In Finnish, making verbs negative requires the negative verb ei. That’s how you express that you don’t, didn’t, won’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t or can’t do something. You make verbs negative by adding ei to the sentence, in front of the main verb. You can consider ei a “verb” in Finnish because it gets conjugated like verbs do: minä en, sinä et, hän ei, me emme, te ette, he eivät.

When making a verb (e.g. puhua) negative, your main verb won’t get the personal ending of an affirmative sentence (puhun, puhut, puhumme). Instead, the personal ending will appear on the negative verb (en puhu, et puhu, emme puhu).

You should have at least a basic understanding of the conjugation of verbs before reading this article. Knowing the Finnish verbtypes will help with that.

ACTIVE FORMS

1. Negative Present Tense

The present tense expresses what’s happening (or isn’t happening) right now. In Finnish, the present tense is also used to express actions in the future.

For the present tense, you will use the minä-form as the base for the negative. This is an easy step to get the right stem for the negative conjugation. The negative of all verbtypes looks the same as the minä-form minus the -n :

Another reason why it’s convenient to start from the minä-form is consonant gradation. Certain verbtypes are weak and others are strong in the negative. The minä-form will have the same grade as the negative:

Negative Present Tense Examples

The following table displays verbs in both the affirmative and the negative present tense. The displayed affirmative form is always the minä-form because that’s the form that will most easily lead you to the negative form.

For the negative, I’ve conjugated the verb in a random person. You can see how the negative verb (ei) gets conjugated (e.g. en, emme, eivät), while the main verb looks the same as the minä-form minus the -n. The green -n is the letter you remove to find the correct form for the negative conjugation.

The column labeled VT contains the number of the verbtype the verb in question belongs to.

Note: If you’re currently in a beginner Finnish course or using a beginner course book, you won’t have learned about verbtype 6 yet. It’s a rare verbtype that usually only gets discussed in intermediate or advanced courses. I’m including it here to be complete. It’s included on my overview page of the verbtypes.

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2. Negative Imperfect Tense

The sentence “Minä en tullut, koska en muistanut tapaamista” contains two examples of the negative imperfect tense. The sentence means “I didn’t come because I didn’t remember the meeting”.

The negative past tense (negative imperfect) is formed by conjugating the negative verb ei (e.g. en, emme) in combination with the NUT-participle (e.g. puhunut, valinnut). It often looks very different from the affirmative imperfect (e.g. minä nauroin vs. minä en nauranut).

I have a separate article about the negative imperfect that goes into more detail.

Negative Past Tense Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in both a random singular form (minä, sinä or hän) and in a random plural form (me, te or he). It demonstrates the variation in verbtype 3, 4, 5 and 6, which don’t get -nut/-nyt:

The number in the column labeled VT is the verbtype of the verb in question. Some letters have been highlighted in green to show their deviation from the general -nut/-nyt/-neet ending.

3. Negative Perfect Tense

The sentence “Minä en ole nähnyt häntä kymmeneen vuoteen” contains an example of the negative perfect tense. The sentence means “I haven’t seen him/her in ten years”.

The perfect tense always consists of two elements: the verb olla and the NUT-participle of the main verb (e.g. olen asunut, olemme menneet). When making the perfect tense negative, you will use the negative verb ei combined with the negative form of the verb olla: ole. The NUT-participle remains the same.

Negative Perfect Tense Examples

The following table displays certain verbs in both a random singular form (minä, sinä or hän) and a random plural form (me, te or he). The number in the column labeled VT is the verbtype of the verb in question. Some letters have been highlighted in green to show their deviation from the general -nut/-nyt/-neet ending.

Comparing this table to the one for the negative imperfect tense will show that both are very similar. For the perfect tense, you just add the form ole.

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4. Negative Plusquamperfect Tense

The sentence “En tullut, koska en ollut vielä syönyt” contains an example of the negative plusquamperfect tense. The sentence means “I didn’t come because I hadn’t eaten yet”. You mainly use the plusquamperfect when you have a situation where there are two past events.

The plusquamperfect consists of two parts. It has the imperfect conjugation of the verb olla (e.g. olimme, olitte) combined with the NUT-participle of the main verb (e.g. asunut, menneet).

