Tulla ("to come") is the reference verb for Type 3, the class whose infinitive ends in a consonant plus -la/-na/-ra/-sta. Two features define the type. First, the stem is not the infinitive minus the ending — you drop -la and add a linking -e-: tulla → tule-. Second, the past active participle assimilates to the stem-final consonant: tul- + -nut becomes tullut, not *tulnut. (Elsewhere in the type the same rule yields mennyt, noussut, purrut — see mennä.) Tulla itself has no consonant gradation.
Present and past (indicative)
Stem tule- (with the linking -e-). The third person lengthens that -e- to -ee (tulee); the past drops it before -i- (tuli).
| Person | Present | Past (imperfect) |
|---|---|---|
| minä | tulen | tulin |
| sinä | tulet | tulit |
| hän | tulee | tuli |
| me | tulemme | tulimme |
| te | tulette | tulitte |
| he | tulevat | tulivat |
| negative | en tule | en tullut / emme tulleet |
Tulen kotiin vasta myöhään illalla, älä odota minua.
I'll come home only late in the evening, don't wait up for me.
Juna tulee asemalle viisi minuuttia myöhässä.
The train arrives at the station five minutes late.
Tulin Suomeen ensimmäistä kertaa kymmenen vuotta sitten.
I came to Finland for the first time ten years ago.
Perfect and pluperfect
Both use olla plus the assimilated participle tullut (plural tulleet).
| Person | Perfect | Pluperfect |
|---|---|---|
| minä | olen tullut | olin tullut |
| hän | on tullut | oli tullut |
| me | olemme tulleet | olimme tulleet |
| he | ovat tulleet | olivat tulleet |
| negative | en ole tullut | en ollut tullut |
Oletko jo tullut? En kuullut sinun avaavan ovea.
Have you already come in? I didn't hear you open the door.
Conditional, potential, imperative
The conditional adds -isi- to tul-: tulisi. The potential (formal/literary) adds -ne-, which assimilates to -le- after l: tullee ("may come") — distinct from present tulee. The imperative is tule!, with jussive third-person and plural forms.
| Person | Conditional | Potential (formal) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| minä | tulisin | tullen | — |
| sinä | tulisit | tullet | tule! |
| hän | tulisi | tullee | tulkoon (formal) |
| me | tulisimme | tullemme | tulkaamme (formal) |
| te | tulisitte | tullette | tulkaa |
| he | tulisivat | tullevat | tulkoot (formal) |
| negative | en tulisi | en tulle | älä tule |
The perfect conditional is olisin tullut ("I would have come").
Tulisin mielelläni mukaan, jos ehtisin.
I'd gladly come along if I had time.
Tule sisään, älä jää seisomaan sateeseen!
Come in, don't stand out in the rain!
Passive
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| present | tullaan | ei tulla |
| past | tultiin | ei tultu |
| perfect | on tultu | ei ole tultu |
| conditional | tultaisiin | ei tultaisi |
| potential (formal) | tultaneen | ei tultane |
Because tulla is intransitive, its passive is purely impersonal ("one comes / people come"). In everyday speech the same form doubles as the first-person plural "let's": Mennään! Tullaan käymään! (informal).
Meille tullaan kylään ensi viikonloppuna.
People are coming to visit us next weekend.
Infinitives and participles
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| 1st infinitive | tulla; translative tullakseni ("in order to come") |
| 2nd infinitive | inessive tullessa; instructive tullen (literary) |
| 3rd infinitive (MA) | tulemassa, tulemasta, tulemaan, tulemalla, tulematta |
| 4th infinitive | tuleminen |
| Present participle | active tuleva; passive tultava |
| Past participle | active tullut (pl. tulleet); passive tultu |
| Agent / negative | tulema; tulematon |
Rection: where tulla points
Tulla governs the illative for motion toward a place (tulla kotiin "come home") and the translative for a change of state — tulla sairaaksi ("fall ill"), tulla isäksi ("become a father"). English uses "become / get / turn" here; Finnish uses tulla + translative, or tulla + elative for the source (hänestä tuli lääkäri "he/she became a doctor").
Hänestä tuli lääkäri viime vuonna, aivan kuten isästään.
He/she became a doctor last year, just like their father.
Tulemme hyvin toimeen naapureiden kanssa.
We get along well with the neighbors.
Common Mistakes
❌ Milloin sinä tuln kotiin?
Incorrect — Type 3 keeps the linking -e-: tulen, not *tuln.
✅ Milloin sinä tulet kotiin?
When are you coming home?
❌ Olen tulnut tänne monta kertaa.
Incorrect — the participle assimilates: tullut, not *tulnut.
✅ Olen tullut tänne monta kertaa.
I have come here many times.
❌ Meille tulaan kylään lauantaina.
Incorrect — the passive builds on tul- with double l: tullaan.
✅ Meille tullaan kylään lauantaina.
People are coming to visit us on Saturday.
❌ Hän tuli sairas ja jäi kotiin.
Incorrect — change of state takes the translative: sairaaksi.
✅ Hän tuli sairaaksi ja jäi kotiin.
He/she fell ill and stayed home.
Key Takeaways
- Stem tule-: drop -la, add the linking -e-. The -e- lengthens in the 3rd person (tulee) and drops in the past (tuli).
- Participle tullut (pl. tulleet) assimilates -n- to the stem l — never *tulnut. This drives perfect, pluperfect and negative past.
- Passive on tul-: tullaan, tultiin, tultu.
- Rection: illative for motion (tulla kotiin), translative for becoming (tulla sairaaksi).
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- Verb Type 3: -la/-na/-ra/-sta Verbs (tulla, mennä)A2 — Drop the -la/-na/-ra/-sta ending and add a linking -e- for the stem: tulla → tule-. The third person doubles the -e- to -ee (tulee).
- tulla ('to come / become')A1 — Full conjugation of tulla, a Type 3 verb, plus its two governments: the illative for coming and the translative for becoming (tulla sairaaksi).
- The Past Active Participle -nut/-nyt/-neetA2 — Build the participle behind the perfect: -nut/-nyt in the singular, -neet in the plural, with the -n- assimilating to a stem consonant (tullut, noussut, pessyt).
- mennä ('to go')A1 — Full conjugation of mennä (to go), a Type 3 verb: stem mene-, assimilated participle mennyt, and the illative it governs for destinations.
- tulla + Translative: tulla iloiseksiB1 — Finnish has no single verb 'to become' — it uses tulla plus a translative -ksi complement for change of state: tulla iloiseksi, tulla sairaaksi.