tuoda ('to bring') | Finnish Grammar

Tuoda ("to bring") is a Type 2 verb — infinitive in -da glued onto the diphthong uo — with no consonant gradation but a contracting past. The present is built on the plain stem tuo-, so it is easy; the trap is the past, where uo collapses to a single o before the -i- marker: toin ("I brought"), never *tuoin. Beyond conjugation, tuoda carries a direction that English hides. Finnish grammaticalises deixis: tuoda is always "bring towards here", the exact mirror of viedä "take away from here". Which verb you pick tells the listener where you and the object are.

Principal parts

Infinitive	1sg present	3sg past	Past participle	Passive
tuoda	tuon	toi	tuonut	tuodaan

Present and past (indicative)

The present stem tuo- takes endings directly; the bare 3rd person is just tuo (the stem already ends in a diphthong). For the past, uo → o: the whole past paradigm is built on toi-.

Person	Present	Past (imperfect)
minä	tuon	toin
sinä	tuot	toit
hän	tuo	toi
me	tuomme	toimme
te	tuotte	toitte
he	tuovat	toivat
negative	en tuo	en tuonut / emme tuoneet

Tuon jälkiruoan, jos sinä hoidat pääruoan.

I'll bring dessert if you take care of the main course.

Kuka toi nämä kukat? Ne ovat ihanat.

Who brought these flowers? They're lovely.

Toimme lapsille tuliaisia Lapista.

We brought the kids some souvenirs from Lapland.

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The past toi looks like a different verb, and that's the point of the contraction rule: in Type 2, a stem-final uo/yö/ie drops its first vowel before the past -i-. So tuoda → toi, exactly as juoda → joi ("drank") and viedä → vei ("took"). If you catch yourself saying *tuoin, you're applying an English-style "just add the ending" that Finnish doesn't allow here.

Perfect and moods

The compound tenses use olla plus the participle tuonut (plural tuoneet): olen tuonut ("I have brought"), olin tuonut ("I had brought"). The participle stays on the full tuo- stem with a single -n-.

Person	Conditional	Imperative
minä	toisin	—
sinä	toisit	tuo!
hän	toisi	tuokoon (formal)
me	toisimme	tuokaamme (formal)
te	toisitte	tuokaa
he	toisivat	tuokoot (formal)
negative	en toisi	älä tuo / älkää tuoko

The conditional contracts just like the past: toisin ("I would bring"). The imperative keeps the full stem: tuo! ("bring!"). The potential tuonee ("may bring", literary) is rare in speech.

Toisitko minulle lasin vettä?

Could you bring me a glass of water?

Tuo takki mukaan, ulkona on kylmä.

Bring a coat along, it's cold outside.

Passive

Form	Affirmative	Negative
present	tuodaan	ei tuoda
past	tuotiin	ei tuotu
perfect	on tuotu	ei ole tuotu
conditional	tuotaisiin	ei tuotaisi

Kahvi tuodaan pöytään heti aterian jälkeen.

Coffee is brought to the table right after the meal.

Rection: what tuoda governs

Tuoda takes an object plus, usually, a recipient in the allative (-lle) or a destination in the illative (-Vn / -seen):

recipient: tuon *sinulle lahjan ("I bring *you a gift")
destination: tuon kirjan kotiin ("I bring the book home")

Toin sinulle pienen tuliaisen matkalta.

I brought you a little something from the trip.

Tuo tuolit sisään, ennen kuin alkaa sataa.

Bring the chairs inside before it starts to rain.

The common idiom tuoda esiin / esille means "to bring up, highlight, point out."

Hän toi kokouksessa esiin hyvän näkökulman.

She brought up a good point in the meeting.

Common Mistakes

❌ Kuka tuoi nämä kukat?

Incorrect — the past contracts: toi (uo → o), not *tuoi.

✅ Kuka toi nämä kukat?

Who brought these flowers?

❌ Vien sinulle kahvia, hetki vain.

Incorrect if you're coming here — bringing towards the speaker is tuoda.

✅ Tuon sinulle kahvia, hetki vain.

I'll bring you some coffee, just a moment.

❌ Olen tuonnut sen jo kotiin.

Incorrect — the participle has one n: tuonut, not *tuonnut.

✅ Olen tuonut sen jo kotiin.

I've already brought it home.

❌ Toin lahjan sinua.

Incorrect — the recipient takes the allative: sinulle.

✅ Toin lahjan sinulle.

I brought you a gift.

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Choose tuoda vs viedä by where the object ends up relative to you. Moving it toward your location → tuoda (tuo se tänne, "bring it here"). Moving it away → viedä (vie se pois, "take it away"). English "bring/take" blurs this; Finnish forces you to commit.

Key Takeaways

Type 2, contracting past: stem tuo-, but uo → o before -i- → toin, toi; the conditional contracts too (toisin).
Participle tuonut (pl. tuoneet) — single -n-; drives perfect, pluperfect and negative past.
Passive on tuo-: tuodaan, tuotiin, tuotu.
Rection: object + allative recipient (sinulle) or illative destination (kotiin); deictically "bring here", the mirror of viedä.

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