This article contains information about verbtype 1. Verbtype 1 is only one of the 6 Finnish verbtypes. You can compare the verbtypes on our page about all the Finnish verbtypes.

This page contains information about how verbtype 1 verbs are conjugated in affirmative and negative sentences as well as what type of consonant gradation they undergo in each of the tenses. If you’re unfamiliar with the meaning of a case, you can click through to the pages I will be linking throughout.

Note: If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s totally understandable. Please understand that there is no point learning all of these tenses in quick succession, especially not if you’re focusing on verbtype 1. This page is meant as an overview only.

1. Verbtype 1 Endings

The basic form (infinitive) of verbtype 1 verbs always ends in two vowels. The last vowel will always be an -a/-ä in the basic form.

2. Verbtype 1 Present Tense

All verbtype 1 verbs are conjugated the same way in the present tense. You remove the last vowel of the verb (which is always an -a/ä) and replace it with the personal pronoun ending.

When using the verb in a negative sentence (e.g. “I don’t sit”) you will use the same form as you use for the affirmative minä-form (e.g. minä istun) but without the -n (so it will be istu). The negative verb will be conjugated instead (so minä en istu). Read more here.

3. Present Tense Consonant Gradation

Many verbtype 1 verbs undergo consonant gradation. You can read more about which consonants change in the article about verbtype 1 consonant gradation. The linked article also contains examples of each type, so check it out for more information!

The consonant gradation rule for the present tense of verbtype 1 is that the hän and he forms will have the “strong” grade (which is also present in the basic form of the verb, e.g. antaa : hän antaa : he antavat). The other forms will have the “weak” grade (so minä annan : sinä annat : me annamme : te annatte). The negative forms will also all have the “weak” grade.

4. Verbtype 1 Singular Imperative

The singular imperative is used when you’re ordering one person to do or refrain from doing something: Sleep! Dance! Sing! Don’t ask! The singular imperative looks like the present tense minä-form without the -n. This means that the imperative will be weak (nukkua → nuku). In the negative, you will just place älä in front of the imperative form.

5. Verbtype 1 Plural Imperative

The plural imperative is used when you’re ordering more than one person to do or refrain from doing something: Read! Sleep! Don’t buy!

In the affirmative forms, the plural imperative will get -kaa/-kää (vowel harmony). You will add this ending to the third person plural he-form without the –vat. The plural imperative is strong. In the negative, you will use älkää as the negative verb (“don’t), followed by the same -vat stem and -ko/kö added to it.

6. Verbtype 1 Imperfect Tense

The past tense of verbtype 1 requires us to split the verbs into several different categories. Each category undergoes a different change when you conjugate the verb in the past tense. Verbtype 1 has four groups:

1. Verbs ending in -oa, -öä, -ua, or -yä (add -i- to stem’s last vowel)
   
2. Verbs ending in -ea, -eä, -ää, -ia or -iä (replace stem’s last vowel with -i-)
3. Two syllable a…a → a…oi verbs (learn more here)
4. Verbs ending in -LTAA, -RTAA, -NTAA or –vvTAA (learn more here)

You can find the explanation for each of these groups on the page that deals with the imperfect tense. The table below contains only one example of each type of verbtype 1 verb.

7. Verbtype 1 Negative Imperfect Tense

While the affirmative imperfect tense follows one rule set, the negative forms look completely different. It’s actually easier because all verbtype 1 verbs follow the same rule, so the lentää and auttaa type verbs from above will follow the same pattern as e.g. kysyä. You can click here to learn more about the negative imperfect of all verbtypes.

For the negative imperfect of verbtype 1, you will take:

1. Conjugation of the negative verb: en/et/ei/emme/ette/eivät. Read more here.
2. Infinitive’s stem: nukku/sano/kerto. The infinitive’s stem is the stem you find by removing the last letter for verbtype 1. It will always be strong!
3. Active past participle: nut/nyt/neet. Pay attention to vowel harmony.

8. Verbtype 1 Perfect Tense

The perfect tense is used to say I have slept, we have gone, you have flown, we haven’t eaten. The conjugation of the perfect tense and the negative imperfect are similar. The only difference is the auxiliary verb: for the perfect tense, you will use the verb olla. So, for the perfect tense of verbtype 1, you will take:

1. The present tense of the verb olla: olen/olet/on/olemme/olette/ovat.
2. Active past participle: nut/nyt/neet. Pay attention to vowel harmony. It will always be strong!

9. Verbtype 1 Plusquamperfect Tense

The plusquamperfect tense is used to say I had slept, we had gone, you had flown. The difference between the conjugation of the perfect tense and the plusquamperfect tense lays in the auxiliary verb: for the perfect tense, you will use olen, olet, on and for the plusquamperfect olin, olit, oli. So, for the plusquamperfect of verbtype 1, you will take:

1. The past tense of the verb olla: olin/olit/oli/olimme/olitte/olivat.
2. Active past participle: nut/nyt/neet. Pay attention to vowel harmony. It will always be strong!

In the negative, your auxiliary verb will be conjugated in the negative past tense (en ollut, et ollut etc). These sentences will be translated to English as, for example, “I hadn’t slept”, “I hadn’t eaten”, “I hadn’t gone”.

10. Conditional

The conditional is used to say I would go, I would take, I wouldn’t come, would you, could I. For the conditional, you will need the strong form of the verb. It’s probably the easiest to take the present tense third person plural (he-form) without the personal ending -vat. The conditional’s marker is -isi-.

