The second infinitive has two cases: the inessive case -ssa ~ -ssä expressing
time, and the instructive case -n expressing manner. The instructive form is
rarer.
Infinitives 185
A possessive suffix is often used with the inessive to mark the subject,
e.g. sano/e/ssa/ni ‘when I say’. The inessive form also occurs in the passive,
e.g. sano/tta/e/ssa ‘when one says’. Generally speaking, the second infinitive
inessive can be said to correspond to a temporal subordinate clause beginning
with kun ‘when, as’.
The simplest way to form the stem of the second infinitive is given by the
following rule (see §14 for some of the different endings).
The second infinitive is formed by changing the -a ~ -ä of the first
infinitive to -e.
First infinitive Meaning Second infinitive stem
sano/a say sano/e-
vetä/ä pull vetä/e-
herät/ä wake herät/e-
tilat/a order tilat/e-
saa/da get saa/de-
myy/dä sell myy/de-
ol/la be ol/le-
men/nä go men/ne-
havait/a observe havait/e
If the first infinitive stem ends in -e, this changes to -i in the second
infinitive.
First infinitive Meaning Second infinitive stem
luke/a read luki/e-
itke/ä cry itki/e-
tunte/a feel tunti/e-
koke/a experience koki/e
The passive forms of the second infinitive can be derived most easily by
adding -e- to the passive stem, which is arrived at according to the first rule
given in §72 (change the passive past tense -iin to -a ~ -ä; the passive stem
sano/tta- is thus derived from the form sano/ttiin). The forms of the second
infinitive are shown in the following table.
Root Pass. Inf. Case Poss. Particle Meaning
suff.
sano e ssa ni when I say
sano e ssa nne when you (pl.) say
186 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Root Pass. Inf. Case Poss. Particle Meaning
suff.
sano e n saying
sano tta e ssa when one says
sano tta e ssa han when one says
+emphasis
sano e ssa mme kin when we say too
ol le ssa ni when I am
ol ta e ssa when one is
juo de ssa an when he/she drinks
juo ta e ssa when one drinks
Pekan herät e ssä when Pekka wakes
herät tä e ssä when one wakes
luki e ssa nne when you read
Kallen tunti e ssa when Kalle feels
The second infinitive inessive thus corresponds to a temporal subordinate
clause, particularly one in which the action referred to is simultaneous with
the action of the verb in the main clause, e.g. sano/e/ssa/ni tämän kaikki
nousivat ‘as I was saying/when I said this everyone stood up’.
The subject of the temporal clause appears in the inessive construction as
follows:
The subject is expressed
(a) by a possessive suffix alone, if the subject is identical with that of
the main clause;
(b) by an independent word in the genitive, if the subject is different
from that of the main clause;
(c) by the genitive form of personal pronouns (minun, etc.), always
followed by a possessive suffix on the infinitive inessive (unstressed
first and second personal pronouns may be omitted).
Kun clause Second infinitive inessive
Kun oli/n Ruotsissa, tapasi/n Ol/le/ssa/ni Ruotsissa tapasin useita
useita ystäviä. ystäviä.
When I was in Sweden I met many friends.
Kun Pekka heräsi, hän oli sairas. Herät/e/ssä/än Pekka oli sairas.
When Pekka woke up he was ill.
Infinitives 187
Kun clause Second infinitive inessive
Kun aja/t, sinun pitää olla Aja/e/ssa/si sinun pitää olla
varovainen. varovainen.
When you drive you must be careful.
Kalevi ajattelee paremmin, kun Kalevi ajattelee paremmin
hän juo kahvia. juo/de/ssa/an kahvia.
Kalevi thinks better when he drinks coffee.
Ihmiset nauttivat, kun he lähtevät Ihmiset nauttivat lähti/e/ssä/än
lomalle. lomalle.
People enjoy themselves when they go on holiday.
Kun Pekka herää, Liisa lähtee Peka/n herät/e/ssä Liisa lähtee töihin.
töihin.
When Pekka wakes, Liisa goes to work.
Viren tuli maaliin, kun Päivärinta Viren tuli maaliin Päivärinna/n
oli vielä loppusuoralle. ol/le/ssa vielä loppusuoralla.
Viren arrived at the finish when Päivärinta was still on the final straight.
Muut nukkuivat, kun hän heräsi. Muut nukkuivat häne/n
herät/e/ssä/än.
The others were sleeping when he/she woke.
Vaimoni heräsi, kun (minä) Vaimoni heräsi (minun) tul/le/ssa/ni
tuli/n kotiin. kotiin.
My wife woke up when I came home.
The following examples show the use of the passive form of the inessive
structure.
Turkuun tul/ta/e/ssa satoi.
When one (we) came to Turku it was raining.
Musiikkia kuunnel/ta/e/ssa pitää olla hiljaa.
When listening to music one must be quiet.
Ikkunan pitää olla auki nuku/tta/e/ssa.
The window must be open when one sleeps.
Tästä setelistä Suomen Pankki maksaa vaadi/tta/e/ssa sata mk.
For this note the Bank of Finland will pay 100 marks on demand
(‘when one demands’).
As has been said, this inessive structure is used to refer to an action
simultaneous with that of the main clause. If the action of the kun clause has
taken place before the action of the main clause a different structure is used,
the partitive form of the past participle (§83):
188 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
Ile/n herät/ty/ä Mia lähti töihin. When Ile had woken up Mia went
off to work.
Jäät lähtivät kevää/n tul/tu/a. The ice melted (‘left’) when spring
came.