When making the plusquamperfect tense negative, you need three elements. You will need the negative verb ei (conjugated), combined with ollut in the singular and olleet in the plural, as well as the NUT-participle of your main verb. That’s how you get, for example, the form “en ollut syönyt“.

Negative Plusquamperfect Tense Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in both a random singular form (minä, sinä or hän) and in a random plural form (me, te or he). The column labeled VT contains the number of each verb’s verbtype. Some letters have been highlighted in green to show their deviation from the general -nut/-nyt/-neet ending.

Comparing this table to the one for the perfect tense will show that both are very similar. Compared to the perfect tense, the only difference is that the verb olla is now ollut (in the singular) or olleet (in the plural) rather than ole.

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5. Negative Conditional

The following sentence contains two negative conditional forms: “Minä en tulisi, jos ei olisi pakko tulla“, which translates as: “I wouldn’t come if it wasn’t obligatory to come”. The conditional mood is often used in sentences that express hypothetical situations.

The positive conditional’s main verb (e.g. puhuisin) will lose its personal ending -n when you make the sentence negative (e.g. puhuisi-). The negative verb will be conjugated (e.g. minä en, me emme).

The conditional is always strong, both in the positive and the negative conditional. This is true for all verbtypes.

Negative Conditional Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in both the affirmative minä-form of the conditional and a random negative conditional form. The column labeled VT contains information of each verb’s verbtype. The -n marked in green in the affirmative column will be removed to find the negative form.

6. Negative Perfect Conditional

The sentence “Minä en olisi tullut, jos et olisi soittanut” contains two examples of the negative perfect conditional. The sentence means “I wouldn’t have come if you wouldn’t have called“.

The perfect tense always consists of two elements: the verb olla and the NUT-participle of the main verb (e.g. olen asunut, olemme menneet). In the perfect conditional, we use the conditional form of the verb olla (e.g. olisin, olisimme) rather than the present tense, which gives us forms such as olisin asunut and olisimme menneet.

When conjugating verbs in the negative perfect conditional, you will use the negative verb ei combined with the negative form conditional of the verb olla (e.g. olisin, olisimme) and the NUT-participle.

Negative Perfect Conditional Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in both a random singular form (minä, sinä or hän) and a random plural form (me, te or he). The number in the column labeled VT is the verbtype of the verb in question. Some letters have been highlighted in green to show their deviation from the general -nut/-nyt/-neet ending.

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7. Negative Singular Imperative

The imperative is used to give orders or to forbid something. A sentence with a negative singular imperative would be, for example, “Älä unohda käyttää kasvomaskia!” (Don’t forget to use a face mask!). The imperative’s singular and plural forms are quite different so they each get their own section in this article.

For the negative singular imperative, you will use älä instead of e.g. ei or emme. The main verb will simply look the same as in the affirmative singular imperative (e.g. nuku > älä nuku).

The imperative can be both weak (e.g. Älä nuku) and strong (e.g. Älä ompele) depending on the verbtype. If you’ve studied the affirmative imperative, just use the same form for the negative. The easiest way to find the correct form is to conjugate the verb in the present tense’s minä-form. For example:

You can find useful example sentences of the negative imperative here.

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8. Negative Plural Imperative

The plural imperative is used to give an order (e.g. Tulkaa!) or forbid (e.g. Älkää tulko!) something to more than one person. It’s also used to be more polite to one person. We could for example say Olkaa hyvä to an elderly person instead of Ole hyvä.

When conjugating verbs in the negative plural imperative, you will use a combination of two elements. The negative verb ei will become älkää, while the main verb will get the element -ko/kö added to its infinitive stem (despite the similarity, this is not the question particle -ko/kö).

Consonant gradation for the plural imperative mirrors the basic form (infinitive) of the verb. For example, the infinitive nukkua has two k‘s, so the plural imperative will also have two k’s: nukkukaa and älkää nukkuko. In contrast, the verb tavata has a –v– in the basic form, which will be reflected in the plural imperative: tavatkaa and älkää tavatko.

