All negative forms are based on the negation verb en, et, ei, emme, ette,
eivät. The present tense negative has been discussed earlier (§29); here the
negation verb is followed by a minimal stem form of the main verb subject to
consonant gradation.
Affirmative Negative
kerro/n I tell en kerro I do not tell
kerro/t et kerro
hän kerto/o hän ei kerro
kerro/mme emme kerro
kerro/tte ette kerro
he kerto/vat he eivät kerro
The negative of the past tense is formed differently: the negation
verb is followed by the past participle (§61).
Affirmative Negative
kerro/i/n I told en kerto/nut I did not tell
kerro/i/t et kerto/nut
hän kerto/i hän ei kerto/nut
kerro/i/mme emme kerto/neet
kerro/i/tte ette kerto/neet
he kerto/i/vat he eivät kerto/neet
Here are some further examples of the formation of the past tense
negative.
Affirmative Negative
tanss/i/n I danced en tanssi/nut I did not dance
tanss/i/tte you (pl.) danced ette tanssi/neet
itk/i/t you (sing.) cried et itke/nyt
hän näytt/i he/she showed hän ei näyttä/nyt
he anto/i/vat they gave he eivät anta/neet
lu/i/n I read en luke/nut
ol/i/mme we were emme ol/leet
ol/i/t you (sing.) were et ol/lut
160 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
nous/i/n I got up en nous/sut
he nous/i/vat they got up he eivät nous/seet
ajattel/i/mme we thought emme ajatel/leet
Tuula sa/i Tuula got Tuula ei saa/nut
osas/i/mme we knew how emme osan/neet
osas/i/t you (sing.) knew et osan/nut
how
hän pelkäs/i he/she feared hän ei pelän/nyt
pelkäs/i/tte you (pl.) feared ette pelän/neet
tarvits/i/n I needed en tarvin/nut
he häirits/i/vät they disturbed he eivät häirin/neet
The negative of the perfect tense is formed from the negation verb followed
by ole (without a personal ending) and the past participle of the main verb
(singular or plural).
Affirmative Negative
ole/n osta/nut I have bought en ole osta/nut I have not
bought
ole/t osta/nut you (sing.) have et ole osta/nut
bought
hän on osta/nut he/she has bought hän ei ole osta/nut
ole/mme osta/neet we have bought emme ole osta/neet
ole/tte osta/neet you (pl.) have bought ette ole osta/neet
he ovat ostaneet they have bought he eivät ole osta/neet
ole/n ol/lut I have been en ole ol/lut
ole/mme ol/leet we have been emme ole ol/leet
ole/t näyttä/nyt you (sing.) have et ole näyttä/nyt
shown
he ovat anta/neet they have given he eivät ole anta/neet
ole/mme saa/neet we have got emme ole saa/neet
ole/n ajatel/lut I have thought en ole ajatel/lut
hän on osan/nut he/she has known hän ei ole osan/nut
how
ole/mme pelän/neet we have feared emme ole pelän/neet
ole/n tarvin/nut I have needed en ole tarvin/nut
ol/isi/n osta/nut I would have bought en ol/isi osta/nut
ol/isi/tte osta/neet you (pl.) would have ette ol/isi osta/neet
bought
he ol/isi/vat they would have he eivät ol/isi osta/neet
osta/neet bought
hän liene/e osta/nut he/she has probably hän ei liene osta/nut
bought
Tenses 161
The negative of the pluperfect is formed from the negation verb followed by
the past participle of ol/la—ol/lut ~ ol/leet—and the past participle of the
main verb (singular or plural).
Affirmative Negative
ol/i/n osta/nut I had bought en ol/lut osta/nut I had not
bought
ol/i/t ostanut you (sing.) had et ol/lut osta/nut
bought
hän ol/i osta/nut he/she had bought hän ei ol/lut osta/nut
ol/i/mme osta/neet we had bought emme ol/leet osta/neet
ol/i/tte osta/neet you (pl.) had bought ette ol/leet osta/neet
he ol/i/vat osta/neet they had bought he eivät ol/leet osta/neet
ol/i/n ol/lut I had been en ol/lut ol/lut
ol/i/mme ol/leet we had been emme ol/leet ol/leet
ol/i/t näyttä/nyt you (sing.) had shown et ol/lut näyttä/nyt
ol/i/mme osan/neet we had known how emme ol/leet osan/neet
ol/i/t saa/nut you (sing.) had got et ol/lut saa/nut
hän ol/i pelän/nyt he/she had feared hän ei ol/lut pelän/nyt
ol/i/mme tul/leet we had come emme ol/leet tul/leet
ol/i/n näh/nyt I had seen en ol/lut näh/nyt
And note finally the following sentence examples.
En osta maitoa. I do/will not buy any milk.
En osta/nut maitoa. I did not buy any milk.
En ole osta/nut maitoa. I have not bought any milk.
En ol/lut osta/nut maitoa. I had not bought any milk.
