Finnish has four tenses: two simple (present and past) and two compound
(perfect and pluperfect). Compare present sano/n ‘I say’, past sano/i/n ‘I
said’, perfect ole/n sano/nut ‘I have said’ and pluperfect ol/i/n sano/nut ‘I
had said’.
The present tense is used for non-past time: usually a time simultaneous
with the moment of utterance, and sometimes also future time, i.e. later than
the moment of utterance. It is also used for general eternal truths of the kind
leijona on eläin ‘the lion is an animal’; leijonat ovat eläimiä ‘lions are
animals’.
There is no separate ending for the present. But note that in the third
person singular the short final vowel of the stem lengthens, i.e. doubles (§24).
Otherwise only the normal personal endings are added to the inflectional
stem (§23).
Kalle on ulkona. Kalle is outside.
(Minä) ole/n kotona. I am at home.
(Me) lue/mme sanomalehteä. We are reading the newspaper.
Pertti luke/e sanomalehteä. Pertti is reading the newspaper.
Mitä sano/tte? What do you say?
Auto seiso/o tallissa. The car is standing in the garage.
Ritva halua/a olutta. Ritva wants some beer.
Tuula ja Leena lähte/vät Espanjaan. Tuula and Leena are going to Spain.
Mattikin lähte/e sinne. Matti is going there too.
