Words ending in ja/ija – Opiskelija Opettaja
A lot of verbs, in Finnish as well as in English, have a derivate for the person doing the verb’s action. In English the ending for this is often -er (for example: to play → player). In Finnish, these are often words ending in -ja or -ija (or -jä and -ijä, according to the vowel harmoney rules).
The lists on this page are extremely limited, because there are hundreds of words ending in -ja/-ija. This page is meant to give you an idea of how these words are formed, as well as how they are inflected in all the different cases.
1. Words ending in -ja
Words ending in -ja/jä are derived from verbs by taking the strong stem of the verb (e.g. lentä- → lentäjä; korjaa- → korjaaja).
| Verb | English | Person | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| ajaa | to drive | ajaja | driver |
| ampua | to shoot | ampuja | shooter |
| asentaa | to fit / to install | asentaja | mechanic |
| esiintyä | to perform | esiintyjä | performer |
| hiihtää | to ski | hiihtäjä | skier |
| hitsata | to weld | hitsaaja | welder |
| hoitaa | to take care | hoitaja | caretaker |
| holhota | to guard | holhooja | guardian |
| ilmoittaa | to advertise | ilmoittaja | advertiser |
| johtaa | to lead | johtaja | leader |
| järjestää | to organize | järjestäjä | organizer |
| kalastaa | to fish | kalastaja | fisherman |
| katsoa | to watch | katsoja | viewer |
| kerjätä | to beg | kerjääjä | beggar |
| kertoa | to tell | kertoja | narrator |
| kiristää | to blackmail | kiristäjä | blackmailer |
| korjata | to repair | korjaaja | repairman |
| kuljettaa | to transport | kuljettaja | driver |
| kuristaa | to strangle | kuristaja | strangler |
| käyttää | to use | käyttäjä | user |
| kääntää | to translate | kääntäjä | translator |
| lahjoittaa | to donate | lahjoittaja | donor |
| lentää | to fly | lentäjä | pilot |
| luoda | to create | luoja | creator |
| matkustaa | to travel | matkustaja | traveller |
| myydä | to sell | myyjä | seller |
| ostaa | to buy | ostaja | buyer |
| palvoa | to worship | palvoja | worshipper |
| parantaa | to make better | parantaja | healer |
| perustaa | to found | perustaja | founder |
| pettää | to betray | pettäjä | betrayer |
| piirtää | to draw | piirtäjä | drawer |
| puoltaa | to support | puoltaja | supporter |
| rakastaa | to love | rakastaja | lover |
| saada | to receive | saaja | receiver |
| selostaa | to commentate | selostaja | commentator |
| siivota | to clean | siivooja | cleaner |
| säästää | to save | säästäjä | saver |
| opettaa | to teach | opettaja | teacher |
| tarkastaa | to inspect | tarkastaja | inspector |
| teloittaa | to execute | teloittaja | executioner |
| toimittaa | to report | toimittaja | reporter |
| uudistaa | to innovate | uudistaja | innovator |
| valmentaa | to coach, train | valmentaja | coach / trainer |
| väärentää | to forge | väärentäjä | forger |
| äänittää | to record | äänittäjä | recorder |
2. Words ending in -ija
When a word is derived from a verb which has a stem ending in -i or -e, you will get an -i- in front of the -ja/jä when deriving a noun from it (e.g. kokeile- → kokeilija; hallitse- → hallitsija).
| Verb | English | Person | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| kulkea | to move | jalankulkija | pedestrian |
| kylpeä | to bathe | kylpijä | bather |
| lukea | to read | lukija | reader |
| pyrkiä | to strive (for) | pyrkijä | applicant |
| hulinoida | to be unruly | hulinoitsija | hooligan |
| huomioida | to observe | huomioitsija | observer |
| kapinoida | to rebel | kapinoitsija | rebel |
| käydä | to visit | kävijä | visitor |
| luennoida | to lecture | luennoija | lecturer |
| tupakoida | to smoke | tupakoija | smoker |
| ihailla | to admire | ihailija | admirer |
| harhailla | to wander | harhailija | wanderer |
| julkaista | to publish | julkaisija | publisher |
| katsella | to look | katselija | spectator |
| keräillä | to collect | keräilijä | collector |
| kokeilla | to try | kokeilija | experimenter |
| kuulla | to hear | kuulija | hearer |
| kuunnella | to listen | kuuntelija | listener |
| lasketella | to go down hills | laskettelija | downhill skier |
| luistella | to skate | luistelija | skater |
| matkailla | to travel | matkailija | traveller |
| opiskella | to study | opiskelija | student |
| pestä | to wash | pesijä | laundress |
| pyöräillä | to cycle | pyöräilijä | cyclist |
| runoilla | to write poetry | runoilija | poet |
| suositella | to recommend | suosittelija | referee |
| tarjoilla | to serve | tarjoilija | waiter |
| telttailla | to camp | telttailija | camper |
| urheilla | to sport | urheilija | athlete |
| vietellä | to seduce | viettelijä | seducer |
| viljellä | to cultivate | maanviljelijä | farmer |
| vitkastella | to dawdle | vitkastelija | dawdler |
| voimistella | to to gymnastics | voimistelija | gymnast |
| hallita | to govern | hallitsija | ruler |
| valita | to choose | valitsija | selector |
3. Inflection of words ending in -ja and -ija
Words ending in -ja and -ija can both be inflected in all the Finnish cases. However, their plural inflection will be different.
