TYPE 1

Stem: Take out one

6 The
Vowel
VERB
TYPES
OF FINNISH

vowel from the end verb

The TYPE 2
Dadä Stem: Take out -da/-dä
verb

TYPE 3 The
Stem: Take out the last Stannalla
consonant + a/ä, add e verb

The TYPE 4
Ataätä Stem: Take out -ta/-tä
verb

TYPE 5
The
Itaitä
Stem: Take out -ita/-itä,
verb
add -itse

The TYPE 6
Etaetä Stem: Take out -ta/-tä,
verb add -ne
 1 WHAT D O I D O W I T H
Ty p e
I C S VERBS?
BAS

Finnish verbs are inflected in personal forms. Let's take a look at type 1 verbs.
You recognize a type 1 verb by looking at its ending. It always has two vowels at the
end of the basic form. Our first example is asua, to live.
VOWELS:

aeiouyäö

All the other letters are consonants!

This is the stem.

And this is the infinitive ending.

Take it off.

ASU+A

These are the six personal

MINÄ ASU+N
pronouns. In Finnish, HÄN is gender
neutral.
Take the stem and add

the personal ending.

You should study these pronouns.

You will need them.

SINÄ ASU+T

HÄN ASU+U

The endings are always

ME ASU+MME
similar. Only the ending for
HÄN changes according
to the verb type. In type 1 verbs,
the last vowel of the stem doubles.

TE ASU+TTE

HE ASU+VAT

See the next page for

more complex cases.
This is as simple as it gets.

 p e 1 WHAT D O I D O W H E N A T YPE
Ty
K P T O N E VE R B H A S

K, P OR T?

If the verb has K, P or T in the end or in the middle of the stem,

something weird happens. Let's take a look with two common verbs.

The stem can be

STRONG
or
WEAK.

PITÄ+Ä AUTTA+A

MINÄ PIDÄ+N AUTA+N

SINÄ PIDÄ+T AUTA+T

HÄN PITÄ+Ä AUTTA+A

ME PIDÄ+MME AUTA+MME

TE PIDÄ+TTE AUTA+TTE

HE PITÄ+VÄT AUTTA+VAT

The stem in the basic form,

STRONG hän and he is always strong.
WEAK

The other ones change.

kk
k
k
-* *Single T and single P might also
tt mimic the previous consonant
t
t in the weak form. Single K might become G.
d* NK --> NG
pp
p MP --> MM
p NT --> NN
v*
LT --> LL

 p e 1
Ty
Nyt taivutat verbejä.

t a a n

u t e
a iv
Now you will inflect verbs.
T

RAKA
STA +
A AJA+
to lo v A
e to d ri
ve

LUKE
+A
to re a MATK
d USTA
to tra +A
vel

I know that a verb belongs to type 1 if_________________________________.

When inflecting a type 1 verb I have to be careful with the letters

______________________ because they __________________________.
 p e 2
Ty WHAT D O I D O W I T H
I C S
BAS
TYPE 2 VERBS?

Nothing special. Just the same what you do with type one verbs.
These ones don't even mess around with KPT.
You recognize a type two word when you look at the ending of the basic form:
it should be DA or DÄ.
Let's check out my favorite verb, syödä, to eat.
We can also take a look at juoda, to drink.

SYÖ+DÄ JUO+DA

MINÄ SYÖ+N MINÄ JUO+N

SINÄ SYÖ+T SINÄ JUO+T

HÄN SYÖ HÄN JUO

ME SYÖ+MME ME JUO+MME

TE SYÖ+TTE TE JUO+TTE

HE SYÖ+VÄT HE JUO+VAT

HÄN only takes the stem.

NOW
YOU The vowels do not double,
WOR ALRE
K WI ADY unlike in type 1 verbs.
TH V KNO
ERB W HO
TYPE W TO
Make S 1 AN
s u r
D 2.
endin e you
gs an know
d the the p
befor basic e
e con s of K rsonal
tinui PT ch
ng fr ange
om h

ere.
Next
up:
Verb
type
Nega 3
tive f
orms
 p e 2
Ty
Nyt taivutat verbejä.

t a a n

u t e
a iv
Now you will inflect verbs.
T

JUO +
DA
to d ri SY Ö +
nk DÄ
to e a t

KÄY +
DÄ
t o v is TUO +
it DA
to b ri
ng

I know that a verb belongs to type 2 if_________________________________.

When inflecting a type 2 verb I have to remember that the third person singular
_______________________________________________________.
 p e 3
Ty WHAT D O I D O W I T H
I C S
BAS
TYPE 3 VERBS?

First of all, type 3 verb is a little harder to recognize than type 1 and 2. The ending
is not always similar. However, there is a way:

If the verb has two consonants and a vowel at the end of the basic form, it is type 3
verb. Usually, the consonants are two L's.

Here are some examples:

KÄVEL+LÄ (to walk), NOUS+TA (to stand up), AJATEL+LA (to think)

KÄVEL+LÄ

MINÄ KÄVELE+N

SINÄ KÄVELE+T

HÄN KÄVELE+E

ME KÄVELE+MME So, nothing too funky happens here.

Only a random E appears from nowhere.

However, this random E make it easy to

TE KÄVELE+TTE
work with HÄN - the E just doubles!

HE KÄVELE+VÄT
 p e 3
Ty
Nyt taivutat verbejä.

t a a n

u t e
a iv
Now you will inflect verbs.
T

KÄVE
L+LÄ
to w a M EN+
lk NÄ
to g o

TUL+
LA
to c o m NO US
e +T A
to g e t
up

I know that a verb belongs to type 3 if_________________________________.

When inflecting a type 3 I have to remember

____________________________________________________________.