Words Ending in mUs - Sopimus Taipumus Rintamus

Finnish has a fairly small group of words ending in –mUs. These nouns are generally derived from a verb. This derivation type is no longer productive: no new words are created according to this pattern.

Below, I have marked the most commonly used words ending in -mUs in green. If you’re a beginner, those are the words to study first!

Table of Contents

Formation of Words Ending in -mUs
Example Sentences

1. Formation of Words Ending in –mUs

Words ending in –mus/mys usually have been derived from a verb. The –mus gets added to the strong vowel stem of the verb. There is also a small group of words that are derived from nouns.

1.1. Derived from verbtype 1 verbs

The biggest group of words ending in –mus come from a two-syllable verb, most commonly a verb ending in –ua or -yä. The -mus will generally be added to the strong stem of the verb.

‑UA- > kysy-ä → kysymys; petty-ä → pettymys
‑OA- > kerto-a → kertomus, aiko-a → aikomus
‑AA- > elä-ä → elämys; luotta-a → luottamus
‑eA- > hake-a → hakemus; koke-a → kokemus
‑iA- > sopi-a → sopimus; vaati-a → vaatimus
‑UtUA- > kieltäytyä → kieltäymys (doesn’t follow the pattern perfectly)

#	Verb	English	Noun	English
1	katua	to regret	katumus	remorse
1	kysyä	to ask	kysymys	question
1	kutsua	to invite	kutsumus	calling, vocation
1	koostua	to consist of	koostumus	composition
1	suostua	to agree	suostumus	consent
1	taipua	to bend, to give in	taipumus	inclination, disposition
1	myöntyä	to consent, assent to	myöntymys	consent
1	täyttyä	to be filled up	täyttymys	fulfillment
1	ärtyä	to get irritated	ärtymys	irritation
1	pettyä	to be disappointed	pettymys	disappointment
1	nöyrtyä	to be humble	nöyrtymys	humility
1	juopua	to get drunk	juopumus	drunkenness
1	kiihtyä	to get excited	kiihtymys	excitement, arousal
1	mieltyä	to fancy	mieltymys	fondness
1	viehtyä	to be charmed	viehtymys	interest, urge
1	suuttua	to get angry	suuttumus	indignation, anger
1	taantua	to regress	taantumus	regression
1	väsyä	to get tired	väsymys	fatigue
1	uupua	to get exhausted	uupumus	exhaustion
1	nääntyä	to languish	nääntymys	prostration
1	kiintyä	to become attached	kiintymys	devotion, attachment
1	kääntyä	to convert	kääntymys	conversion (faith)
1	turtua	to go dead	turtumus	numbness
2	anoa	to pleade, apply	anomus	petition, application
2	latoa	to pile	latomus	pile (e.g. ancient wall stones)
2	leipoa	to bake	leipomus	batch of baked goods
2	kertoa	to tell	kertomus	report, story
2	aikoa	to intend	aikomus	intention
2	rikkoa	to break	rikkomus	violation, offence
2	toivoa	to hope, wish	toivomus	wish, request
2	uskoa	to believe	uskomus	belief, notion
3	elää	to live	elämys	experience, thrill
3	tietää	to know	tietämys	know-how
3	kantaa	to carry, to bear	kantamus	load, burden
3	ääntää	to pronounce	ääntämys	pronunciation
3	luottaa	to trust	luottamus	trust
3	tuottaa	to produce	tuottamus	negligence
3	olettaa	to assume	olettamus	hypothesis, assumption
3	ymmärtää	to understand	ymmärtämys	sympathy, understanding
4	hakea	to apply	hakemus	application
4	kokea	to experience	kokemus	experience
4	tuntea	to feel, sense	tuntemus	sensation
5	aistia	to sense	aistimus	sensation
5	periä	to inherit, come into	perimys	succession
5	sopia	to agree	sopimus	agreement
5	vaatia	to demand	vaatimus	requirement, demand
5	kärsiä	to suffer	kärsimys	suffering
5	vihkiä	to inaugurate, wed	vihkimys	initiation
5	pyrkiä	to attempt to	pyrkimys	attempt
5	parsia	to darn	parsimus	darning
5	tutkia	to investigate	tutkimus	investigation, research
6	sitoutua	to commit	sitoumus	commitment, obligation
6	kieltäytyä	to forbid	kieltäymys	abnegation, renunciation

1.2. Derived from other verbtypes

There are also some -mus nouns that are derived from other verbtypes. Please note that –mus is a “dead” derivation type: no new words are being created following this pattern.

Verbtype 2: added to the third person verb stem
Verbtype 3: the stem used is either the vowel stem (koettele-mus) or the consonant stem (katsel-mus)
Verbtype 4: most of these have a long vowel (vedota → vetoomus; seurata → seuraamus)
Verbtype 5: ravita → ravitsen → ravitsemus

VT	Verb	English	Noun	English
2	luoda	to create	luomus	creation
2	nähdä	to see, view	näkemys	point of view
3	olla	to be	olemus	appearance, presence
3	koetella	to try, to test	koettelemus	ordeal
3	katsella	to watch	katselmus	audit, review
3	ylösnousta	to ascend	ylösnousemus	recurrection
4	seurata	to follow	seuraamus	ramification
4	vedota	to appeal to	vetoomus	appeal, petition
4	langeta	to fall, indulge	lankeemus	fall (from grace)
4	todeta	to note, to state	toteamus	statement
5	ravita	to nourish	ravitsemus	nutrition

1.3. Derived from a noun, adjective or affix

Words ending in -mUs that are derived from a noun generally have one of two meanings. First, they can be words that refer to people, generally in a pretty derogative way. Second, they are often words that refer to a part of clothing.

