Infinitive Verb Rections – Rektiot Infinitiivi
Certain verbs can be used in a verb + verb construction, where you have two verbs next to each other. The verbs below (in the first column) require the second verb attached to them (in red) to be in their basic form (the infinitive). That’s what we mean by infinitive verb rections.
The infinitive (more technically the first infinitive) is the basic form of a verb. Linguistics call it the A-infinitiivi, because it ends in an -a/-ä for all verbs. If you’ve studied Finnish a little bit, you probably know about the Finnish verbtypes. The A-infinitive is the form which that division is based upon.
| Verb | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| haluta | Minä haluan nukkua ikuisesti. | I want to sleep eternally. |
| osata | Me osaamme uida tosi hyvin. | We know how to swim very well. |
| voida | Sinä et voi auttaa häntä. | You can’t help him. |
| saada | Me saamme mennä kotiin aikaisin. | We get to go home early. |
| jaksaa | Minä en jaksa syödä tätä kaikkea. | I can’t manage to eat that all. |
| kannattaa | Sinun kannattaa kuunnella. | You should listen. |
| pitää | Minun pitää mennä kotiin. | I need to go home. |
| tahtoa | Me tahdomme olla rauhassa. | We want to be in peace. |
| viitsiä | Me emme viitsi siivota tänään. | We can’t be bothered to clean today. |
| luvata | Minä lupaan tulla huomenna. | I promise to come tomorrow. |
| muistaa | Muista sammuttaa valot! | Remember to turn off the lights! |
| unohtaa | Anja unohtaa kuitenkin tulla. | Anja will forget to come anyway. |
| aikoa | Minä aion pyrkiä yliopistoon. | I plan to try to get into university. |
| alkaa | Hän alkaa opiskella. | She starts to study. |
| uskaltaa | Minä en uskalla avata tätä. | I don’t dare to open this. |
| päättää | Anne päättää lähteä matkalle. | Anne decides to leave on a vacation. |
| tykätä | Minä tykkään laulaa karaokea. | I like to sing karaoke. |
A small sidenote: you can also use the verb olla in combination with the first infinitive to express that someone was about to do something: Hän oli lähteä “He was about to leave”, or Hän oli kuolla “He was about to die”.
This was our article on infinitive verb rections! There are other verbs that have a different rection. Here are the links to some of those rection pages!