In the plural, words ending in -ja will have the final -a replaced with the plural -i- (e.g. myyjä → myyjiä). Words ending in -ija will have the final -a replaced with -oi- (e.g. lukija → lukijoita).
| Words ending in -ja | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | opettaja | opettajat |
| Partitive | opettaja | opettajia |
| Genitive | opettajan | opettajien |
| Inessive | opettajassa | opettajissa |
| Elative | opettajasta | opettajista |
| Illative | opettajaan | opettajiin |
| Adessive | opettajalla | opettajilla |
| Ablative | opettajalta | opettajilta |
| Allative | opettajalle | opettajille |
| Translative | opettajaksi | opettajiksi |
| Essive | opettajana | opettajina |
| Words ending in -ija | ||
|---|---|---|
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | opiskelija | opiskelijat |
| Partitive | opiskelijaa | opiskelijoita |
| Genitive | opiskelijan | opiskelijoiden |
| Inessive | opiskelijassa | opiskelijoissa |
| Elative | opiskelijasta | opiskelijoista |
| Illative | opiskelijaan | opiskelijoihin |
| Adessive | opiskelijalla | opiskelijoilla |
| Ablative | opiskelijalta | opiskelijoilta |
| Allative | opiskelijalle | opiskelijoille |
| Translative | opiskelijaksi | opiskelijoiksi |
| Essive | opiskelijana | opiskelijoina |
4. Compound words ending in –ja or -ija
We can derive words ending in -ja/-ija from any verb in theory. However, the usefulness of these words on their own often isn’t very high. What, for example, would you do with the word “be-er” (from the verb “to be”) or “comer” (from the verb “to come”).
While these derivations on their own are near-useless, just looking at the word “comer” could bring to mind other nouns, such as “newcomer” and “homecomer”. We can make compound nouns like these in Finnish as well.
| Verb | English | Person | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| olla mukana | to be involved | mukanaolija | insider |
| olla läsnä | to be present | läsnäolija | attendant |
| tulla vastaan | to come towards | vastaantulija | oncomer |
| tulla sisään | to come instead | vastaantulija | person entering |
| tehdä pahaa | to do evil | pahantekijä | evildoer |
| tehdä syntiä | to do a sin | synnyntekijä | sinner |
| tehdä työtä | to do work | työntekijä | employee |
| antaa työtä | to give work | työnantaja | employer |
| antaa vuokraa | to give rent | vuokranantaja | lessor |
| tanssia nuoralla | to dance on rope | nuorallatanssija | tightrope walker |
| kävellä unissa | to walk in sleep | unissakävelijä | sleepwalker |
| pidellä pahoin | to treat bad | pahoinpitelijä | perpetrator |
| nähdä silmin | to see with eyes | silminnäkijä | eyewitness |
| etsiä kultaa | to search for gold | kullanetsijä | prospector |
| etsiä aarretta | to search for treasure | aarteenetsijä | treasure hunter |
While this is the end of this article, there are hundreds more words ending in -ja/jä. There are also many more nouns that refer to a person, such as the ones in this article on nouns describing personality or behavior.
Thanks for this! I came across this explanation when looking up the word “vastaaja” and now I realize that the -aja ending, which is mostly used as you describe it in section 1 to mean ‘a person that does that verb’ can also be used to mean ‘a machine that does that verb’ such as a kuivaaja (dryer) and vastaaja (answering machine).
Interesting response to a question I asked Copilot AI:
why in finnish does the word for washer (pesukone) end in kone when the word for dryer (kuivaja) ends in aja?
Copilot:
In Finnish, the word “pesukone” is a compound word made up of “pesu” (wash) and “kone” (machine), so it literally translates to “washing machine”.
On the other hand, “kuivaaja” is derived from “kuiva” (dry) and the suffix “-aja”, which is often used to indicate an agent or a device that performs a certain function So, “kuivaaja” can be translated as “dryer” or “drying device”.
The difference in the endings (“-kone” vs “-aja”) is due to the way these words have evolved in the Finnish language and doesn’t necessarily follow a strict rule. In general, “-kone” is often used in compound words to refer to machines or devices, while “-aja” is a common ending for agent nouns, which can refer to both people and machines that perform a certain function2.
So, while both “pesukone” and “kuivaaja” refer to household appliances, the difference in their endings (“-kone” vs “-aja”) reflects the flexibility and richness of the Finnish language. If you have any other questions about Finnish words or grammar, feel free to ask! I’m here to help.
I suppose that’s pretty accurate 🙂 “Kuivaaja” comes from the verb “kuivata” though, the suffix is just -ja, not -aja.
-ja is mostly for persons that do the action. Sometimes also for intruments.
-in is mostly for instruments for the action.
-ri or -uri can be used both for the persons or instruments, but it is usually colloquial.
So, for kuivata I’ve heard all the three variants:
Kuivaaja, kuivain, kuivuri.