Language/Finnish/Grammar/Finnish-Verbs:-Past-Tense
As a Finnish language teacher for over 20 years, I know that understanding Finnish verb tenses can be a bit challenging for beginners. In this lesson, we will focus on the past tense and the concept of vowel harmony.
Finnish Verbs: Past Tense
Finnish has two past tenses: a simple past tense and a perfect past tense. Let's start with the simple past.
To form the simple past, we add the suffix “-i” to the verb stem. The suffix is added directly to the stem, with no additional vowel (except for verbs ending in “e” or “ä”). For example:
| Finnish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| puhua | ['puhua] | to speak |
| puhuin | ['puhui̯n] | I spoke |
| nukkua | ['nukkua] | to sleep |
| nukuin | ['nukui̯n] | I slept |
As you can see in the table above, the “-i” suffix replaces the last vowel of the verb stem. However, when the verb stem ends in “e” or “ä”, the “-i” suffix must be separated from the stem with an “-h” to indicate the missing vowel sound. For example:
| Finnish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| jäädä | ['jæ:ðæ] | to stay |
| jäin | ['jæi̯n] | I stayed |
| kirjoittaa | ['kirjoi̯ttɑ: ] | to write |
| kirjoitin | ['kirjoi̯ti̯n] | I wrote |
Now let's move on to the perfect past tense. In Finnish, the perfect tense is formed with the auxiliary verb “olla” (to be) in the simple past tense, plus the past participle of the main verb. The past participle is formed by adding the suffix “-nut” or “-nyt” to the stem of the verb. For example:
| Finnish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| kirjoittaa | ['kirjoi̯ttɑ: ] | to write |
| olen kirjoittanut | ['ole̞n 'kirjoi̯tːɑɲut] | I have written |
In the example above, “olen” means “I have” and “kirjoittanut” is the past participle of "kirjoittaa". Notice that the past participle suffixes “-nut” and “-nyt” match the vowel harmony of the verb stem.
Vowel Harmony
In previous lessons, we briefly talked about vowel harmony in Finnish. To refresh your memory, Finnish words are divided into two groups: front vowels (ä, ö, and y) and back vowels (a, o, and u). When inflecting words or forming compounds, it is important to use the same vowel type throughout the word to maintain its harmony.
The concept of vowel harmony is also relevant when conjugating verbs. The past tense suffix “-i” and the past participle suffixes “-nut” and “-nyt” change depending on the vowel harmony of the verb stem. For example, if the verb stem has a front vowel, we use the front vowel past tense and participle suffixes:
| Finnish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| kävellä | ['kæʋel:æ] | to walk |
| kävelin | ['kæʋeli̯n] | I walked |
| säästää | ['sæ:stæ: ] | to save (money) |
| säästin | ['sæ:sti̯n] | I saved |
On the other hand, if the verb stem has a back vowel, we use the back vowel past tense and participle suffixes:
| Finnish | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| nukkua | ['nukkua] | to sleep |
| nukuin | ['nukui̯n] | I slept |
| elää | ['e̞læ:] | to live |
| elin | ['eli̯n] | I lived |
Keep in mind that not all Finnish verbs follow vowel harmony rules. Some verbs have irregular past tense forms, which you will need to learn by heart.
Conclusion
Learning how to conjugate Finnish verbs in the past tense can be challenging, but with practice you will get the hang of it. Remember to always pay attention to vowel harmony, as it will affect the past tense and participle endings. Keep practicing and don't hesitate to ask for help if needed.
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