Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Finnish verbs: Verb type 4

Type 4 verbs have always two vowels before the personal ending in the present tense and si in the past. You can also create them yourself, which is nice.  Most of these verbs end with ata, but also other endings with a vowel + ta or tä are possible. Drop the t and add the personal ending to make the present conjugation.

Haluta - to want
  • Minä haluan - I want
  • Sinä haluat - You want
  • Hän / Se haluaa - S/he wants
  • Me haluamme / halutaan - We want
  • Te haluatte - You want
  • He haluavat / Ne haluaa - They want

Lisää verbejä, more verbs: 

  • pelata, to play: Oletko pelannut mölkkyä? - Have you played mölkky?
  • halata, to hug: Halataan!  - Let's hug!
  • haluta, to want: Mitä te haluatte syödä tänään? - What do you want to eat today?
  • siivota, to clean: Miksei kukaan ole siivonnut täällä? - Why hasn't anybody cleaned up here?
  • herätä, to wake up: Mihin aikaan sinä heräsit tänään? - At what time did you wake up today?

Notice that the verbs ending with -ita are usually verb type 5 and the verbs ending -eta are verb type 6. However, these ones are verb type 4: 

  • hävitä - to lose
  • selvitä - to become clear
  • ruveta - to begin, to start
  • kiivetä - to climb

Consonant change


If there is a consonant change,  the basic form has a weak grade and all the persons have a strong grade. I have a separate post about the topic, so you can check this one out: 

Loan words


If you have no idea what a certain verb is in Finnish, you can take a foreign verb, add ata and maybe you have the correct word, or at least something that most Finns would understand. This is also very common way to make new verbs in colloquial Finnish.

  • pakata, to pack: Miksi sinä et ole vielä pakannut? - Why haven't you packed yet?
  • printata, to print: Voinko printata äkkiä yhden jutun? - Can I quickly print something?
  • bailata, to party (wildly):  Me bailattiin koko yö! - We partied the whole night! (Yes, from the Spanish bailar.) 


Lue lisää: 




About the author of Random Finnish Lesson: 


My name is Hanna Männikkölahti. I am a professional Finnish teacher who gives private online lessons and simplifies books into easy Finnish. Please read more in www.linktr.ee/hannamannikkolahti and follow this blog, if you want to be the first one to know when I post something new.  

No comments:

Post a Comment