The Perfect Tense – Perfekti
The perfect tense consists of two verbs: the verb olla combined with a second verb, which will have the -nut/-nyt/-neet ending.
- The Use of the Perfect Tense
- When something is still happening
- When something is relevant to the current moment
- Oletko koskaan -sentences
- When something happened while you didn’t see it
- When referring to future events
- The Formation of the Perfect Tense
- Consonant Gradation in the Perfect Tense
- The Negative Perfect Tense
1. Use of the Perfect Tense
When looking at when to use the perfect tense, you have to do so in relation to the imperfect tense. Both tenses are used for things in the past, but mean something different. The way they are used in English is not always like it is in Finnish.
1.1. When Something Is Still Happening
Firstly, the perfect tense is used for things that started in the past, but are still going on at the point of talking. This could be named the “jatkuvuuden perfekti“.
Example 1
- Perfect: Olen asunut Suomessa yhden vuoden.
“I’ve lived in Finland for one year.” I’m still living in Finland. - Imperfect: Asuin Suomessa yhden vuoden.
“I lived in Finland for one year.” Right now, I’m not living in Finland, but I lived there for a year.
Example 2
- Perfect: Olen lukenut tätä kirjaa monta tuntia.
“I’ve been reading this book for many hours.” I’m still going to continue. - Imperfect: Luin tätä kirjaa monta tuntia.
“I’ve read this book for many hours.” I’m not going to continue anymore.
1.2. When Something is Relevant to the Current Moment
When something is done, but the result is relevant for the current moment, you also use the perfect tense.
- Nyt olen syönyt tarpeeksi.
- “Now I’ve eaten enough.”
- I’m done eating, but the result (that I’m done now) is relevant right now.
- Kuka on kirjoittanut Työmiehen vaimon?
- “Who wrote the book ‘työmiehen vaimo’?”
- The book was written a long time ago, the information is relevant right now.
1.3. Oletko Koskaan -Sentences
When talking about your past life and what things you have done or not done, you use the perfect tense in Finnish.
In negative sentences, it conveys the meaning that you haven’t done the action, but might still do it later. For example the phrase “En ole käynyt Espanjassa” doesn’t exclude the possibility of going there later.
A question asking if someone has done something in the past always starts with “oletko koskaan“. The direct response won’t have a specific time mentioned either (e.g. kyllä, olen käynyt USA:ssa “Yes, I’ve been in the US.”). When we add a specific time to the event (e.g. kävin USA:ssa viime vuonna “I was in the US last year”), we use the imperfect tense instead.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Oletko koskaan matkustanut Thaimaahan? | Have you ever traveled to Thailand? |
| — En ole, mutta haluaisin kyllä! | — I haven’t, but I’d like to! |
| Oletko koskaan syönyt thaimaalaista ruokaa? | Have you ever eaten Thai food? |
| — Kyllä, olen syönyt thaimaalaista ruokaa. | — Yes, I have eaten Thai food. |
| — Söin thaimaalaista ruokaa viime viikolla. | — I ate Thai food last week. |
| Oletko koskaan työskennellyt pankissa? | Have you ever worked in a bank? |
| — Joo, olen työskennellyt pankissa. | — Yes, I have worked in a bank. |
| — Työskentelin Lontoon pankissa vuosi sitten. | — I worked in the bank of London a year ago. |
1.4. When Something Happened While You Didn’t See It
This use of the perfect tense is often called the “ahaa”-perfect. It’s used when you notice something has happened in your absense.
Example 1
- Perfect: Yöllä on satanut lunta! (It snowed during the night.)
Explanation: I slept, and it’s morning now, I see the ground outside is all white! - Imperfect: Yöllä satoi lunta. (It snowed during the night.)
Explanation: I couldn’t sleep and I looked out of the window and it was snowing.
Example 2
- Perfect: Maija on ostanut uuden mekon! (Maija has bought a new dress.)
