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The Finnish Verbtypes

According to the way Finnish is currently taught to

immigrants, there are six verbtypes in Finnish. Over
time, there have been many different ways of dividing
verbs into categories. The model with 6 verbtypes
presented below is definitely not the only one. There
have been attempts to limit the amount of Finnish
verbtypes to 3, but there has also been a system with
45 verbtypes. If you’d like to hear more about those,
Michael Hämäläinen has brought up some of these
alternative ways in the comments

Verbs are divided into verbtypes based on what they

look like in their basic (infinitive) form as well as how
they change when being conjugated. If you know what
verbtype verbs belong to, it will be easier for you to
remember how it is conjugated.

This article called Your First 100 Finnish Verbs will

help you get started!

Table of Contents

Verbtype 1– puhua, sanoa, kysyä

Verbtype 2 – syödä, juoda, imuroida
Verbtype 3 – opiskella, mennä, pestä
Verbtype 4 – haluta, tavata, siivota
Verbtype 5 – valita, tarvita, häiritä
Verbtype 6 – lämmetä, vanheta, paeta
Verbtype 4, 5 and 6 Crossovers

1. Verbtype 1
Verbtype 1 is the most common of the 6 Finnish
verbtypes. Verbs belonging to this verbtype have an
infinitive that ends in 2 vowels (-aa, -ea, -eä, -ia, -iä, -
oa, -ua, -yä, -ää, -öä). To find this type of verb’s
infinitive stem, you remove the final -a or -ä from
the infinitive.

Puhua (to speak)

Person Conjugation English
minä puhun I speak
sinä puhut you speak
hän puhuu he/she speaks
me puhumme we speak
te puhutte you speak
he puhuvat they speak

Sanoa (to say)

Person Conjugation English
minä sanon I say
sinä sanot you say
hän sanoo he/she says
me sanomme we say
te sanotte you say
he sanovat they say

kysyä (to ask)

Person Conjugation English
minä kysyn I ask
sinä kysyt you ask
hän kysyy he/she asks
me kysymme we ask
te kysytte you ask
he kysyvät they ask

Please note that verbtype 1 verbs can undergo

consonant gradation! Verbs below that undergo
consonant gradation are marked with KPT below.

Some other common type 1 verbs:

ajaa (to drive)

alkaa (to start, to begin*) KPT
antaa (to give) KPT
asua (to live in a place)
auttaa (to help) KPT
etsiä (to look for, to search)
herättää (to wake so. up) KPT
hoitaa (to take care of) KPT
huutaa (to shout) KPT
katsoa (to watch*)
kieltää (to deny) KPT
kiertää (to go around) KPT
kirjoittaa (to write) KPT

kysyä (to ask)

laajentaa (to expand) KPT
laskea (to count)
lukea (to read) KPT
lähteä (to leave) KPT
maksaa (to pay, to cost)
muistaa (to remember)
neuvoa (to give advice)
odottaa (to wait, to expect) KPT
ostaa (to buy)
ottaa (to take) KPT
paistaa (to fry*, to shine*)
puhua (to speak)

rakastaa (to love)

rakastua (to fall in love)
sallia (to allow)
sanoa (to say*)
soittaa (to call, to play an instrument*) KPT
sortua (to collapse) KPT
tietää (to know) KPT
tuntea (to feel) KPT
unohtaa (to forget) KPT
unohtua (to be forgotten) KPT
vaatia (to demand) KPT
ymmärtää (to understand) KPT

2. Verbtype 2
This verbtype consists of verbs that end in -da/-dä. To
find this type of verb’s infinitive stem, you remove
the -da/-dä. Notice that the third person singular
doesn’t get the final letter doubled like in verbtype 1!

Saada (to get)

Person Conjugation English
minä saan I get
sinä saat you get
hän saa he/she gets
me saamme we get
te saatte you get
he saavat they get

Juoda (to drink)

Person Conjugation English
minä juon I drink
sinä juot you drink
hän juo he/she drinks
me juomme we drink
te juotte you drink
he juovat they drink

Syödä (to eat)

Person Conjugation English
minä syön I eat
sinä syöt you eat
hän syö he/she eats
me syömme we eat
te syötte you eat
he syövät they eat

Verbtype 2 only has two verbs that undergo consonant

gradation: tehdä and nähdä. Their consonant gradation
mirrors that of verbtype 1: e.g. tehdä — teen, teet,
tekee.

