Saturday, November 3, 2012

Verb type 3

Let's continue with the verb types. These ones are also called the e-verbs, because there's always an e in the present tense, even if you don't see it in the basic form.

to walk: kävellä, kävelen, kävelin, kävellyt
  • Kävele minun kanssani. - Walk with me.
to go: mennä, menen, menin, mennyt
  • Joko se meni? - Did he/she/it go already?
to put: panna, panen, panin, pannut 
  • Mihin sinä panit sen? - Where did you put it?
to wash: pestä, pesen, pesin, pessyt 
  • Ethän sä pessyt mun uutta villapaitaa? - You didn't wash my new sweater, did you? (Please, never ever say pestän again! :))

The rule? To make the present tense, drop the last two letters of the basic form and add an e before the personal ending, like this: tulla > tul + e + n = tulen, I come. Forming the past tense is just changing the e into i: tulen > tulin. As you can see, the verb type 3 verbs can have a couple of different endings in  the basic form. However, there's always two consonants and an a or an ä in the end.

To run has as exceptional conjugation: juosta, juoksen, juoksin, juossut
  • Juoksitko sinä koko matkan? - Did you run the whole way?

Verb types 3, 4 and 6 have a consonant change, but that is different from the one with the type 1 verbs. The basic form has a weak grade, but all the persons have a strong grade. Here's the conjugation of ajatella, to think:

minä ajattelen                me ajattelemme (me ajatellaan)
sinä ajattelet                   te ajattelette
hän ajattelee (se)            he ajattelevat (ne ajattelee)

to listen: kuunnella, kuuntelen, kuuntelin, kuunnellut
  • Kuinka te voitte kuunnella tätä p*skaa? - How can you listen to this crap?
to think: ajatella, ajattelen, ajattelin, ajatellut
  • Olin ajatellut hakea poliisikouluun. - I was thinking about applying to the Police Academy. 
to talk, to chat: jutella, juttelen, juttelin, jutellut
  • Jutellaanko tästä myöhemmin? - Shall we talk about this later?
to rinse: huuhdella, huuhtelen, huuhtelin, huuhdellut
  • Huuhtelenko nämä astiat ennen kuin ne laitetaan koneeseen? - Shall I rinse these dishes before putting them into the dishwasher?


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hei!

I have a question regarding the consonant gradation in type 3 verbs. Why is it "ajattelen" but not "opiskkelen". Both the t and the k are in the same position, and I don't understand why one undergoes consonant gradation while the other doesn't. Is there a rule for this? Or is it just because?

Thanks for making this really useful blog!

Random Finnish Lesson / Hanna Männikkölahti said...

Whenever s is together with k, p, or t, the consonant change won't happen. Think of it like s protecting the other consonants.:) Nice to hear that this blog has been useful!

Unknown said...

why kävelen and not käpelen?

Anonymous said...

As far as I know, consonant gradation affects the letters which are in the last syllable, or the ones which are close to the end of the word. The "V" is in the first syllable here, and that's why it does not undergo consonant gradation.