In the table below, you can find information about what verbtype a verb belongs to in the VT column. For the translation, please keep in mind that this is the plural form: you’re talking to multiple people, or alternatively being very polite to one person.

9. Negative Third Person Imperatives

The third person imperative (jussiivi) is very rare. It’s meant for advanced learners. For the sake of completeness, I’m adding it here, but as a beginner or intermediate student, I recommend you glance over these forms for now. We could respond to the statement “Mikko ei tule” with “Älköön tulko sitten” to express that we don’t care if he comes or not.

There is both a third person singular and third person plural imperative in Finnish. For the singular your negative verb will become älköön, while in the plural you use älkööt. The main verb will get -ko/kö just like in the (regular) plural imperative.

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10. Negative Potential Mood

The potential mood is a topic for advanced learners of Finnish. It’s used to express that something is likely to happen. The phrase “Hän ei puhune” means “He probably doesn’t speak”. It’s only rarely used.

The positive potential’s verb (e.g. puhunen) will lose its personal ending -n when you make the sentence negative (e.g. puhune-). The negative verb will be conjugated (e.g. minä en, me emme).

The potential will always have the same type of consonant gradation as the basic form (infinitive)

Negative Potential Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in a random affirmative and negative potential form. The column labeled VT contains the number of each verb’s verbtype. The letters marked in green in the affirmative column will be removed to find the negative form.

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11. Negative Perfect Potential

The potential mood can also be conjugated in the perfect tense. For example, the sentence “Hän ei liene puhunut asiasta” means “he probably hasn’t talked about it.” This is a very rare form.

The perfect potential consists of two elements: the verb olla in the potential form (e.g. minä lienen) and the NUT-participle of the main verb (e.g. lienen asunut, lienemme menneet). The NUT-participle remains the same in both the affirmative and the negative sentence.

Negative Potential Examples

The following table displays some example verbs in a random singular and a random plural form. Note how we use -nut/nyt in the singular forms and -neet in the plural forms. This same pattern should already be familiar to you from the perfect tense.

The column labeled VT contains the number of each verb’s verbtype.

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PASSIVE FORMS

1. Negative Passive Present Tense

The sentence “Talvella ei syödä jäätelöä” means “In winter one doesn’t eat ice cream” or “In winter ice cream isn’t eaten“. This is an example of the most typical usage of the passive. In spoken language, the passive is used instead of the -mme form of verbs (e.g. me puhumme becomes me puhutaan).

The negative present passive is formed using the third person of the negative verb: ei. The main verb will look like the affirmative passive without the final –an/än.

The following table contains examples of both the affirmative and the negative passive. The column labeled with VT shows what verbtype each verb belongs to. I’m only giving one translation, but keep in mind that the passive has several different functions in Finnish. I have refrained from translating verbtype 6 verbs because they aren’t as suitable for generic passive sentences (because they’re not object verbs).

As you can see from the table above, the negative passive of most verbs looks exactly like the basic form of the verb (e.g. opiskella : ei opiskella). However, verbs that belong to verbtype 1 will not follow this pattern. The following table demonstrates more clearly what happens for verbtype 1 verbs in the passive.

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2. Negative Passive Imperfect Tense

The negative passive imperfect sentence “Tätä takkia ei käytetty eilen” means “This coat wasn’t used yesterday”. The past tense’s negative passive form consists of ei (the third person singular of the “negative verb”), followed by the TU-participle of the main verb (e.g. ei käytetty). Read more about the past passive here!

In the table below, you can find the verbtype each verb belongs to (VT), the affirmative past passive, the negative past passive and one possible translation for the negative phrase.

When comparing, you can see that the –tiin of the affirmative form gets replaced with –tu/ty for the negative form. The number of t‘s depends on the verbtype, and will be the same in both the affirmative and the negative form. Verbtypes 2 and 3 will have -tu/ty, while verbtypes 1, 4, 5 and 6 will have -ttu/tty.

The passive has several functions, so these forms can be translated in different ways as well. I have refrained from translating verbtype 6 verbs because they aren’t as suitable for generic passive sentences (because they’re not object verbs). Read more about the usage of the passive here.

