Sunday, March 23, 2014

Past participle passive in Finnish

Past participle passive, or the TU-participle, is often used as an adjective. Something has been done, but it is not known or important who did it.

  • Ottaisin grillattua kanaa. - I'd take some grilled chicken.
  • Haluatteko keitettyjä kananmunia? -  Do you want to have boiled eggs?
  • Onko tuo tänään paistettua leipää? - Is that bread that was baked today?
  • Ihanaa - vastapuristettua mehua! - How lovely - freshly squeezed juice!

The form can be found in complex headlines such as Turussa heinäkuussa 8-vuotiaalta lapselta kesken ulkoilutuksen varastettu kissa on löytynyt. - A cat stolen from an 8-year-old child in the middle of a walk in Turku in July has been found. (I'm so happy for the cat and for the child!)


  • Tätä ei keitetty. - This wasn't boiled. 
  • Tämä on keitetty. - This has been boiled.
  • Tätä ei ole keitetty. - This has not been boiled. 
  • Tämä oli keitetty. - This had been boiled.
  • Tätä ei ollut keitetty. - This had not been boiled. 

Here's how to form the TU-participle in verb types 1 and 4:


  • kysyä > kysytty - asked (Did you know that FAQ in Finnish is UKK as in usein kysytyt kysymykset?)
  • paistaa > paistettu - baked, fried (a becomes e if the verb ends with a long a)
  • kääntää > käännetty - translated, turned (Same happens with ä. Remember the consonant change in verb type 1.)
  • grillata > grillattu - grilled
  • kuivata > kuivattu - dried


Verb types 2 and 3:


  • viipaloida > viipaloitu - sliced
  • marinoida > marinoitu - marinated
  • voidella > voideltu - buttered
  • koristella > koristeltu - decorated

Common signs and exclamations


This form is also quite common in different signs and enthusiastic exclamations. Whether it is an adjective or a part of the passive construction is not important as long as you can understand it.

  • Tupakointi kielletty - Smoking prohibited
  • Suljettu - Closed
  • Konsertti peruttu - The concert (is) cancelled
  • Hyvin tehty! - Well done!
  • Hienosti laulettu! - Well sung!
  • Hienosti puettu / syöty / pissattu / kakattu! - Well dressed / eaten / peed / pooped! (Sorry, I just had to add these since I actually say them a lot in my everyday life.:))

A temporal structure replacing a sentence with kun.


And here comes the crazy part: past participle passive is also used in a temporal structure that can replace a sentence with kunYou won't hear this structure in spoken language, but it is used in official language and literature.

  • Herättyään hän kävi suihkussa. = Kun hän oli herännyt, hän kävi suihkussa. - After he had woken up, he took a shower.
  • Monet säilyttävät oman sukunimensä mentyään naimisiin. = Monet säilyttävät oman sukunimensä, kun ovat menneet naimisiin.  - Many people keep their own last name after marrying.

So, you will need the past participle passive in partitive, and a possessive suffix, when the subject is the same in both sentences.  If there are two subjects, the one before the past participle passive has to be in genitive.

  • Soitin äidille elokuvan loputtua. = Soitin äidille, kun elokuva oli loppunut. - I called mom when the movie had ended.
  • Vieraiden lähdettyä kävin suihkussa. = Kävin suihkussa, kun vieraat olivat lähteneet. - I took a shower when the guests had left. 

You cannot use this structure for the minulla on sentence type or the elative + tulla sentence, but really, who would want to? I'd like to say that Finnish won't get any worse than this, but I'm not quite sure yet.


Check out the post participles in a nutshell to refresh your memory about the other participles.





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.  

1 comment:

Nick O. said...

Hienosti kirjoitetty! :)