Words derived from a noun generally describe part of clothing
Words derived from an affix, often similar to a postposition (e.g. taka- and takana)
Words derived from an adjective are generally either be a negative (a) or a neutral (b) term for a person.

#	Base	English	Noun	English
1	selkä	back	selkämys	back side of shirt
1	rinta	chest	rintamus	front side of shirt or pants
1	helma	hem of cloth	helmus	hem of cloth (rarer)
1	silmä	eye	silmus	ring in cloth, loop
2	etu-	front	etumus	front side of shirt or pants
2	taka-	behind	takamus	butt, or butt area of pants
2	sisä-	inside	sisälmykset	entrails, innards (always plural)
3a	ilkeä	mean	ilkimys	mean person
3a	laiska	lazy	laiskimus	lazy person
3a	raaka	crude, harsh	raakimus	brute, cruel person
3a	surkea	pitiful, pathetic	surkimus	loser, pathetic person
3a	tylsä	boring	tylsimys	boring person
3b	pyhä	holy	pyhimys	saint
3b	yli-	over, superior	ylimys	aristocrat

2. Example Sentences

I’ve tried to keep these example sentences as simple as possible. I hope these will help you to understand these words better than the lists above and give you an idea of which verbs work with these nouns!

Noun	Explanation
Esitän kysymyksen.	I ask a question.
Esitän vaatimuksen.	I make a claim.
Esitän näkemykseni.	I present my point of view.
Esitän toivomuksen.	I present a request, a wish.
Esitin vain toteamuksen.	I just made a statement.
Kirjoitan kertomuksen.	I write a report.
Kirjoitan anomuksen.	I write an application.
Allekirjoitan vetoomuksen.	I sign the petition.
Allekirjoitan sopimuksen.	I sign the agreement.
Täytän hakemuksen.	I fill an application.
Annan suostumuksen.	I give my consent.
Annan sitoumuksen.	I make a commitment.
Saan kokemusta.	I get experience.
Toimitan katselmuksen.	I provide a review/audit.
Kumoan olettamuksen.	I refure the presumption.
Havaitsen rikkomuksen.	I notice a violation, an offense.
Toivon ymmärtämystä.	I hope for sympathy, understanding.
Suoritin tutkimuksen.	I did a research project.
Aiheutan pettymyksen.	I cause disappointment.
Aiheutan kärsimystä.	I cause suffering.
Tunnen katumusta.	I feel regret.
Tunnen mieltymystä symmetriaan.	Symmetry pleases me.
Tunnen suuttumusta ja vihaa.	I feel anger and hate.
Koen täyttymystä työstäni.	I get fulfillment from my work.
Koen elämyksen.	I’m having an experience.
Koen voimakasta väsymystä.	I experience severe fatigue.
Koen uuvuttavaa turtumusta.	I experience exhausting numbness.
Raahaan kantamuksen mukaani.	I drag the burden with me.
Puran parsimuksen.	I undo the parsing.
Poistan kalasta sisälmykset.	I remove the entrails of the fish.
Työni aiheuttaa uupumusta.	My job causes exhaustion.
Se herättää ärtymystä ja vihaa.	It arouses irritation and anger.
Se herätti kiihtymystä.	It aroused excitement/agitation.
Se aiheuttaa aistimuksen.	It causes a sensation.
Viini aiheuttaa juopumusta.	Wine causes drunkenness.
Liikunta tukee ravitsemusta.	Exercise supports nutrition.
Se vaatii historian tuntemusta.	It requires knowledge of history.
Taantumuksen ajanjakso on ohi.	The period of recession is over.
Luottamusta pitää ansaita.	Trust must be earned.
Työni on minulle kutsumus.	My job is my calling.
Ihmisillä on taipumus lihoa.	People tend to gain weight.
Ylpeys käy lankeemuksen edellä.	Pride precedes the fall.
Pohdin ajan olemusta.	I reflected on the essence of time.
Perimys on määritelty laissa.	Inheritance is defined by law.
Poliisi määrää seuraamuksen	The police imposes the saction.
Kaskin parsimuksen syliini.	I loweredd the parsing onto my lap.
Aikomukseni olivat hyvät.	My intentions were good.
Onko ääntämykseni oikea?	Is my pronunciation correct?
Tietämyksen jako on perusehto.	Sharing know-how is essential.
Jeesuksen ylösnousemusta juhlitaan.	The resurrection of Jesus is celebrated.
Löysin ikivanhan kivilatomuksen.	I found an ancient stone lath.
Lasten leipomukset ovat hellyttäviä.	The kids’ baked goods are endeaing.
Frankensteinin luomus oli hirviö.	Frankenstein’s creation was a monster.
Uskoni kesti koettelemuksen.	My faith made it through the ordeal.
Uskomus osoittautui vääräksi.	The belief turned out to be wrong.
Arvostan pyrkimystä kohti parempaa.	I appreciate the effort to be better.
Selkämys oli irronnut kirjasta.	The back of the book had come off.
Paidan rintamuksessa on logo.	The shirt has a logo on the chest.
Paidan etumuksessa on logo.	The shirt has a logo on the front.
Hameen takamus oli läpimärkä.	The back of the skirt was soaking wet.
Joku ilkimys päästi koiran vapaaksi.	Some mean person set the dog free.
Laiskimus ei siivonnut huonetta.	The lazy person didn’t clean the room.
Isäpuoleni on oikea raakimus.	My stepfather is a real brute.
Olen yksinäinen surkimus.	I’m a lonely loser.
Olen mielikuvitukseton tylsimys.	I’m an unimaginative bore.
Äiti Teresan on pyhimys.	Mother Teresa is a saint.
Ylimykset olivat maanomistajia.	The nobles were landowners.