Explanation: I came to work today and saw Maija in a new dress that she didn’t have yesterday. - Imperfect: Maija osti eilen uuden mekon. (Maija bought a new dress yesterday.)
Explanation: I went to the store with Maija and we picked out this dress together.
1.5. When referring to future events
Another quite unusual way to use the perfect tense is related to future events. In sentences with two actions, you can use the perfect tense to express that once you’ve finished something, you will be doing something else. The part of the sentence with the perfect tense will start with the word kun “when”, while the other part will have the verb conjugated in the present tense.
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| Kun olen imuroinut, aion katsoa televisiota. | When I’ve vacuum-cleaned I plan to watch television. |
| Kun olen käynyt suihkussa, tulen auttamaan sinua. | When I’ve showered I will come help you. |
| Tulisitko tänne, kun olet syönyt? | Would you come here when you’ve eaten? |
| Pesemme astiat aina heti, kun olemme syöneet. | We always do the dishes immediately when we’ve eaten. |
| Saanko kirjan, kun olette lukeneet sen? | Can I have the book when you’ve read it? |
| Kun he ovat juoneet kahvinsa, he palaavat töihin. | When they’ve drunk their coffee they get back to work. |
1.6. Related Articles
- Example sentences of the difference between the perfect and imperfect tense
- The active past participle, aka the NUT-participle
- Adjectives ending in -nut/-nyt
2. The Formation of the Perfect Tense
The formation of the perfect tense is very similar to the negative imperfect. The main verb will be in the exact same form you need for the perfect tense. The verb will be in its NUT-participle form.
| Verbtype 1 | |
|---|---|
| nukkua | kertoa |
| minä olen nukkunut | minä olen kertonut |
| sinä olet nukkunut | sinä olet kertonut |
| hän on nukkunut | hän on kertonut |
| me olemme nukkuneet | me olemme kertoneet |
| te olette nukkuneet | te olette kertoneet |
| he ovat nukkuneet | he ovat kertoneet |
| Verbtype 2 | |
| juoda | myydä |
| minä olen juonut | minä olen myynyt |
| sinä olet juonut | sinä olet myynyt |
| hän on juonut | hän on myynyt |
| me olemme juoneet | me olemme myyneet |
| te olette juoneet | te olette myyneet |
| he ovat juoneet | he ovat myyneet |
| Verbtype 3 | |
| ommella | nousta |
| minä olen ommellut | minä olen noussut |
| sinä olet ommellut | sinä olet noussut |
| hän on ommellut | hän on noussut |
| me olemme ommelleet | me olemme nousseet |
| te olette ommelleet | te olette nousseet |
| he ovat ommelleet | he ovat nousseet |
| Verbtype 4 | |
| tavata | haluta |
| minä olen tavannut | minä olen halunnut |
| sinä olet tavannut | sinä olet halunnut |
| hän on tavannut | hän on halunnut |
| me olemme tavanneet | me olemme halunneet |
| te olette tavanneet | te olette halunneet |
| he ovat tavanneet | he ovat halunneet |
| Verbtype 5 | |
| häiritä | valita |
| minä olen häirinnyt | minä olen valinnut |
| sinä olet häirinnyt | sinä olet valinnut |
| hän on häirinnyt | hän on valinnut |
| me olemme häirinneet | me olemme valinneet |
| te olette häirinneet | te olette valinneet |
| he ovat häirinneet | he ovat valinneet |
| Verbtype 6 | |
| rohjeta | vanheta |
| minä olen rohjennut | minä olen vanhennut |
| sinä olet rohjennut | sinä olet vanhennut |
| hän on rohjennut | hän on vanhennut |
| me olemme rohjenneet | me olemme vanhenneet |
| te olette rohjenneet | te olette vanhenneet |
| he ovat rohjenneet | he ovat vanhenneet |
3. Consonant Gradation in the Perfect Tense
Verbs that are conjugated in the perfect tense will have the same consonant gradation as the infinitive of the verb (the basic form). For example, leipoa (minä leivon) will become leiponut; while tavata (minä tapaan) will become tavannut.