Some other common type 2 verbs:

analysoida (to analyse)
haravoida (to rake leaves)
imuroida (to vacuum)
juoda (to drink)
jäädä (to stay)
kommunikoida (to communicate)
käydä (to visit*)
luennoida (to lecture)

myydä (to sell)

nähdä (to see*) KPT
paketoida (to package)
pysäköidä (to park)
saada (to get, to be allowed*)
soida (to ring)
syödä (to eat)

tehdä (to do, to make) KPT

terrorisoida (to terrorize)
tuoda (to bring)
tupakoida (to smoke)
uida (to swim)
viedä (to take)
viipaloida (to slice)
voida (to be able to*)

3. Verbtype 3
Verbs belonging to this verbtype end in -lla/-llä, -nna/-
nnä, -rra/-rrä, -sta/-stä (in other words: in two
consonants and a vowel). To find these verbs’
infinitive stem, remove the -la/-lä, -na/-nä, -ra/-rä, or
-ta/-tä. To this stem, you add an -e- before adding the
personal ending!

Tulla (to come)

Person Conjugation English
minä tulen I come
sinä tulet you come
hän tulee he/she comes
me tulemme we come
te tulette you come
he tulevat they come

Mennä (to go)

Person Conjugation English
minä menen I go
sinä menet you go
hän menee he/she goes
me menemme we go
te menette you go
he menevät they go

Nousta (to get up)

Person Conjugation English
minä nousen I get up
sinä nouset you get up
hän nousee he/she gets up
me nousemme we get up
te nousette you get up
he nousevat they get up

Remember that verbtype 3 verbs can undergo

consonant gradation! The ones in the list below that do
so are marked with KPT.

Some other common type 3 verbs:

ajatella (to think) KPT
haista (to smell like*)
hymyillä (to smile)
julkaista (to publish)
juosta (to run) KPT
jutella (to chat) KPT
keskustella (to chat)
kiistellä (to quarrel)
kuulla (to hear)

kuunnella (to listen) KPT

kävellä (to walk)
olla (to be)
ommella (to sew) KPT
opetella (to learn) KPT
opiskella (to study)
panna (to put)
pestä (to wash)

purra (to bite)

pyöräillä (to ride a bike)
ratkaista (to solve)
riidellä (to argue) KPT
surra (to mourn)
suudella (to kiss) KPT
tapella (to fight) KPT
työskennellä (to work) KPT

4. Verbtype 4
Verbs belonging to verbtype 4 end in -ata/-ätä, -ota/-
ötä, -uta/-ytä. To find this type of verb’s infinitive
stem, you remove the -t (so NOT the final -a!). Some
sources will tell you to remove the -ta and then add an
-a. This comes down to the same thing.

The third person singular gets an -a added to the end

when the two vowels from the stem are different
vowels. When the two vowels are -aa- it wouldn’t
make sense to add a third one, so we add nothing (e.g.
hän halua+a is correct, but hän osaa+a doesn’t work).

Haluta (to want)

Person Conjugation English
minä haluan I want
sinä haluat you want
hän haluaa he/she wants
me haluamme we want
te haluatte you want
he haluavat they want

Osata (to be able to)

Person Conjugation English
minä osaan I am able to
sinä osaat you are able to
hän osaa he/she is able to
me osaamme we are able to
te osaatte you are able to
he osaavat they are able to

Pakata (to pack)

Person Conjugation English
minä pakkaan I pack
sinä pakkaat you pack
hän pakkaa he/she packs
me pakkaamme we pack
te pakkaatte you pack
he pakkaavat they pack

Remember that verbtype 4 verbs can undergo

consonant gradation! The ones in the list below that do
so are marked with KPT.

Some other common type 4 verbs:

avata (to open)
erota (to divorce)
hakata (to beat) KPT
haluta (to want)
herätä (to wake up)
huomata (to notice)
hypätä (to jump) KPT
juoruta (to gossip)

kadota (to disappear) KPT

lakata (to stop) KPT
luvata (to promise) KPT
maata (to lie down) KPT
määrätä (to determine)
pelata (to play*)
pelätä (to be scared) KPT
piffata (to treat)

pihdata (to skimp) KPT

pudota (to fall) KPT
siivota (to clean)
tarjota (to offer, to serve)
tavata (to meet) KPT
tilata (to order)
tykätä (to like*) KPT
vastata (to answer)
älytä (to get something, to understand)

Many -ATA verbs are loanwords. You can find out

more about Swedish origin loanverbs.

5. Verbtype 5
Verbtype 5 is quite rare compared to the other Finnish
verbtypes. Verbs belonging to this verbtype end in -
ita/-itä. To find this type of verb’s infinitive stem, you
remove the final -ta/-tä. To this stem, you then add -
tse- before adding the personal ending!

