Of all the Finnish infinitives, the third — the -ma-/-mä- form — is the one you will reach for constantly, because it is the form Finnish uses to say where an action happens, where you are heading to do something, and where you are coming back from. It does not appear in the bare dictionary form. Instead it lives in six different cases, each answering a different "where" question about the action. This page shows you how the stem is built and what it means; the next page drills the individual cases.
Building the -ma- stem
The third infinitive is built on the verb's strong vowel stem — the same stem the personal endings attach to in the present tense — plus -ma- (back-vowel verbs) or -mä- (front-vowel verbs). To that stem you then add a case ending.
| Verb | Present stem | -ma- stem | Example (inessive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| puhua (speak) | puhu- | puhuma- | puhumassa |
| syödä (eat) | syö- | syömä- | syömässä |
| tehdä (do) | teke- | tekemä- | tekemässä |
| tulla (come) | tule- | tulema- | tulemassa |
| tarvita (need) | tarvitse- | tarvitsema- | tarvitsemassa |
Two spelling traps live in this table. First, vowel harmony decides -ma- versus -mä-: a verb with back vowels (a, o, u) takes -ma- (puhumassa), a verb with front vowels (ä, ö, y) takes -mä- (syömässä). Second, consonant gradation stays in the strong grade — tehdä becomes tekemässä (with k), never *teemässä. If you can build the hän form of the present (hän tekee → stem teke-), you already have the stem you need.
What the -ma- infinitive means
The insight that makes the whole form click: Finnish treats an action as if it were a location. Just as you can be in a shop, go into a shop, and come out of a shop, you can be in the middle of eating, go to eat, and come from eating. That is why the third infinitive takes the same local cases that nouns of place take. English has no single construction that does this — it splits the job across "be eating," "go to eat," and "come from eating," with three different verbs and prepositions. Finnish does it with one stem and three endings.
The core triad: -massa, -maan, -masta
Here is the same verb, syödä, across the three "where" cases. Read them as a set — this contrast is the heart of the form.
Olen syömässä, soitan sinulle vähän myöhemmin.
I'm out eating right now, I'll call you a bit later.
Menen syömään — tuletko mukaan?
I'm going to eat — are you coming along?
Tulen juuri syömästä, joten en ole yhtään nälkäinen.
I'm just coming from eating, so I'm not hungry at all.
- -massa / -mässä (inessive, "in") — you are at the activity, in the middle of it. Olen syömässä.
- -maan / -mään (illative, "into") — you are heading to the activity. Menen syömään.
- -masta / -mästä (elative, "out of") — you are coming away from the activity. Tulen syömästä.
This mirrors the local cases on nouns exactly: kaupassa (in the shop), kauppaan (into the shop), kaupasta (out of the shop). If you know the three-way motion system, you already know the logic here.
The other three: -malla, -matta, -man
Three more cases complete the set, and each adds a different flavor of meaning.
-malla / -mällä (adessive) means "by (means of) doing" — the method or instrument.
Kielen oppii parhaiten puhumalla sitä.
You learn a language best by speaking it.
-matta / -mättä (abessive) means "without doing" — the action that did not happen.
Hän lähti sanaakaan sanomatta.
She left without saying a single word.
-man / -män (instructive) is (archaic / literary) and survives almost only in the old necessive pattern sinun pitää tekemän ("you must do"). Modern Finnish replaces it with the first infinitive (sinun pitää tehdä), so you will meet -man mainly in the Bible, hymns, and old legal texts. Recognize it; do not produce it.
Ei sinun pidä tappaman.
Thou shalt not kill — the old biblical rendering of the commandment, with the negative necessive governing the instructive.
The full treatment of -massa, -maan, -malla and -matta, with the verbs that govern each, is on the third infinitive in cases page.
The signature error: motion verbs want -maan
English speakers reach for the bare dictionary infinitive after a verb of motion, because English says "go to eat," "come to help." Finnish forbids this. A verb of motion (mennä, tulla, lähteä) or of starting (ruveta, ryhtyä) demands the third infinitive in the illative, -maan, not the first infinitive.
Lähden ostamaan maitoa ja leipää.
I'm heading out to buy milk and bread.
Lapset juoksivat rannalle uimaan.
The children ran to the beach to swim.
Tule auttamaan minua hetkeksi!
Come and help me for a moment!
Common Mistakes
❌ Menen syödä ravintolaan.
Incorrect — motion verbs take the third infinitive illative, not the bare first infinitive.
✅ Menen syömään ravintolaan.
I'm going to the restaurant to eat.
❌ Olen teemässä läksyjä.
Incorrect — gradation must stay strong: the stem is teke-, giving tekemässä.
✅ Olen tekemässä läksyjä.
I'm in the middle of doing my homework.
❌ Menen syömassa.
Incorrect — motion (menen) needs 'into' (-mään), and harmony gives ä after the front vowel.
✅ Menen syömään.
I'm going to eat.
❌ Hän lähti sanomaton mitään.
Incorrect — 'without saying' is the abessive -matta, not the negative participle -maton.
✅ Hän lähti sanomatta mitään.
He left without saying anything.
Key Takeaways
- The third infinitive is the -ma-/-mä- stem built on the strong present stem: puhuma-, syömä-, tekemä-.
- It treats an action like a place, so it takes local cases: -massa (at), -maan (to), -masta (from), plus -malla (by), -matta (without), and the archaic -man.
- Harmony fixes -ma- vs -mä-; gradation stays strong (tekemässä, not *teemässä).
- After a motion or starting verb, use -maan, never the bare first infinitive — this is the single most common learner error.
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- The Third Infinitive in Cases: -massa, -maan, -malla, -mattaB1 — How each case of the -ma- infinitive works: -maan after motion verbs, -massa/-masta for activity and source, -malla 'by doing' and -matta 'without doing'.
- The Fourth Infinitive -minenB1 — The -minen verbal noun turns any verb into a full noun (uiminen 'swimming') that declines like a -nen word: tekemisen, tekemistä, tekemiseen.
- 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.
- The Agent Participle: isän rakentama taloC1 — The -ma/-mä participle with a genitive agent compresses 'the X that Y made' — äidin tekemä ruoka, isän rakentama talo — naming a doer the plain passive cannot.
- The Five Infinitives: An OverviewB1 — Finnish has five 'infinitives' — non-finite verb forms that take case endings. This hub maps all five and shows which one English 'to do' really needs.