• If your verb’s stem ends in –o, -u, -ö, -y, -a or -ä you will add -isi- to the end of it.
• If your verb’s stem ends in –e or –i, you will replace it with -isi-.

11. Perfect Conditional

The perfect conditional is used to say you would have done something. You will use the verb olla in the conditional (e.g. olisin, olisivat). Then, use the same form you use for the perfect tense (the NUT-participle). This form is always strong.

12. Present Passive

Read about when to use this form in the article all about the present passive. In verbtype 1, we have two types of changes happening.

• For verbs that end in -oa, -öä, -ua, -yä, -ea, -eä, -ia, and -iä (simply put: two vowels, except -aa/ää), you use the weak stem (from the minä-form) and add -taan/-tään to it (according to the vowel harmony rules).
• For verbs that end in -aa or -ää, the last vowel of the stem will turn into an -e- (e.g. ostaa → ostetaan; kääntää → käännetään).

In the negative, you will remove the last two letters (-an/än) from the positive passive form.

13. Past Passive – Passive Imperfect

You can read more about the past passive in general in the article that covers all the verbtypes. In verbtype 1, we have two types of changes happening.

• For verbs that end in -oa, -öä, -ua, -yä, -ea, -eä, -ia, and -iä (simply put: two vowels, except -aa/ää), you use the weak stem (from the minä-form) and add -ttiin to it.
• For verbs that end in -aa or -ää, the last vowel of the stem will turn into an -e- (e.g. ostaa → ostettiin; kääntää → käännettiin), just like in the present passive.

In the negative, you will replace the -ttiin from the positive passive with -ttu/tty (vowel harmony).

14. Passive Conditional

You can read more about the passive conditional in general in the article that covers all the verbtypes. For verbtype 1, we have two types of changes happening.

• For verbs that end in -oa, -öä, -ua, -yä, -ea, -eä, -ia, and -iä (simply put: two vowels, except -aa/ää), you use the weak stem (from the minä-form) and add -ttaisiin to it.
• For verbs that end in -aa or -ää, the last vowel of the stem will turn into an -e- (e.g. ostaa → ostettaisiin; kääntää → käännettäisiin), just like in the present passive.

In the negative, you will remove the last two letters from the positive passive conditional.

15. Potential

The potential is used to express that something is possible or probable. For example, hän nukkunee means “he may sleep, he’s probably sleeping”. You can conjugate verbtype 1 verbs in the potential by adding -ne- to the strong stem of the verb. This is the same stem you use for the NUT-participle in the perfect tense. Then, you add the personal ending (-n for minä etc).

16. Past Potential (Perfect Potential)

The past potential is actually the perfect potential. The example hän lienee nukkunut means “he may have slept, he probably slept”. This form consists of the potential conjugation of the verb olla (lienee) + the NUT-participle of the main verb.

17. Verbtype 1 subcategories

Everything above can also be presented in a different way. We can divide the verbs of verbtype 1 into subcategories depending on how they differ from one another. This is how Kotus approaches verb conjugations. Wiktionary is also extremely useful for this because it lists verbs belonging to each page and conjugates them further.

Next, I will go over the subcategories of verbtype 1 in a similar fashion. In contrast with Kotus, I will be adding some elements and removing others. For example, for the imperative, I will stick with the more common plural imperative (sanokaa, nukkukaa) over the jussive (sanokoon, nukkukoon). I will also be combining some subcategories. Do check out Kotus’ original division if you’re interested.

17.1. “Sanoa” type verbs (approximately 2,350 verbs)

Verbs like sanoa are the most basic of the verbtype 1 subcategories. We will use this type as a base when we look at how other subcategories behave. The conjugation of sanoa type verbs work like this:

• Present tense: remove -a from infinitive, add personal ending.
• Imperfect tense: add -i- to the end of the stem, add personal ending.
• Conditional: add -isi- to the end of the stem, add personal ending.
• Singular imperative: remove the -n from the minä-form (aka weak stem).
• Plural imperative: replace the -vat from the he-form (aka strong stem) with -kaa/kää.
• NUT-participle: add –nut/nyt/neet to the strong stem.
• Passive: add -taan (in present), -ttiin (in past), -ttaisiin (in conditional) to the weak stem.
• Potential: add -ne- to the strong stem and follow it up with the personal pronoun.

17.2. “Muistaa” type verbs (approximately 2,988 verbs)

17.3. “Huutaa” type verbs (+ tuntea) (approximately 367 verbs)

17.4. “Kaivaa” type verbs (approximately 76 verbs)

17.5. “Laskea” type verbs (approximately 43 verbs)

17.6. “Sallia” type verbs (approximately 434 verbs)

17.7. “Taitaa” and “tietää”

18. Examples of verbtype 1 verbs

There is a huge amount of verbtype 1 verbs. Below, you can find three categories: verbs for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. This is just my idea of which verbs belong to which level.

It’s important to note that most of these verbs can mean multiple things. You should check these from a dictionary to get the full meaning of each verb. If your Finnish is at intermediate or advanced levels, please use a Finnish-Finnish dictionary.

The CS column contains consonant gradation information, while the “Conjugated like…” refers to the subcategories listed above.

Links to other great resources:

• Kotus: taivutustyypit
• Wiktionary: Finnish conjugation
• Verbix: Finnish verb conjugation
• Giellatekno: Suomen kielen analyysiohjelmat
• Jukka Korpela: Suomen verbien taivutustyypit

Related posts:

The Finnish Verbtypes The Imperfect Tense – Past Tense – Imperfekti The Negative Imperfect – Negatiivinen Imperfekti The Passive Conditional – Tehtäisiin / Tehtäis