they drove
perfect	olemme ajaneet	we have driven	olette ajaneet	you (pl.) have driven	ovat ajaneet	they have driven
pluperfect	olimme ajaneet	we had driven	olitte ajaneet	you (pl.) had driven	olivat ajaneet	they had driven

	first		second		third
present	emme aja	we do not drive	ette aja	you (pl.) do not drive	eivät aja	they drive
past	emme ajaneet	we did not drive	ette ajaneet	you (pl.) did not drive	eivät ajaneet	they drove
perfect	emme ole ajaneet	we have not driven	ette ole ajaneet	you (pl.) have not driven	eivät ole ajaneet	they have not driven
pluperfect	emme olleet ajaneet	we had not driven	ette olleet ajaneet	you (pl.) had not driven	eivät olleet ajaneet	they had not driven

Impersonal

In colloquial language, the impersonal (or "passive") form has almost completely replaced the first-person plural form: me ajamme → me ajetaan.

	impersonal
present	ajetaan	is (being) driven
past	ajettiin	was (being) driven
perfect	on ajettu	has been driven
pluperfect	oli ajettu	had been driven

	impersonal
present	ei ajeta	is not (being) driven
past	ei ajettu	was not (being) driven
perfect	ei ole ajettu1	has not been driven
pluperfect	ei ollut ajettu2	had not been driven

¹ The non-standard "double passive" ei olla ajettu (passive voice ei olla + passive past part. ajettu) is common in colloquial speech.
² The non-standard "double passive" ei oltu ajettu (passive voice ei oltu + passive past part. ajettu) is common in colloquial speech.

Conditional

Corresponds to English would (and could): ajaisin jos voisin: I would drive if I could.

Singular

	first		second		third
present	ajaisin	I would drive	ajaisit1	you would drive	ajaisi	he/she/it would drive
perfect	olisin ajanut	I would have driven	olisit ajanut	you would have driven	olisi ajanut	he/she/it would have driven

¹ Combined with the enclitic suffix -ko/-kö used in polite requests: Ajaisitko kovempaa?/Voisitko ajaa kovempaa? : Could you drive faster, please? or Haluaisin kupin kahvia. : I would like a cup of coffee.

	first		second		third
present	en ajaisi	I would not drive	et ajaisi	you would not drive	ei ajaisi	he/she/it would not drive
perfect	en olisi ajanut	I would not have driven	et olisi ajanut	you would not have driven	ei olisi ajanut	he/she/it would not have driven

Plural

	first		second		third
present	ajaisimme	we would drive	ajaisitte	you would drive	ajaisivat	they would drive
perfect	olisimme ajaneet	we would have driven	olisitte ajaneet	you would have driven	olisivat ajaneet	they would have driven

	first		second		third
present	emme ajaisi	we would not drive	ette ajaisi	you would not drive	eivät ajaisi	they would not drive
perfect	emme olisi ajaneet	we would not have driven	ette olisi ajaneet	you would not have driven	eivät olisi ajaneet	they would not have driven

Impersonal

	impersonal
present	ajettaisiin	would be driven
perfect	olisi ajettu	would have been driven

	impersonal
present	ei ajettaisi	would not be driven
perfect	ei olisi ajettu	would not have been driven

Imperative

Used to express commands. In addition, the third-person imperative is colloquially used to express disregard for what one might do.

Note that imperative connegative forms ending in -ko, -kö should not be confused with the (interrogative) clitic -ko.

Singular

First-person singular forms do not exist.

	second		third
present	aja	drive!	ajakoon
perfect	ole ajanut	have driven!	olkoon ajanut

	second		third
present	älä aja	do not drive!	älköön ajako
perfect	älä ole ajanut		älköön olko ajanut

Plural

	first		second		third
present	ajakaamme		ajakaa		ajakoot
perfect	olkaamme ajaneet		olkaa ajaneet		olkoot ajaneet

	first		second		third
present	älkäämme ajako		älkää ajako		älkööt ajako
perfect	älkäämme olko ajaneet		älkää olko ajaneet		älkööt olko ajaneet

Impersonal

	impersonal
present	ajettakoon
perfect	olkoon ajettu

	impersonal
present	älköön ajettako
perfect	älköön olko ajettu

Potential

Corresponds to English may, probably, it is possible that etc. Rare in colloquial language, where adverbs like kai, luultavasti, ehkä etc. are used instead: lienee ajanut: on kai ajanut.

