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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
he/she 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)
parata (to get better) — paranee (not paraa)

Note: The problem with verbtype 6 verbs in general is that their basic form is used very rarely and
often substituted for another verb’s basic form. For example, the infinitive parata isn’t in active
use at all despite its existence. You can read more about these verbs in my article on verbtype 6. If
you’re an advanced student, you might also benefit from googling sekaparadigma (mixed
paradigm).

That’s all there is to say currently about the Finnish verbtypes!