Words Ending in -nta/-ntä
April 9, 2019
September 2, 2024
Words ending in -ntA (-nta or -ntä depending on vowel harmony) usually have a verb at the base of them. These words usually refer to the act of doing something, and as such often are used much in the same way as verb-based –minen nouns.
To create words ending in -nta, the weak stem of the verb is taken, with -nta/-ntä added to it. Below are the most common ones.
| Verb | Noun | Context | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| liikehtiä | liikehdintä | Laite havaitsee liikehdintää. | The device detects movement. |
| etsiä | etsintä | Joukkohautojen etsintä alkoi. | The search for mass graves began. |
| laatia | laadinta | Sopimusten laadinta | The preparation of contracts |
| juhlia | juhlinta | Juhlinta aiheutti maanjäristyksen. | The celebrations caused an earthquake. |
| kosia | kosinta | Tämä oli surullinen kosinta. | This was a sad marriage proposal. |
| onkia | onginta | Onginta on kalastusmuoto. | Lucky dip is a type of fishery. |
| pohtia | pohdinta | Nyt on pohdinnan aika. | Now is the time for reflection. |
| poimia | poiminta | Mansikoiden poiminta alkaa nyt. | The strawberry picking starts now. |
| syrjiä | syrjintä | Ei voida hyväksyä syrjintää. | Discrimination can not be accepted. |
| tutkia | tutkinta | Rikoksen tutkinta on kesken. | The crime investigation is ongoing. |
| viestiä | viestintä | Viestintä on muuttunut. | Communication has changed. |
| uusia | uusinta | Kirjojen uusinta onnistuu netissä. | The renewal of books is possible online. |
| karsia | karsinta | Oksien karsinta tehdään kesällä. | Branch pruning is done in summer. |
| hieroa | hieronta | Hieronta auttaa stressiin. | Massaging helps against stress. |
| kiskoa | kiskonta | Aino syyllistyi kiskontaan. | Aino was guilty of extortion. |
| lahjoa | lahjonta | Lahjonta on korruption muoto. | Bribery is a form of corruption. |
| leipoa | leivonta | Tässä pari vinkkiä leivontaan! | Here are a few tips for baking! |
| valvoa | valvonta | Valvonta hoituu automaattisesti. | The monitoring is done automatically. |
| meloa | melonta | Pekka harrastaa melontaa. | Pekka enjoys canoeing as a hobby. |
| palvoa | palvonta | Rahan palvonta on yleistä. | Money worshipping is common. |
| kysyä | kysyntä | Kysyntä on ekonomian termi. | Demand is an economics concept. |
| sitoa | sidonta | Käyn kukkasidonnan kurssilla. | I’m taking a flower binding course. |
| säilöä | säilöntä | Säilöntä ei vaadi kellaria. | Preservation doesn’t require a cellar. |
| huuhtoa | huuhdonta | Kullan huuhdonta käy työstä. | Panning for gold is a lot of work. |
| paheksua | paheksunta | Annan käytös aiheutti paheksuntaa. | Anna’s behavior caused disapproval. |
| ampua | ammunta | Ammunta on hyvä harrastus. | Shooting is a good hobby. |
| karjua | karjunta | Leijonan karjunta herätti minut. | The roaring of the lion woke me up. |
| kellua | kellunta | Kellunta helpottaa kipuja. | Floating alleviates aches. |
| torjua | torjunta | Aerosol auttaa hyönteisten torjunnassa. | Aerosol helps to get rid of insects. |
| purra | purenta | Vääränlainen purenta aiheuttaa kipuja. | A wrong bite causes pain. |
Thanks for the great article yet again!
Is valinta (choice) from valita (to choose) made in the same way? But just by removing the whole final -ta instead of using the weak stem?
I think there were also hallinta from hallita among other similar words.
What makes it so that a certain verb has its noun made using a certain ending?
Some have just -u added to the end, like palvelu, some have -us, some have -os, jne. And some have more than one
Like there’s also hallitus for halita.
What different context do these different endings carry?
Hei! This article is missing quite a lot -nta words. I only included the most common ones, but perhaps I should expand it anyway. You can find a longer list here.
As to why certain endings are used with certain verbs and if they have a different meaning, it depends! There are a lot of different groups within the different derivational elements. Certain verbtypes are more likely to have a certain ending, but there are endings that can be applied to many verbtypes. As for the meaning, some derivated nouns mean the act of doing the verb, and others mean the end result of the action.
This is too complicated for just a comment! Perhaps I will write an article that goes into this topic further. For now, you’ll have to go through the articles I’ve currently written on noun derivation. Check this section for a list of the articles I have currently written on the topic.
Thanks for the reply! It’s a very helpful article. I would definitely be on the lookout for any future article that delves into this topic deeply. It’s always very interesting to try to understand the subtleties of Finnish.