Both ei and älä come out as English "don't" or "not," but they belong to two different moods. ei is the negative verb used for statements and questions — it conjugates for person (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät). älä is the negative command — the imperative "don't." The choice between them is really the choice between saying that something isn't so and telling someone not to do it. This page is the decision rule; the full paradigms are on the linked negation pages.
The one decision
Ask: am I making a statement/question, or giving a command?
- Telling what is / isn't the case, or asking about it → ei (conjugated: en, et, ei…)
- Telling someone not to do something → älä (2sg) / älkää (2pl)
The minimal pair uses the same main verb; only the negator changes the mood:
Hän ei mene sinne.
He isn't going there. (statement → ei)
Älä mene sinne!
Don't go there! (command → älä)
Both leave the main verb as a bare connegative (here mene) with no personal ending — that stripped-down form is shared by both negations. What differs is the word in front of it.
ei = statements and questions
ei is a genuine verb, and it agrees with the subject. Whatever the person, it carries the ending and the main verb stays in its bare connegative form.
| Person | Negative verb | Example (tulla → tule) |
|---|---|---|
| minä (I) | en | en tule |
| sinä (you sg) | et | et tule |
| hän (he/she) | ei | ei tule |
| me (we) | emme | emme tule |
| te (you pl) | ette | ette tule |
| he (they) | eivät | eivät tule |
En ymmärrä.
I don't understand.
Hän ei asu enää täällä.
He doesn't live here anymore.
He eivät pidä kalasta.
They don't like fish.
Questions are the same ei verb plus the question clitic -kö/-ko — never älä:
Etkö sinä tule mukaan?
Aren't you coming along?
Eikö hän tiedä sitä vielä?
Doesn't he know that yet?
älä = commands
älä is the imperative "don't." Use älä for one person you address informally, and älkää for several people or for a polite/formal te.
Älä unohda avaimia!
Don't forget the keys!
Älä ole huolissasi.
Don't worry. (literally: don't be worried)
Älkää koskeko maalauksiin.
Don't touch the paintings. (2pl / formal → älkää)
The whole picture at a glance
| Meaning | Negator | Main verb form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| statement / question | en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät | bare connegative | hän ei mene |
| command, one person | älä | bare connegative | älä mene! |
| command, several / formal | älkää | -ko/-kö connegative | älkää menkö! |
| 3rd-person "let … not" | älköön (formal/literary) | -ko/-kö connegative | älköön kukaan unohtako |
The third-person älköön ("let … not") is (formal / literary) — you meet it in rules, proverbs, and elevated prose ("Älköön kukaan unohtako tätä", "Let no one forget this"), not in everyday speech, where people simply say "Kukaan ei saa unohtaa."
The main verb carries no negation — in any tense
Neither ei nor älä ever attaches to the main verb; the main verb is simply stripped down. In the present tense that stripped form (the connegative) equals the bare stem — tule, mene, syö. In the past tense, the negation stays on the ei verb and the main verb switches to its past participle (-nut/-nyt, plural -neet). So "he didn't come" is hän ei tullut, not anything built on tuli.
Hän ei tullut eilen.
He didn't come yesterday. (past → ei + participle tullut)
Emme nähneet sinua kaupassa.
We didn't see you at the shop. (plural past → emme + nähneet)
The point for the ei / älä choice is that the split is stable across tenses: it is always the negator that tells you statement from command, while the main verb just takes whatever bare form the tense calls for. The full set of connegative and participle forms is on the connegative page.
Why English speakers get this wrong
English uses "don't/doesn't" for both jobs — "He doesn't go" and "Don't go!" — so the declarative-vs-imperative line is invisible to an English speaker, and learners reach for whichever Finnish negator they know best. The result is ei mene! for a command (should be älä mene!) or, less often, älä dropped into a statement. Decide the mood first: a report or a question about what is/isn't so → ei (conjugated); an order not to do something → älä / älkää.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ei mene sinne!
Incorrect for a command — an order not to do something needs älä: älä mene sinne!
✅ Älä mene sinne!
Don't go there!
❌ Älä hän tule tänään.
Incorrect — a statement about someone uses the ei verb: hän ei tule.
✅ Hän ei tule tänään.
He isn't coming today.
❌ Sinä ei tule mukaan.
Incorrect — ei must agree with the subject: 2sg is et.
✅ Sinä et tule mukaan.
You're not coming along.
❌ En tulen huomenna.
Incorrect — after the negative verb the main verb drops its ending: en tule.
✅ En tule huomenna.
I'm not coming tomorrow.
❌ Älkää mene sinne!
Incorrect — the plural command needs the -kö connegative: älkää menkö!
✅ Älkää menkö sinne!
Don't go there! (addressed to several people)
Key Takeaways
- ei = the negative verb for statements and questions; it conjugates: en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät.
- älä (2sg) / älkää (2pl, formal) = the negative command.
- Both leave the main verb as a bare connegative (en tule, älä tule) — but älkää needs the -ko/-kö form (älkää tulko).
- English "don't" hides the split: decide statement/question → ei, command → älä.
- Two constant traps: the main verb takes no ending (en tule, not en tulen), and ei must agree with its subject (sinä et tule).
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- The Negative Verb: en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivätA1 — Finnish has no word for 'not' — it negates with a conjugating negative verb (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät) plus the main verb's connegative form.
- Negative Commands: älä, älkää, älköönA2 — How Finnish says 'don't!': the special negative imperative verb älä/älkää/älköön/älkäämme/älkööt plus the connegative in -ko/-kö.
- The Connegative StemA2 — After en/ei the Finnish main verb drops to the connegative — the personless present stem, identical to the singular imperative: en puhu, et ota, ei anna.
- Negative Imperative RecapA2 — Why Finnish forbids with älä/älkää — a separate negation system from indicative ei — and how the connegative shifts between singular and plural.