The past active participle ends in -nut / -nyt in the singular and -neet in the plural. It is the single most heavily used non-finite form in Finnish, because three whole tense-forms are built on it: the perfect (olen puhunut "I have spoken"), the pluperfect (olin puhunut "I had spoken") and the negative past (en puhunut "I didn't speak"). On top of that it works as an ordinary adjective — mennyt viikko "last week," väsynyt mies "a tired man" — and it drives the past-time että-clause replacement. Learn to build it once and a large slice of the verb system opens at the same time.
The basic shapes: -nut/-nyt and -neet
Attach -nut (back) or -nyt (front) for a singular subject, and -neet for a plural subject. The singular obeys vowel harmony; the plural -neet is invariant — it never harmonises.
For verbs whose stem ends in a vowel, the ending simply clicks on:
| Verb | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| puhua (speak) | puhunut | puhuneet |
| ostaa (buy) | ostanut | ostaneet |
| syödä (eat) | syönyt | syöneet |
| tehdä (do) | tehnyt | tehneet |
Note syönyt, not *syönut: syödä is a front-vowel verb, so harmony forces -nyt. That is the harmony trap on the singular.
Oletko syönyt jo, vai laitanko meille jotain?
Have you eaten yet, or shall I make us something?
Kaikki naapurit ovat jo muuttaneet pois tästä talosta.
All the neighbours have already moved out of this building.
When the stem ends in a consonant, the -n- assimilates
The -la / -na / -ra / -sta verbs have stems ending in a consonant — l, n, r, or s — and here the -n- of -nut does not survive. It assimilates to the preceding consonant, doubling it. This is exactly where learners produce *tulnut for the correct tullut.
| Verb | Stem ends in | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| tulla (come) | l | tullut | tulleet |
| mennä (go) | n | mennyt | menneet |
| purra (bite) | r | purrut | purreet |
| nousta (rise) | s | noussut | nousseet |
| pestä (wash) | s | pessyt | pesseet |
Read them as one rule applied to different consonants: tul + nut → tullut, men + nyt → mennyt, pur + nut → purrut, nous + nut → noussut, pes + nyt → pessyt. The contracted verbs (haluta, tarvita) assimilate into -nn-: halunnut, tarvinnut. The complete formation drill, verb type by verb type, lives on the dedicated -nut/-nyt/-neet page.
Juna on jo tullut, mutta Anna ei ole vielä noussut junaan.
The train has already come, but Anna hasn't got on it yet.
Naapurin koira on purrut postinkantajaa kahdesti tänä vuonna.
The neighbour's dog has bitten the postman twice this year.
Number agreement: singular -nut, plural -neet
In the perfect and pluperfect, the auxiliary olla carries the person, but the participle carries the number. A singular subject takes -nut/-nyt; a plural subject takes -neet. English gives no clue here — "have come" is the same for one or many — which is why *olemme tullut (for olemme tulleet) is the most stubborn participle error English speakers make.
| Subject | puhua | tulla | syödä |
|---|---|---|---|
| minä / sinä / hän | olen puhunut | on tullut | on syönyt |
| me / te / he | olemme puhuneet | ovat tulleet | ovat syöneet |
Me olemme puhuneet tästä jo monta kertaa.
We have talked about this many times already.
Lapset ovat menneet jo nukkumaan.
The children have already gone to sleep.
The negative past uses it too
The negative past is the negation verb ei plus the bare past active participle — no olla at all: en puhunut "I didn't speak," emme puhuneet "we didn't speak." Number agreement still applies.
En nähnyt sinua eilen kaupungilla.
I didn't see you in town yesterday.
Emme tulleet ajoissa, koska bussi oli myöhässä.
We didn't come on time because the bus was late.
The full negation paradigm is on the negative past page.
Attributive and referatiivi uses
Standing in front of a noun, the participle behaves like any adjective, marking that the noun has done or has become something: mennyt viikko "last/past week," väsynyt mies "a tired man," kadonnut koira "a lost dog." Its oblique stem is -nee-, so it declines like a consonant-stem adjective and agrees with its noun: väsynyt → väsyneelle, mennyt → menneellä (viikolla).
Mennyt viikko oli rankka, mutta tämä on rauhallisempi.
Last week was rough, but this one is calmer.
Poliisi etsii yhä kadonnutta koiraa.
The police are still looking for the lost dog.
Fitted with a possessive suffix, the same participle forms the past-time referatiivi, replacing a past että-clause: tullut → tulleeni "that I had come."
Hän sanoi jo maksaneensa laskun.
He said he had already paid the bill.
Common Mistakes
❌ Bussi on tulnut jo pysäkille.
Incorrect — the -n- assimilates to the l: tullut, not tulnut.
✅ Bussi on tullut jo pysäkille.
The bus has already come to the stop.
❌ Me olemme tullut ajoissa.
Incorrect — a plural subject needs the plural participle: tulleet.
✅ Me olemme tulleet ajoissa.
We've arrived on time.
❌ Oletko syönut jo aamiaisen?
Incorrect — syödä is a front-vowel verb: syönyt, not syönut.
✅ Oletko syönyt jo aamiaisen?
Have you eaten breakfast yet?
❌ Emme mennyt vielä kotiin.
Incorrect — the negative past also agrees in number: a plural subject takes menneet.
✅ Emme menneet vielä kotiin.
We didn't go home yet.
Key Takeaways
- Formation: singular -nut (back) / -nyt (front); plural -neet — always, no harmony.
- Consonant-stem verbs assimilate the -n-: tullut, mennyt, purrut, noussut, pessyt.
- It powers three forms: the perfect (olen puhunut), the pluperfect (olin puhunut) and the negative past (en puhunut).
- Match the participle to the subject's number: olemme tulleet, never *olemme tullut.
- Attributively it agrees and declines: mennyt viikko → menneellä viikolla, väsynyt → väsyneelle.
Now practice Finnish
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- 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).
- 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.
- Participles: An OverviewB1 — The map of Finnish participles — verbal adjectives that decline and agree: present/past active, present/past passive, agent (-ma) and negative (-maton).
- Negating the Past: en puhunut / eivät puhuneetA2 — The Finnish past negative uses the present-tense negator plus the past participle (-nut/-nyt singular, -neet plural): en puhunut, emme puhuneet, ei tullut.
- The Pluperfect: olin tehnytB1 — Build the Finnish pluperfect from olla in the past tense plus the -nut/-neet participle (olin tehnyt) to mark one past event as earlier than another.