Some sources will give you a different rule. They

recommend removing the -ita/-itä (so also removing
the -i-) and adding -itse- to that stem before adding the
personal ending. The end result is the same, so choose
whichever method makes more sense to you.

There are some sources that combine verbtype 3 and

verbtype 5, based on how both receive an extra -e-
when being conjugated.

Häiritä (to disturb)

Person Conjugation English
minä häiritsen I disturb
sinä häiritset you disturb
hän häiritsee he/she disturbs
me häiritsemme we disturb
te häiritsette you disturb
he häiritsevät they disturb

Tarvita (to need)

Person Conjugation English
minä tarvitsen I need
sinä tarvitset you need
hän tarvitsee he/she needs
me tarvitsemme we need
te tarvitsette you need
he tarvitsevat they need

Hallita (to rule)

Person Conjugation English
minä hallitsen I rule
sinä hallitset you rule
hän hallitsee he/she rules
me hallitsemme we rule
te hallitsette you rule
he hallitsevat they rule

Verbtype 5 verbs do not undergo consonant gradation.

Some other common type 5 verbs:

hallita (to rule, to govern, to master)
havaita (to perceive)
hillitä (to restrain)
häiritä (to disturb, bother)

kyyditä (to give someone a lift)

mainita (to mention)
merkitä (to mark)

palkita (to reward, to award)

tarvita (to need)
tulkita (to interpret)

6. Verbtype 6
Verbtype 6 is the most rarely used of all the Finnish
verbtypes. Most of these verbs have something in
common when you translate them: their meaning will
usually be “to become something”. This implies a
change from one state to another (becoming cold,
hot, old, etc). There are, however, exceptions that do
not follow this pattern. Most of these verbs that imply
a change will have an adjective as their base (e.g.
vanheta – vanha, lämmetä – lämmin, laajeta – laaja).

This type of verb ends in -eta/-etä. To find the

infinitive stem for verbtype 6, you remove the final -
ta/-tä. To this stem, you then add -ne- before adding
the personal ending.

Vanheta (to become old)

Person Conjugation English
minä vanhenen I become old
sinä vanhenet you become old
hän vanhenee he/she becomes old
me vanhenemme we become old
te vanhenette you become old
he vanhenevat they become old

Lämmetä (to become warm)

Person Conjugation English
minä lämpenen I become warm
sinä lämpenet you become warm
hän lämpenee he/she becomes warm
me lämpenemme we become warm
te lämpenette you become warm
he lämpenevät they become warm

Remember that verbtype 6 verbs can undergo

consonant gradation!

Some other common type 6 verbs:

aueta (to come loose, open) KPT
heiketä (to become weaker) KPT
kalveta (to turn pale) KPT
kyetä (to be able to*) KPT
kuumeta (to become hot)
kylmetä (to get colder)

laajeta (to become wider)

lyhetä (to become shorter)
nuoreta (to become younger)
paeta (to run away) KPT
pidetä (to become longer) KPT
pimetä (to become darker)

rohjeta (to dare to) KPT

tarjeta (to stand the cold) KPT
tummeta (to darken)
vaieta (to become silent) KPT
valjeta (to brighten up) KPT
vanheta (to become older)

7. Verbtype 4, 5 and 6 Crossovers

While the Finnish verbtypes system has very few
exceptions, there are some verbtype 4, 5 and 6 verbs
that cross over from one verbtype to another. These
verbs do not fit in with the (simplified) rules used in
most course books.

Mainly because of this problem with Finnish verbtypes

4, 5 and 6, some linguists consider all three of these
verbtypes as one large groups of verbs ending in -Vta
(vowel+ta), which has three subgroups. That way, they
avoid the issue of these exceptions completely.
However, for Finnish language learners, this
combination of three verbtypes isn’t practical.

The following verbs look like verbtype 5 (-ita/-itä) but

get conjugated like verbtype 4. See the struck out
words for how these would have been conjugated if
we would follow the rules to the letter.

selvitä (to become clear) — selviän (not selvitsen)

hävitä (to lose, to disappear) — häviän (not
hävitsen)

Next, we have some verbs that look like verbtype 6 (-

eta/-etä) but get conjugated like verbtype 4.

hävetä (to be ashamed) KPT — häpeän (not

häpenen)
kiivetä (to climb) KPT — kiipeän (not kiipenen)
ruveta (to start*) KPT — rupean (not rupenen)
todeta (to state) KPT — totean (not totenen)

Last but not least, here are some verbs that look like
verbtype 4 but get conjugated like verbtype 6.

hapata (to acidify) KPT — happanee (not happaa)

loitota (to divert away) KPT — loittonee (not
loittoaa)
helpota (to get easier) KPT — helpponee (not
helppoaa)