| Consonant gradation | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbtype | Infinitive | Minä | Sinä | Hän | Me | Te | He |
| Verbtype 1 | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong | strong |
| Verbtype 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Verbtype 3 | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak |
| Verbtype 4 | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak |
| Verbtype 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Verbtype 6 | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak | weak |
4. The Negative Perfect Tense
| Verb | The Perfect Tense | Negative Perfect Tense |
|---|---|---|
| nukkua | minä olen nukkunut | minä en ole nukkunut |
| tarjeta | minä olen tarjennut | minä en ole tarjennut |
| antaa | sinä olet antanut | sinä et ole antanut |
| valita | sinä olet valinnut | sinä et ole valinnut |
| juoda | hän on juonut | hän ei ole juonut |
| soittaa | hän on soittanut | hän ei ole soittanut |
| imuroida | me olemme imuroineet | me emme ole imuroineet |
| suudella | me olemme suudelleet | me emme ole suudelleet |
| kävellä | te olette kävelleet | te ette ole kävelleet |
| silittää | te olette silittäneet | te ette ole silittäneet |
| tavata | he ovat tavanneet | he eivät ole tavanneet |
| vanheta | he ovat vanhenneet | he eivät ole vanhenneet |
whats the difference between
Olen asunut Suomessa yhden vuoden. And Olen ollut Suomessa yhden vuoden.
They usually mean the same thing. Literally “Olen ollut Suomessa yhden vuoden” just means that you’ve BEEN in Finland for a year. Maybe you didn’t LIVE here, but you just hung around? (Olen asunut = I’ve lived; Olen ollut = I’ve been). Most of the time people mean the same thing with both these phrases though.
Im late with this but I think this could lead into another question on whether one could say “I’ve BEEN LIVING in x” and you would know that as the present perfect continuous English. It seems that Finnish’s Present Perfect doesn’t make that distinction and it’s just wrapped into one tense. I.e olen asunut can also convey “I’ve been living” since the past participles for many verbs that aren’t olla usually are translated as present perfect continuous.
Hmmm maybe it’s a mistake to do that though..
Yeah, those two tenses seem to be just grouped together 🙂 I’m pretty bad at using English tenses correctly, as well as not knowing the terms very well.
I’m not certain I’m remembering correctly, but I get the feeling the imperfect and perfect tenses are described backwards? Unless it’s the opposite of latin (my only other language that taught me perfect/imperfect), the perfect tense describes a verb that has been completed, while the imperfect is used for a verb that is ongoing? I would love some clarification on this if possible!
Finnish uses these terms differently than Latin, so no wonder you got confused!
When talking past PAST EVENTS:
The imperfect is used for events that are over completely (usually with the idea that it happened recently or that it has some importance in the situation at hand). We usually add an expression of time to show when the event happened. The perfect tense is us for things that have happened at some point in the past, but are clearly over and it’s of less importance when they happened.
In addition, the Finnish perfect tense can be used to express things that happened in the past but are still ungoing. This is in direct contrast with Latin I believe, where that is called the IMPERFECT.
hi.. i am having a hard time looking for the passive perfect tense topic.. (positive passive perfect tense & negative passive perfect tense)
the one that you need to add “ttu” at the ending of the verb.. (for postive passive perfect tense..) kindly pls guide me where exactly i can find it if ever that you have any… 🙏
Hei Olivia!
I don’t seem to have a page on the passive perfect tense yet (it’s hard to keep track sometimes of what I do and don’t have an article on). For now, I think the article on the TU-participle might help you a little: https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-grammar/verbs/participles/the-passive-past-participle-tu-partisiippi
I have a wonder that, when the verb is going with -ut or -yt?
It’s related to vowel harmony. If you are not familiar with that concept, that article should be good:
https://uusikielemme.fi/finnish-grammar/vowel-harmony-vokaaliharmonia-finnish-grammar