Singular

	first		second		third
present	ajanen	I probably drive	ajanet	you probably drive	ajanee	he/she/it probably drives
perfect	lienen ajanut	I probably have driven	lienet ajanut	you probably have driven	lienee ajanut	he/she/it probably has driven

	first		second		third
present	en ajane		et ajane		ei ajane
perfect	en liene ajanut		et liene ajanut		ei liene ajanut

Plural

	first		second		third
present	ajanemme		ajanette		ajanevat
perfect	lienemme ajaneet		lienette ajaneet		lienevät ajaneet

	first		second		third
present	emme ajane		ette ajane		eivät ajane
perfect	emme liene ajaneet		ette liene ajaneet		eivät liene ajaneet

Impersonal

	impersonal
present	ajettaneen
perfect	lienee ajettu

	impersonal
present	ei ajettane
perfect	ei liene ajettu

Optative

Similar to imperative. Poetic and archaic. Only a few personal forms are used; third-person forms coincide with those of the imperative mood.

Singular

	second		third
present	ajaos		ajakoon
perfect	ollos ajanut		olkoon ajanut

	second		third
present	ällös aja		älköön ajako
perfect	ällös ollo ajanut		älköön olko ajanut

Plural

	third
present	ajakoot
perfect	olkoot ajanut

	third
present	älkööt ajako
perfect	älkööt olko ajanut

Eventive

Combination of conditional and potential: ajan (I drive) → ajaneisin (I probably would drive). Rare and poetic; used in the Finnish national epic Kalevala.

Nominal verb forms

Infinitives

infinitive	voice	case	form	(approximate) translation	notes
I	–		ajaa	to drive
I (long)1	–		ajaakseni	For the purpose of me driving, in order for me to drive
	–		ajaaksesi	for the purpose of you driving, in order for you to drive (singular)
	–		ajaakseen	for the purpose of him/her driving, in order for him/her to drive
	–		ajaaksensa
	–		ajaaksemme	for the purpose of us driving, in order for us to drive
	–		ajaaksenne	for the purpose of you driving, in order for you to drive (plural)
	–		ajaakseen	for the purpose of them driving, in order for them to drive
	–		ajaaksensa
II	active	inessive	ajaessa	when/while driving, as one is driving/as one drives	subject in the genitive case, (possible) object in the partitive case
		instructive	ajaen	while/by driving	used as part of a larger verb phrase, so the subject is not directly mentioned. (possible) object in the partitive case
	passive	inessive	ajettaessa	when one drives X; when sb/sth is being driven	(possible) object in the partitive case
III	active	inessive	ajamassa	olin ajamassa: I was driving	most often used with olla
		elative	ajamasta	lakkasin ajamasta: I stopped driving	most often used with tulla ("to come from doing X") or with verbs of stopping or ceasing
		illative	ajamaan	lähdin ajamaan: I began driving, I went to drive	most often used with mennä (“to go”), lähteä (“to begin, go”) or with verbs of starting or beginning
		adessive	ajamalla	by driving	object in accusative or partitive
		abessive	ajamatta	without driving; olin ajamatta viikon: I did not drive for a week, tein sen ajamatta: I did it without driving
		instructive	ajaman	sinun on ajaman: you must drive	dated
	passive	instructive	ajettaman	tätä autoa on ajettaman: one has to drive this car	dated
IV	–	nominative	ajaminen2	sinun on ajaminen: you must drive	dated
	–	partitive	ajamista3	sinne ei ole ajamista: one must not drive there	dated
V1	–		ajamaisillani	olin ajamaisillani: I was about to drive	literary
	–		ajamaisillasi	...you were about to drive (singular)	literary
	–		ajamaisillaan	...he/she was about to drive	literary
	–		ajamaisillansa
	–		ajamaisillamme	...we were about to drive	literary
	–		ajamaisillanne	...you were about to drive (plural)	literary
	–		ajamaisillaan	...they were about to drive	literary
	–		ajamaisillansa

¹ Always contains a personal/possessive suffix.

² Do not confuse with verbal nouns constructed with the suffix -minen: ajaminen (“driving”, a gerund), with which the nominative and partitive (singular) forms align.

³ Also used with a possessive suffix and with the same verb in a finite form to mean that something is being done continuously/for a long time:

Hän ajoi ajamistaan. ― He drove and drove.

Participles

See also: Appendix:Finnish participles

All participles can be inflected and used like adjectives. Many participles are in fact used as independent adjectives: syötävä: edible, kuollut: dead etc.

Active present participle

Corresponds to English -ing before a noun: kovaa ajava auto: fast driving car. The construct on + active present participle corresponds to English "shall" in poetic sense: hän on huomenna ajava autoa : he shall drive the car tomorrow.