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3. Negative Passive Perfect Tense

The verb in the sentence “Tätä takkia ei ole koskaan käytetty” (This coat has never been used) has been written in the negative perfect tense’s passive form.

This perfect tense consists of the verb olla in the third person singular (ie. on) and the TU-participle of the main verb (e.g. käyttää > käytetty). When you make this construction negative, the first element will become negative: on becomes ei ole. The main verb will remain in the TU-participle. That’s how you get the negative passive perfect tense: “ei ole käytetty“.

In the table below, you can find the verbtype each verb belongs to (VT), the affirmative passive perfect form, the negative passive perfect form and one possible translation for the negative phrase.

In spoken language, a double passive form is also regularly used, although it is technically incorrect. As the name implies, this form has two passive forms: both the verb olla and the main verb will be conjugated in the passive. For example, instead of “ei ole tavattu“, the form “ei olla tavattu” is used in spoken language.

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4. Negative Passive Plusquamperfect Tense

The sentence “Kun palasin keittiöön, ruokaa ei ollut syöty” contains an example of the negative passive plusquamperfect. It translates as “When I returned to the kitchen, the food hadn’t been eaten“. The passive plusquamperfect tense consists of three verbal elements: the negative verb ei (the third person singular), the verb olla (more specifically the form ollut), and the TU-participle of the main verb (e.g. syödä > syöty).

In the table below, you can find the verbtype each verb belongs to (VT), the affirmative passive plusquamperfect form, the negative passive plusquamperfect form and one possible translation for the negative phrase.

In spoken language, a double passive form is also regularly used, although it is technically incorrect. This form has two passive forms: both the verb olla and the main verb will be conjugated in the passive. For example, instead of “ei ollut tavattu“, the form “ei oltu tavattu” is also used in spoken language.

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5. Negative Passive Conditional

“Ruokaa ei syötäisi, jos kertoisin kuka teki sitä” is an example of the negative passive conditional and means “The food wouldn’t be eaten if I would tell who made it”.

For the passive conditional‘s negative form, you use the negative verb ei (the third person singular). The main verb will look like the affirmative form (e.g. syötäisiin) with the last two letters -in removed (ie. syötäisi).

In spoken language, the same form is often used for both the positive and the negative form. You can hear, for example for the verb syödä, the sentences “Me syötäis mieluummin kotona” (We would rather eat at home) and “Me ei syötäis ravintolassa, jos…” (We wouldn’t eat in the restaurant if…).

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6. Negative Passive Perfect Conditional

“Ruokaa ei olisi syöty, jos olisin kertonut kuka oli tehnyt sitä” is an example of the negative passive perfect conditional and means “The food wouldn’t have been eaten if I would have told who had made it”.

For the passive perfect conditional’s negative form, you use the negative verb ei (the third person singular), followed by olisi. The main verb will be in its TU-participle form.

In spoken language, a double passive form is also regularly used, although it is technically incorrect. This form has two passive forms: both the verb olla and the main verb will be conjugated in the passive. For example, instead of “ei olisi tavattu“, the form “ei oltaisi tavattu” is also used in spoken language.

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7. Negative Passive Imperative

Another very rare form! The negative passive imperfect is used, for example, in the sentence “Mitään työtä älköön tehtäkö niinä päivinä“, which is a biblical phrase which means “Let no work be done on these days”. This form is pretty archaic and it’s extremely unlikely that you will come across it any everyday life situations.

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8. Negative Passive Potential

“Vastausta ei tiedettäne vielä” is an example of the negative passive potential and means “The answer probably isn’t known yet”. The potential is used to express that something is likely to happen. The negative passive potential expresses that something probably hasn’t been done.

To create the passive potential’s negative form, you use the negative verb ei (the third person singular). The main verb will look like the affirmative form (e.g. tiedettäneen) with the last two letters -en removed (so, tiedettäne).

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Read more elsewhere

Related posts:

Negative Present Passive – Passiivi The Negative Imperfect – Negatiivinen Imperfekti How to Say Yes and No in Finnish – Kyllä ja Ei Finnish Prefix Epä- for Negation ~ Non- Un-