【芬兰语语法】§22 INFINITIVE ENDINGS

 The first infinitive has four endings, (1) -a ~ -ä, (2) -da ~ -dä, (3) -ta ~ -tä,

and (4) -la ~ -lä, -ra ~ -rä, -na ~ -nä. The most common one is -a ~ -ä. All

the infinitive endings are preceded by the infinitive stem.

anta/a give kysy/ä ask

alka/a begin lähte/ä leave

katso/a look pitä/ä hold

puhu/a talk tietä/ä know

huomat/a notice herät/ä awake

halut/a want hypät/ä jump

korjat/a repair määrät/ä order

vastat/a answer kerät/ä collect

saa/da get jää/dä remain

tuo/da bring vie/dä take

voi/da be able syö/dä eat

luennoi/da lecture pysäköi/dä park

The ending -a ~ -ä occurs when the infinitive stem ends in a short

vowel.

The ending -a ~ -ä also occurs when the infinitive stem ends in a short

vowel followed by t (usually -at/a, -ät/ä).

The ending -da ~ -dä occurs when the infinitive stem ends in a long

vowel or a diphthong.

The ending -ta ~ -tä occurs when the infinitive stem ends in -s.

The conjugation of verbs 57

nous/ta rise pääs/tä be allowed

juos/ta run tönäis/tä shove

mumis/ta mumble pes/tä wash

valais/ta light vilis/tä swarm

tul/la come vietel/lä entice

ol/la be niel/lä swallow

ajatel/la think hymyil/lä smile

pan/na put men/nä go

pur/ra bite

The most important types are those exemplified by anta/a and huomat/a.

Saa/da verbs are also important. There are not many verbs with infinitives

ending in -na ~ -nä and -ra ~ -rä.

In anta/a and saa/da verbs all inflected forms are based on the infinitive

stem. But also in the other verb groups at least some forms are based on this

stem. The following rule states which inflected forms of all verbs are made

from the infinitive stem.

With all verbs the infinitive stem is used to form:

1 the past participle (§61)

2 most imperative forms (§66)

3 potential forms (§67)

4 passive forms (§69–72)

5 the second infinitive (§76)