The past tense is used for past time, to express an action which took place
before the moment of utterance. The past tense ending is -i, which is added to
the inflectional stem (§23) and is followed by the personal ending.
Tenses 153
The past tense ending is -i, which is added to the inflectional stem
(§23).
The verbs sano/a ‘say’, puhu/a ‘speak’ and anta/a ‘give’ thus conjugate as
follows in the past tense. For consonant gradation see §15.
First p. sing. (minä) sano/i/n I said
puhu/i/n I spoke
anno/i/n I gave
Second p. sing. (sinä) sano/i/t you said
puhu/i/t you spoke
anno/i/t you gave
Third p. sing. hän sano/i he/she said
äiti puhu/i mother spoke
Kalle anto/i Kalle gave
First p. pl. (me) sano/i/mme we said
puhu/i/mme we spoke
anno/i/mme we gave
Second p. pl. (te) sano/i/tte you said
puhu/i/tte you spoke
anno/i/tte you gave
Third p. pl. he sano/i/vat they said
naiset puhu/i/vat the women spoke
miehet anto/i/vat the men gave
Before the past tense -i the usual vowel change rules apply (§16); cf. above
anno/i/n, etc. The table below gives first the basic form of the verb (first
infinitive), then the third person singular of the present as an example of the
inflectional stem, and the section number (§) explaining the vowel change in
question, and finally the third person singular of the past tense (without
consonant gradation) and the first person singular of the past tense (with
consonant gradation).
Infinitive Third p. Cf. § Third p. First p.
sing. sing. sing.
present past past
kerto/a tell kerto/o 16(1) kerto/i kerro/i/n
asu/a live asu/u “ asu/i asu/i/n
pysy/ä stay pysy/y “ pysy/i pysy/i/n
luke/a read luke/e 16(5) luk/i lu/i/n
etsi/ä look for etsi/i 16(6) ets/i ets/i/n
oppi/a learn oppi/i “ opp/i op/i/n
vetä/ä pull vetä/ä 16(7) vet/i ved/i/n
154 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Infinitive Third p. Cf. § Third p. First p.
sing. sing. sing.
present past past
yrittä/ä try yrittä/ä 16(7) yritt/i yrit/i/n
anta/a give anta/a 16(8) anto/i anno/i/n
sata/a rain sata/a “ sato/i
jaka/a divide jaka/a “ jako/i jao/i/n
muista/a remember muista/a 16(8) muist/i muist/i/n
otta/a take otta/a “ ott/i ot/i/n
rakasta/a love rakasta/a “ rakast/i rakast/i/n
osta/a buy osta/a “ ost/i ost/i/n
saa/da get saa 16(2) sa/i sa/i/n
myy/dä sell myy “ my/i my/i/n
voi/da be able voi 16(4) vo/i vo/i/n
juo/da drink juo 16(3) jo/i jo/i/n
pysäköi/dä park pysäköi 16(4) pysäkö/i pysäkö/i/n
luennoi/da lecture luennoi “ luenno/i luenno/i/n
nous/ta rise nouse/e 16(5) nous/i nous/i/n
tul/la come tule/e “ tul/i tul/i/n
men/nä go mene/e “ men/i men/i/n
ajatel/la think ajattele/e “ ajattel/i ajattel/i/n
kierrel/lä circle kiertele/e “ kiertel/i kiertel/i/n
julkais/ta publish julkaise/e “ julkais/i julkais/i/n
tarvit/a need tarvitse/e “ tarvits/i tarvits/i/n
häirit/ä disturb häiritsee “ häirits/i häirits/i/n
paet/a flee pakene/e “ paken/i paken/i/n
In some verbs of the anta/a type, wher because of the deletion of -a or -ä
the short consonant -t- occurs immediately before the past tense ending, this -
t- changes to -s-. This most often happens when the -t- occurs after two
vowels or after l, n or r.
-t- sometimes changes to -s- if, after the deletion of -a or -ä, it
occurs immediately before the past tense ending.
Infinitive Third p. Third p. First p.
sing. present sing. past sing. past
tietä/ä know tietä/ä ties/i ties/i/n
löytä/ä find löytä/ä löys/i löys/i/n
huuta/a shout huuta/a huus/i huus/i/n
piirtä/ä draw piirtä/ä piirs/i piirs/i/n
työntä/ä push työntä/ä työns/i työns/i/n
Tenses 155
Infinitive Third p. Third p. First p.
sing. present sing. past sing. past
lentä/ä fly lentä/ä lens/i lens/i/n
kiertä/ä turn kiertä/ä kiers/i kiers/i/n
pyytä/ä ask pyytä/ä pyys/i pyys/i/n
kiiltä/ä shine kiiltä/ä kiils/i kiils/i/n
Verbs to which this rule does not apply include pitä/ä ‘keep’, vetä/ä ‘pull’,
sietä/ä ‘bear’, hoita/a ‘take care of’, cf. hän pit/i ‘he/she kept’, pid/i/n ‘I
held’, Reijo vet/i ‘Reijo pulled’, ved/i/n ‘I pulled’, etc.
The important group of huomat/a verbs form their past tense according
to the following special change.
The past tense of huomat/a verbs is formed by changing the last -a
or -ä of the inflectional stem to -s-, and then adding the past tense -i.
Infinitive Third p. Third p. First p.
sing. present sing. past sing. past
huomat/a notice huomaa huomas/i huomas/i/n
osat/a know how osaa osas/i osas/i/n
hypät/ä jump hyppää hyppäs/i hyppäs/i/n
pelät/ä fear pelkää pelkäs/i pelkäs/i/n
maat/a lie makaa makas/i makas/i/n
tavat/a meet tapaa tapas/i tapas/i/n
määrät/ä order määrää määräs/i määräs/i/n
halut/a want halua/a halus/i halus/i/n
tarjot/a offer tarjoa/a tarjos/i tarjos/i/n
The examples below illustrate the use of the past tense.
Koira makas/i lattialla. The dog lay on the floor.
Oskari anto/i minulle suukon. Oskari gave me a kiss.
Poliisi kysy/i nimeäni. The policeman asked me my name.
Kuka siellä ol/i? Who was there?
Jo/i/t/ko punaviiniä eilen? Did you drink red wine yesterday?
Mitä he tek/i/vät illalla? What did they do in the evening?
Mitä te/i/tte illalla? What did you do in the evening?
Niin me ajattel/i/mme/kin. That’s just what we thought.
Ajo/i/n Turusta Helsinkiin I drove from Turku to Helsinki in two
kahdessa tunnissa. hours.
Mitä ost/i/t Kaleville lahjaksi? What did you buy as a present for
Kalevi?
156 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
He läht/i/vät jo aamulla. They lef(‘already’) in the morning.
Ties/i/tte/kö tämän? Did you know this?
Keijo avas/i vieraille oven. Keijo opened the door for the guests.
Note that the verb käy/dä ‘go’ has an exceptional past tense: käv/i, cf. käv/i/
n ‘I went’, he käv/i/vät ‘they went’.