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajava		ajavat
genitive	ajavan		ajavien
			ajavain
partitive	ajavaa		ajavia
accusative	ajava		ajavat
	ajavan
inessive	ajavassa		ajavissa
elative	ajavasta		ajavista
illative	ajavaan		ajaviin
adessive	ajavalla		ajavilla
ablative	ajavalta		ajavilta
allative	ajavalle		ajaville
essive	ajavana		ajavina
translative	ajavaksi		ajaviksi
instructive	–		ajavin
abessive	ajavatta		ajavitta
comitative	–		ajavine

Passive present participle

Corresponds to English -able/-ible before noun: ajettava auto: drivable car. Also used in on + passive present participle to denote obligation: minun on ajettava autoa: I must drive the car.

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajettava		ajettavat
genitive	ajettavan		ajettavien
			ajettavain
partitive	ajettavaa		ajettavia
accusative	ajettava		ajettavat
	ajettavan
inessive	ajettavassa		ajettavissa
elative	ajettavasta		ajettavista
illative	ajettavaan		ajettaviin
adessive	ajettavalla		ajettavilla
ablative	ajettavalta		ajettavilta
allative	ajettavalle		ajettaville
essive	ajettavana		ajettavina
translative	ajettavaksi		ajettaviksi
instructive	–		ajettavin
abessive	ajettavatta		ajettavitta
comitative	–		ajettavine

Active past participle

Used to build active compound tenses, corresponds to English past participle: olen ajanut: I have driven; ohitsemme ajanut auto kääntyi vasemmalle: the car that passed us turned left.

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajanut		ajaneet
genitive	ajaneen		ajaneiden
			ajaneitten
partitive	ajanutta		ajaneita
accusative	ajanut		ajaneet
	ajaneen
inessive	ajaneessa		ajaneissa
elative	ajaneesta		ajaneista
illative	ajaneeseen		ajaneisiin
			ajaneihin
adessive	ajaneella		ajaneilla
ablative	ajaneelta		ajaneilta
allative	ajaneelle		ajaneille
essive	ajaneena		ajaneina
translative	ajaneeksi		ajaneiksi
instructive	–		ajanein
abessive	ajaneetta		ajaneitta
comitative	–		ajaneine

Passive past participle

Used to build passive compound tenses. When used as an adjective, corresponds to adjective-like English past participles. tätä autoa on ajettu: this car has been driven

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajettu		ajetut
genitive	ajetun		ajettujen
partitive	ajettua		ajettuja
accusative	ajettu		ajetut
	ajetun
inessive	ajetussa		ajetuissa
elative	ajetusta		ajetuista
illative	ajettun		ajettuihin
adessive	ajetulla		ajetuilla
ablative	ajetulta		ajetuilta
allative	ajetulle		ajetuille
essive	ajettuna		ajettuina
translative	ajetuksi		ajetuiksi
instructive	–		ajetuin
abessive	ajetutta		ajetuitta
comitative	–		ajettuine

Agent participle

Used to denote the object of action; usually with a possessive suffix: minun ajamani auto: the car I drove/have driven. Not used with all verbs.

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajama		ajamat
genitive	ajaman		ajamien
			ajamain
partitive	ajamaa		ajamia
accusative	ajama		ajamat
	ajaman
inessive	ajamassa		ajamissa
elative	ajamasta		ajamista
illative	ajamaan		ajamiin
adessive	ajamalla		ajamilla
ablative	ajamalta		ajamilta
allative	ajamalle		ajamille
essive	ajamana		ajamina
translative	ajamaksi		ajamiksi
instructive	–		ajamin
abessive	ajamatta		ajamitta
comitative	–		ajamine

Negative participle

Negation of the other participles, corresponds to English un-/not + past participle.

case	singular		plural
nominative	ajamaton		ajamattomat
genitive	ajamattoman		ajamattomien
			ajamatonten
partitive	ajamatonta		ajamattomia
accusative	ajamaton		ajamattomat
	ajamattoman
inessive	ajamattomassa		ajamattomissa
elative	ajamattomasta		ajamattomista
illative	ajamattomaan		ajamattomiin
adessive	ajamattomalla		ajamattomilla
ablative	ajamattomalta		ajamattomilta
allative	ajamattomalle		ajamattomille
essive	ajamattomana		ajamattomina
translative	ajamattomaksi		ajamattomiksi
instructive	–		ajamattomin
abessive	ajamattomatta		ajamattomitta
comitative	–		ajamattomine

Negative verbs

The verb ei is used to express negation. It inflects in person, number and mood (indicative or imperative); all forms are listed here. The indicative forms begin with e and express denial (you are not), while the imperative forms begin with ä and express prohibition (don't be!). ei does not have infinitive forms. It is also used to change the meaning of some pronouns, such as kukaan and mikään and adverbs, such as koskaan, ikinä, välttämättä.