Which Infinitive? A Guide | Finnish Grammar

English gives you two ways to hang one verb off another — the to-infinitive ("I want to go") and the -ing form ("I enjoy going") — and a fuzzy sense of when to use which. Finnish gives you six non-finite machines plus a full että-clause, and the choice is not fuzzy: it is dictated almost entirely by the matrix verb — the governing verb — much as English "depend on" fixes the preposition. This page is a map. Given a governing verb, which complement does it demand? Get the mapping right and the individual forms fall into place; get it wrong and no amount of correct morphology saves the sentence.

The core insight: the matrix verb decides

Every governing verb comes pre-wired for exactly one kind of complement, the way it comes pre-wired for a case on its object. Haluta ("want") wants a first infinitive. Oppia ("learn") wants a -maan form. Pitää ("like") wants a -minen noun in the elative. You do not choose the complement from the meaning you want to express — English does that — you retrieve it from the verb. So learning verb complementation is learning a lookup table, and this page builds it.

The decision table

Governing verb (type)	Complement	Example
modal / desire: haluta, osata, voida, saada, täytyä, yrittää, aikoa, jaksaa	1st infinitive-a/-da	haluan mennä
motion / start: mennä, tulla, lähteä, oppia, ruveta, pystyä, joutua, jäädä	3rd inf. illative-maan	opin uimaan
"be / go doing": olla, käydä	3rd inf. inessive-massa	käyn uimassa
like / enjoy / tire of: pitää, nauttia, kyllästyä	4th inf.-minen in a case	pidän uimisesta
say / think / hope, different subject: toivoa, sanoa, tietää	että-clause	toivon, että tulet
say / think, compressed (written): väittää, luulla, uskoa	referative participle	väitän tietäväni
purpose ("in order to")	long 1st inf.-kseni	menin ostaakseni
simultaneity ("while")	2nd inf.-essa	söin lukiessani

The bare dictionary form — the first infinitive — is what a tight, closed set of modal and desire verbs demand. If the governing verb means want, can, know how, must, may, intend, try, manage, reach for the first infinitive.

Haluan oppia soittamaan kitaraa.

I want to learn to play the guitar.

En osaa uida, mutta yritän opetella.

I can't swim, but I'm trying to learn.

Meidän täytyy lähteä nyt, muuten myöhästymme.

We have to leave now, otherwise we'll be late.

That first sentence is a useful stress test: haluan takes the first infinitive (oppia), but oppia in turn takes a -maan form (soittamaan). Each verb governs its own complement independently.

Third infinitive -maan: motion and "learn / start / manage"

Verbs of motion (mennä, tulla, lähteä) and a cluster meaning learn, start, get to, be forced to, stay take the third infinitive in the illative, -maan/-mään. The whole illative logic — heading toward an activity — and the full massa / maan / masta trio are on the third infinitive page and, for the everyday motion pattern, on the going to do page.

Opin ajamaan autoa vasta kolmekymppisenä.

I only learned to drive in my thirties.

Aloin väsyä, joten jäin kotiin lepäämään.

I started getting tired, so I stayed home to rest.

Jouduin odottamaan lääkärissä yli tunnin.

I ended up waiting over an hour at the doctor's.

The sister form, the inessive -massa, is what käydä ("go and come back") and olla ("be out doing") demand:

Kävin eilen uimassa ja tänään käyn kuntosalilla.

I went swimming yesterday and today I'm going to the gym.

Fourth infinitive -minen: when the verb is a noun

When the activity is treated as a thing — liked, enjoyed, tired of — the governing verb assigns a case to the -minen verbal noun, exactly as it would to any noun. Pitää and nauttia take the elative, kyllästyä the illative. This whole family is covered on the verbs taking -minen page.

Pidän kokkaamisesta, mutta olen kyllästynyt tiskaamiseen.

I like cooking, but I'm sick of doing the dishes.

Nautin lukemisesta enemmän kuin television katsomisesta.

I enjoy reading more than watching television.

Minimal contrasts: the same verb, three complements

The clearest way to feel the system is to hold the embedded verb constant (syödä, "eat") and change only the governing frame. Watch the complement swap:

Sentence	Complement	Meaning
Haluan syödä.	1st inf.	I want to eat.
Menen syömään.	3rd inf. illative	I'm going (off) to eat.
Olen syömässä.	3rd inf. inessive	I'm out eating.
Pidän syömisestä.	4th inf. elative	I like eating.
Lähdin syömisen jälkeen.	4th inf. genitive + postposition	I left after eating.
Menin ravintolaan syödäkseni.	long 1st inf.	I went to the restaurant (in order) to eat.

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English collapses most of this onto "to eat" and "eating." Finnish keeps six distinct jobs apart. When you plan a sentence, don't translate the English form — identify the governing word first (want? go? like? in order to?) and let it pull the right complement.

Purpose and simultaneity: the adverbial infinitives

Two of the forms are not selected by a matrix verb at all — they add an adverbial meaning to a clause that is already complete. The long first infinitive -kseni means "in order to" (its rule and full paradigm are on the long first infinitive page):

Säästän rahaa ostaakseni ensi kesänä polkupyörän.

I'm saving money (in order) to buy a bike next summer.

The second infinitive -essa means "while / when (doing)" — two events running at once (see the second infinitive page):

Kuuntelen usein podcasteja ruokaa laittaessani.

I often listen to podcasts while cooking.

The honest gray area: alkaa

Not everything is clean. Alkaa ("begin") officially takes the first infinitive — alan tehdä — yet alan tekemään (third infinitive) is so widespread in speech that the language board accepted it as a permitted spoken-standard alternative. In careful writing, use alkaa tehdä; in speech you will hear both.

Alan tehdä ruokaa, tuletko auttamaan?

I'm going to start making food — will you come help? (standard writing)

Rupean tekemään ruokaa.

I'm going to start making food. (ruveta always takes -maan)

Note the twist: ruveta, a near-synonym of alkaa, always takes -maan. There is no logic connecting the two — you memorise them separately.

Common Mistakes

❌ Menen syödä.

Incorrect — a motion verb takes the -maan form, not the first infinitive.

✅ Menen syömään.

I'm going to eat.

❌ Haluan menemään kotiin.

Incorrect — haluta takes the first infinitive, not -maan.

✅ Haluan mennä kotiin.

I want to go home.

❌ Pidän uida.

Incorrect — pitää takes a -minen noun in the elative, not an infinitive.

✅ Pidän uimisesta.

I like swimming.

❌ Opin uida.

Incorrect — oppia takes the third infinitive illative -maan.

✅ Opin uimaan.

I learned to swim.

❌ Toivon sinun tulla huomenna.

Incorrect — a different-subject wish takes an että-clause, not a bare infinitive.

✅ Toivon, että tulet huomenna.

I hope you'll come tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

The matrix verb, not the meaning, selects the complement — learn it as a lookup, like a governed case.
First infinitive after modal/desire verbs (haluta, osata, täytyä); -maan after motion and oppia / ruveta / joutua; -massa after käydä / olla.
-minen (in a governed case) when the activity is a noun (pidän uimisesta); an että-clause or the referative when reporting a different subject's action.
-kseni adds "in order to" and -essa adds "while" — these attach to an already-complete clause.
Watch the gray area: alkaa → tehdä (writing) but ruveta → tekemään always.

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