The third infinitive overview showed that the -ma-/-mä- stem takes local cases because Finnish treats an action like a place. This page works through each case in turn — what it means, and crucially which verbs demand it. Choosing the wrong case here (a static -massa where the sentence needs the goal -maan) is one of the most persistent B1 errors, so we will anchor each case to the verbs that govern it.
Here is the whole set for one verb, tehdä ("to do"), so you can see the shape stay constant while the case ending changes:
| Case | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| inessive | tekemässä | (engaged) in doing |
| elative | tekemästä | from doing |
| illative | tekemään | to do (goal) |
| adessive | tekemällä | by doing |
| abessive | tekemättä | without doing |
Note the strong grade teke- throughout — never *tee- — and remember that every ending harmonizes: because tehdä is a front-vowel verb, all its forms carry ä (tekemään, tekemällä), while a back-vowel verb keeps a (puhumaan, puhumalla).
-maan: the goal of movement (illative)
The illative -maan/-mään answers "to do what?" and attaches to verbs that involve movement toward an action or the beginning of one. This is the workhorse case. It pairs with:
- motion verbs — mennä, tulla, lähteä, juosta, jäädä, pysähtyä (jään odottamaan "I'll stay and wait");
- inceptive verbs — ruveta, ryhtyä (ryhdyn tekemään "I set about doing");
- verbs of learning, ability and persuasion — oppia, opettaa, tottua, pystyä, pyytää, käskeä, auttaa, suostua.
Opin uimaan vasta kymmenvuotiaana.
I only learned to swim at the age of ten.
Pyysin naapuria auttamaan muutossa.
I asked the neighbour to help with the move.
Ryhdyimme heti siivoamaan koko asuntoa.
We immediately set about cleaning the whole flat.
There is one famous complication. Ryhtyä and ruveta always take -maan (ryhdyn tekemään, rupean tekemään), but alkaa ("to begin") traditionally takes the first infinitive: alan tehdä. Since 2014 the Finnish language authority (Kotus) has also accepted alkaa tekemään, so both alan tehdä and alan tekemään are now standard — a genuinely unusual case where two constructions coexist. When in doubt, alan tehdä is never wrong. The verb chains that govern each infinitive are collected on the verb chains page.
-massa and -masta: at an activity, and away from it
The inessive -massa/-mässä places you in the middle of an activity, often somewhere else physically. It pairs above all with olla ("be out doing") and käydä ("go and do, then return").
Missä isä on? — Hän on ulkona haravoimassa lehtiä.
Where's Dad? — He's outside raking leaves.
Kävin eilen katsomassa uuden asunnon.
I went to see the new flat yesterday.
The elative -masta/-mästä is its opposite: motion or removal away from an activity. It is governed by tulla and palata (coming back from), and — importantly — by verbs of stopping, forbidding and preventing: lakata, kieltää, estää, kieltäytyä.
Lakkaa valittamasta ja tee jotain!
Stop complaining and do something!
Lääkäri kielsi minua nostamasta mitään raskasta.
The doctor forbade me to lift anything heavy.
Kova sade esti meitä lähtemästä ajoissa.
The heavy rain prevented us from leaving on time.
Notice the parallel with nouns of place: just as you lakkaat työstä (stop from work) and palaat matkalta, the action-as-place takes the same "out of / away from" ending. The literal-vs-figurative logic of into/out-of is treated under three-way motion.
-malla: the means (adessive)
The adessive -malla/-mällä answers "by what means?" — it names the method that produces a result. English uses "by …-ing"; Finnish just adds -malla.
Opin suomea nopeasti puhumalla sitä joka päivä.
I learn Finnish fast by speaking it every day.
Säästät paljon rahaa ostamalla käytettynä.
You save a lot of money by buying second-hand.
Vastauksen löytää helposti googlaamalla.
You can easily find the answer by googling.
-matta: without doing (abessive)
The abessive -matta/-mättä is the "without doing" form. It is the verbal twin of the abessive noun case (rahatta "without money"), and it is far more common than that noun case because it packs a whole negative clause into one word: sanomatta = "without saying," maksamatta = "without paying."
Menin nukkumaan syömättä mitään.
I went to bed without eating anything.
Läksyt jäivät taas tekemättä.
The homework was left undone again.
Used with jäädä ("be left"), -matta is the everyday way to say something failed to happen: jäi tekemättä ("was left undone"), jäi sanomatta ("went unsaid"). This construction replaces a clumsy full clause with ilman että ("without that"), and native speakers strongly prefer it.
Common Mistakes
❌ Olen tekemässä läksyt ennen kuin menen ulkos.
Two fixes: the object of an ongoing activity stays partitive (läksyjä), and 'out(wards)' is ulos, not ulkos.
✅ Olen tekemässä läksyjä ennen kuin menen ulos.
I'm doing my homework before I go out.
❌ Lopeta puhua!
Incorrect — 'stop doing' takes the elative -masta, not a bare infinitive.
✅ Lakkaa puhumasta! / Lopeta puhuminen!
Stop talking!
❌ Menen ostamassa ruokaa.
Incorrect — movement toward the action needs the goal case -maan, not the static -massa.
✅ Menen ostamaan ruokaa.
I'm going to buy food.
❌ Opin suomea puhumassa sitä.
Incorrect — 'by doing' is the means case -malla, not the location case -massa.
✅ Opin suomea puhumalla sitä.
I learn Finnish by speaking it.
Key Takeaways
- -maan = the goal of movement or start: after mennä, tulla, lähteä, ryhtyä, oppia, pyytää and the like.
- -massa = in the middle of an activity (after olla, käydä); -masta = away from it (after tulla, lakata, kieltää, estää).
- -malla = "by doing" (the means); -matta = "without doing" (the abessive), often with jäädä for "left undone."
- Keep the strong stem grade and let harmony choose a/ä throughout: tekemään, tekemällä, tekemättä.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- The Third Infinitive -ma-: An OverviewB1 — The -ma-/-mä- infinitive names an action as a place you are in, go into, or come from — the base for six case forms like syömässä, syömään and syömästä.
- Motion Verbs and Their CasesA2 — Finnish motion verbs pick a direction case: goal (illative/allative), source (elative/ablative), place (inessive/adessive) — plus mennä + -maan for purpose.
- Verb Chains: haluan oppia puhumaanB2 — How stacked verbs each dictate the non-finite form of the next — first infinitive vs the -maan form — so a chain like 'want to learn to speak' comes out right.
- Going to Do: mennä tekemäänA2 — The everyday 'go/come to do' pattern: a motion verb plus the third infinitive -maan/-mään, as in Menen ostamaan ruokaa 'I'm going to buy food'.
- The Three-Way System: in / into / out ofB1 — Each Finnish locative series is a motion triad — static 'where', goal 'to where', source 'from where' — and your verb must match the direction it names.