Olla ("to be") is the verb you cannot avoid: it is the copula (olen suomalainen), the existential "there is" (pöydällä on kirja), the Finnish way to say "have" (minulla on auto), and the auxiliary behind every perfect and pluperfect. Learn it cold. Its stem is ole- (like a regular Type 3 verb, with no consonant gradation), but two present-tense forms break the pattern and one whole mood is suppletive. Those irregularities are exactly what this page drills.
Present and past (indicative)
The two forms to burn into memory are the 3rd person singular on (not *olee) and the 3rd person plural ovat (not *olevat). Everything else is regular on ole-.
| Person | Present | Negative present | Past (imperfect) |
|---|---|---|---|
| minä | olen | en ole | olin |
| sinä | olet | et ole | olit |
| hän | on | ei ole | oli |
| me | olemme | emme ole | olimme |
| te | olette | ette ole | olitte |
| he | ovat | eivät ole | olivat |
Olen kotoisin Tampereelta, mutta asun nykyään Helsingissä.
I'm originally from Tampere, but I live in Helsinki now.
Missä lapset ovat? Pihalla vai omassa huoneessaan?
Where are the children? In the yard or in their room?
Kaupassa oli tänään todella pitkä jono.
There was a really long queue at the store today.
Perfect and pluperfect
Olla is its own auxiliary: the perfect is olen + the past participle ollut (plural olleet).
| Person | Perfect | Pluperfect |
|---|---|---|
| minä | olen ollut | olin ollut |
| hän | on ollut | oli ollut |
| me | olemme olleet | olimme olleet |
| he | ovat olleet | olivat olleet |
| negative | en ole ollut | en ollut ollut |
Oletko koskaan ollut Lapissa talvella?
Have you ever been to Lapland in winter?
Conditional, potential, imperative
The conditional is regular: ole- + -isi- → olisin. The potential ("may be, probably is") is where olla turns fully suppletive — it drops the ole- stem entirely and uses the root lie-: lienee ("may be / is probably"). And the imperative singular is the bare stem ole!
| Person | Conditional | Potential (suppletive) | Imperative |
|---|---|---|---|
| minä | olisin | lienen | — |
| sinä | olisit | lienet | ole! |
| hän | olisi | lienee | olkoon (formal) |
| me | olisimme | lienemme | olkaamme (formal) |
| te | olisitte | lienette | olkaa |
| he | olisivat | lienevät | olkoot (formal) |
| negative | en olisi | en liene | älä ole |
The perfect conditional is olisin ollut ("I would have been").
Olisin mielelläni jo kotona, mutta juna on myöhässä.
I'd gladly be home already, but the train is late.
Ole hetki hiljaa, yritän keskittyä.
Be quiet for a moment, I'm trying to concentrate.
Hän lienee jo lähtenyt, valot ovat sammuksissa.
He's probably already left — the lights are off.
Passive
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| present | ollaan | ei olla |
| past | oltiin | ei oltu |
| perfect | on oltu | ei ole oltu |
| conditional | oltaisiin | ei oltaisi |
| potential (formal) | oltaneen | ei oltane |
In everyday speech ollaan doubles as the colloquial first-person plural: me ollaan kotona = "we're at home" (informal), standard me olemme kotona.
Non-finite forms
| Category | Forms |
|---|---|
| 1st infinitive | olla; translative ollakseni ("in order to be") |
| 2nd infinitive | inessive ollessa; instructive ollen (literary) |
| 3rd infinitive (MA) | olemassa, olemasta, olemaan, olemalla, olematta |
| 4th infinitive | oleminen |
| Present participle | active oleva; passive oltava |
| Past participle | active ollut (pl. olleet); passive oltu |
What olla actually does
Copula — links a subject to a noun/adjective/location, just like English "be."
Sää on tänään harmaa ja kolea.
The weather is grey and chilly today.
Existential — "there is / there are." The verb stays 3rd person singular on even with a plural, and the thing itself often goes in the partitive.
Jääkaapissa on maitoa ja pari kananmunaa.
There's milk and a couple of eggs in the fridge.
Possession — Finnish has no verb "to have." Instead the owner takes the adessive case (-lla/-llä) and the thing simply is: minulla on = literally "at-me is." The negative turns the object partitive: minulla ei ole autoa.
Minulla on kaksi lasta ja yksi koira.
I have two children and one dog.
Meillä ei ole enää maitoa, pitää käydä kaupassa.
We don't have any more milk; I need to go to the store.
Perfect auxiliary — olla + past participle builds every perfect tense (olen syönyt, olimme nähneet).
Common Mistakes
❌ Kissa olee sohvalla ja nukkuu.
Incorrect — the 3rd person singular of olla is the irregular on, not *olee.
✅ Kissa on sohvalla ja nukkuu.
The cat is on the sofa, sleeping.
❌ Lapset olevat jo pihalla.
Incorrect — the 3rd person plural is ovat, not *olevat.
✅ Lapset ovat jo pihalla.
The children are already in the yard.
❌ Minä on kaksi siskoa.
Incorrect — Finnish has no 'have' verb; the owner takes the adessive: minulla on.
✅ Minulla on kaksi siskoa.
I have two sisters.
❌ Minulla ei ole auto.
Incorrect — negative possession makes the object partitive: autoa.
✅ Minulla ei ole autoa.
I don't have a car.
Idioms with olla
Finnish stuffs a lot of "feeling/state" expressions into olla + a case, where English uses a plain adjective.
- olla oikeassa / väärässä — "be right / wrong" (literally "be in the right / in the wrong")
- olla kiinnostunut — "be interested in"
- olla nälkä / jano / kylmä — "be hungry / thirsty / cold" (with adessive owner: minulla on nälkä)
Sinä olet oikeassa, minä olin väärässä koko ajan.
You're right; I was wrong the whole time.
Olen todella kiinnostunut tästä työpaikasta.
I'm really interested in this job.
Key Takeaways
- Drill the two rogue present forms: on (3sg) and ovat (3pl) — never *olee, *olevat.
- The potential is suppletive: lienee, from the root lie-.
- Finnish has no verb 'to have' — use minulla on (adessive + on); the negative object goes partitive (ei ole autoa).
- Olla is the auxiliary for every perfect tense (olen ollut, olen syönyt).
- Colloquial me ollaan (= me olemme) reuses the passive as a first-person plural.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Model Verb Type 3: tulla — Full ConjugationA2 — The complete paradigm of tulla (to come), the model for Type 3 -la/-na/-ra/-sta verbs: the stem gains -e- (tule-) and the participle assimilates to tullut.
- Having Things: minulla onA1 — Finnish has no verb 'to have': possession is 'at-me is a car' — the owner takes the adessive -lla/-llä and olla stays in the third person singular.
- The Perfect: olen tehnytA2 — The perfect is olla (present) + past active participle: olen puhunut, on tullut. The auxiliary is 'be', never 'have', and the participle agrees in number.
- The Existential Sentence: Pöydällä on kirjaA2 — The existential clause type — a place phrase first, olla frozen in the 3rd person singular, then an indefinite subject at the end. No dummy 'there'.
- olla Idioms: olla nälkä, olla kiireA1 — The olla + noun state idioms where English uses 'be' + adjective — minulla on nälkä (I'm hungry), on kiire, on kylmä — built on the adessive possessor, plus the older genitive variant and the outliers olla oikeassa, olla varaa and olla ikävä.