Finnish for busy people

Fourth Infinitive Verb Rections

The term rections is used to express that certain words will require the words that form a chain with them to appear in the sentences in a specific form. In this article, we look at fourth infinitive verb rections.

All the verbs on this page will require verbs to be turned into nouns before they can be used in the verb chain. You do this by using the ending -minen, which is the marker of the fourth infinitive. Verbs ending in -minen can be called nounalized verbs.

These nounalized verbs will be added to the chain in a certain case. For example, rakastaa will require the partitive case (Rakastan ratsastamista = I love horse riding) and pitää will require the mistä-form aka the elative (Pidän ratsastamisesta = I like horse riding).

Genitive
Verb Example Translation
aloittaa Aloitan laihduttamisen huomenna. I start dieting tomorrow
lopettaa Lopetin vihdoin tupakoimisen. I finally quit smoking.
Partitive
Verb Example Translation
rakastaa Katri rakastaa laulamista. Katri loves singing.
harrastaa Venla harrastaa juoksemista. Venla enjoys running.
inhota Inhoan juoruilemista. I hate gossiping.
jatkaa Ari jatkoi valittamista. Ari continued to complain.
vihata Vihaatko lentämis? Do you hate flying?
pelätä He pelkäävät ratsastamista. They fear horse riding.
vastustaa Vastustan ydinvoimalan rakentamista. I resist the building of a nuclear plant.
Mistä
Verb Example Translation
pitää Pidättekö kokkaamisesta? Do you like cooking?
tykätä En tykkää tiskaamisesta. I don’t like doing the dishes.
nauttia Nautin saunomisesta. I enjoy taking a sauna.
haaveilla Liisa haaveilee kesämökin ostamisesta. Liisa dreams of buying a summer cottage.
huolehtia Anna huolehti pyykkien pesemisestä. Anna takes care of the laundry washing.
Mihin
Verb Example Translation
kyllästyä Jari on kyllästynyt lukemiseen. Jari is bored of reading.
väsyä Väsyn opettajan kuuntelemiseen. I get tired of listening to the teacher.
keskittyä Keskityn opiskelemiseen. I focus on studying.
vaikuttaa Etäopiskelu vaikuttaa oppimiseen. Distance learning affects learning.
liittyä Onnistumiseen liittyy yleensä päämäärä. Success usually involves a goal.
erikoistua Hän erikoistui maisemien maalaamiseen. She specialized in painting landscapes.

There are also verbs that require the third infinitive (rections) or the first infinitive (rections) in their verb chain. Check those out next!

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Rasikko

I think there’s some exceptions. I’ve seen this example from the redfox sanakirja: “Minä rakastaisin ottaa hänet.” I thought that using verbs with partitive verbs can only be in the -minen form.

Last edited 3 years ago by Rasikko
Inge (admin)

There are exceptions to everything, aren’t there? 🙂 In this case it’s mostly that Finnish is evolving in this new direction.

You can read more about rakastaa + perumuoto here: http://www.kielitoimistonohjepankki.fi/haku/rakastaa/ohje/610 – In short: Yes, it’s possible, and it seems to be getting more popular amongst the youth, but it can look really out of place in written sources. In fairly many grammar books this form is advised against.

Personally, it hurts my ears!

Last edited 3 years ago by Inge (admin)
Rasikko

Ok alright, I’ll stay away from this in written texts, maybe speech too, since I do happen to be one of those finnish purest ^^;;. (as an aside the example sentence I’m aware is out of context and alone has sexual conantations, but it’s actually part of a larger clause of someone wanting to be taken somewhere.)

Krishna Sharma

Do we have to learn by hard which verb requires which case for the fourth-infinitive

Yes, you do. There’s not much inherent logic to them.

Oscar

Hei Inge

I don’t know if you have in mind writing another article about fourth infinitive but it would be very interesting one where the use and meaning of cases were explained, not the rections of verbs, but for example in “tekemiseksi”. I wonder if there’re more cases which can be used….

thanks in advance..

Oscar

this is the sentence I’ve found where tekemiseksi appears.

Kaikki tarpeeton tekstin toisto on otettu pois kirjan tekemiseksi luettavammaksi.

Inge (admin)

That’s a really strange sentence honestly… For someone claiming to make a book more readable, they sure decided to make an awkward sentence :p It’s not a WRONG sentence, but usually it’s frowned upon to put two words in the same case back-to-back when they aren’t an adjective-noun pair.

Kaikki tarpeeton tekstin toisto on otettu pois kirjan tekemiseksi luettavammaksi. > tehdäkseen se luettavammaksi / jotta se olisi luettavampaa.

But that’s beside the point! I could try to make the type of article you’re suggesting. No clear content springs to my mind immediately, but I’ll spend some time on it.

Oscar

Hei Inge

It’s more natural using finaalirakenne (-ksi) and jotta.
Oook.

kiitos

By the way, due to the size of the window dedicated to Recent Comments, this comment wasn’t visible and I’ve had to google it, so that I could find it. I guess it’s a software matter or whatever…

Inge (admin)

Hmm, that’s strange O_o What type of a device are you using?

Inge (admin)

Hmm, I think I can fix that!

Oscar

yes, I can see more comments now
Done !
kiitos ja hyvää viikonloppua !

Gizka

why do words kyllästyä, väsyä and keskittyä require both forth infinitive and third infinitive ?

Jukka_K

Oh, that is true!
But notice, if there are more nouns included, they are in a different case when using third infinitive.
Compare these ”upgraded” examples:
Jari on kyllästynyt kirjan lukemiseen. = Jari on kyllästynyt lukemaan kirjaa Jari is bored of reading a/the book.
Väsyn opettajan kuuntelemiseen. = Väsyn kuuntelemaan opettajaa. I get tired of listening to the teacher. (I’m not 100 % sure if this form is used or not)
Keskityn suomen opiskelemiseen =
Keskityn opiskelemaan suomea I concentrate learning Finnish.

You can notice that the ”dance” between partitive and genetive is similar to the case choise with pre- and postpositions (ennen joulua, joulun jälkeen).