The Finnish past tense: imperfect, perfect and pluperfect

Three past tenses at a glance

The simple past (often called the imperfect in Finnish grammar books) is the one you will use most. It describes finished actions: Eilen söin kalaa (Yesterday I ate fish).

The imperfect: add -i-

To form the imperfect, take the verb stem (the same stem you use in the present tense), add -i-, and then the usual personal ending. In the third person singular there is no ending at all, just the -i.

The tricky part is what happens to the vowel before the -i-. Each verb type has its own pattern.

How stems change, verb type by verb type

Type 1 verbs (puhua, lukea, ostaa)

Type 1 verbs end in a vowel + a/ä. What happens depends on the last vowel of the stem:

• o, u, y, ö stay and just add -i: puhua → puhui, sanoa → sanoi, kysyä → kysyi.
• e drops: lukea → luki, lähteä → lähti.
• i stays as it is: oppia → oppi. So opin can mean 'I learn' or 'I learned'.
• ä drops: käyttää → käytti, jättää → jätti.
• a in two-syllable verbs: if the first vowel is o or u, the a drops: ostaa → osti, muistaa → muisti. If the first vowel is a, e or i, the a usually becomes o: antaa → antoi, maksaa → maksoi, ajaa → ajoi.
• a in longer verbs usually drops: kirjoittaa → kirjoitti.

Consonant gradation works just like in the present: the weak grade in minä, sinä, me, te, the strong grade in hän and he. So lukea gives luin, luit, luki, luimme, luitte, lukivat, and ottaa gives otin, otit, otti, otimme, otitte, ottivat.

Type 2 verbs (syödä, juoda, saada)

The long vowel or diphthong of the stem gets shorter before -i-: syödä → söi, juoda → joi, viedä → vei, saada → sai, myydä → myi. Two common verbs are a little different: käydä → kävi (visited, went) and tehdä → teki (did, made), nähdä → näki (saw).

Type 3 verbs (tulla, mennä, olla)

The stem ends in -e, which drops: tulla → tulin, tuli, mennä → menin, meni, olla → olin, oli, pestä → pesin, pesi. The very common verb olla goes olin, olit, oli, olimme, olitte, olivat.

Type 4 verbs (haluta, tavata)

These verbs get -si- instead of a plain -i-: haluta → halusin, pelata → pelasin, tavata → tapasin (I met). Careful: haluan means 'I want', halusin means 'I wanted'.

Type 5 verbs (tarvita, valita)

Type 5 verbs get -tsi-: tarvita → tarvitsin (I needed), valita → valitsin (I chose).

Asking questions in the past

Add -ko/-kö to the verb, just like in the present: Puhuitko hänen kanssaan? (Did you talk with him/her?), Söitkö jo? (Did you eat already?), Olitko kotona? (Were you at home?).

The negative past: en puhunut

The negative past does not use the -i- form. Instead you use the negative verb (en, et, ei…) in the present, plus a past participle ending in -nut/-nyt (singular) or -neet (plural).

The participle follows vowel harmony (-nut or -nyt) and changes a little with the verb type. The n often blends with the consonant before it:

The perfect: olen puhunut

The perfect is olla in the present + the same participle: olen puhunut, olet puhunut, hän on puhunut, olemme puhuneet, olette puhuneet, he ovat puhuneet. It is used much like the English 'have done': for experiences, and for things that started in the past and are still true.

The pluperfect: olin puhunut

The pluperfect is olla in the past + the participle: olin puhunut (I had spoken). It shows that one past event happened before another. The negative is en ollut puhunut.

The past in spoken Finnish

In everyday speech the participle often loses its final -t: en mä tienny (I didn't know), oon ollu (I have been). For 'we', people usually use the passive form: me mentiin (we went), me oltiin (we were). Read more in our guide to spoken Finnish.

Practise with Maija

The past tense is what you need to tell stories: what you did at the weekend, where you lived before, how you came to Finland. Maija asks you exactly these kinds of questions in spoken classes, listens to your answers and gently corrects forms like ostin or en ostanut when they slip. Take the free level check to start at the right level.