Verb Type 3: -la/-na/-ra/-sta Verbs (tulla, mennä) | Finnish Grammar

Type 3 gathers verbs whose infinitive ends in a consonant plus -a/-ä — specifically -la/-lä, -na/-nä, -ra/-rä, or -sta/-stä: tulla (come), mennä (go), olla (be), purra (bite), pestä (wash), nousta (rise), opiskella (study), ajatella (think). The class is easy to spot but has one move that Types 1 and 2 do not: you insert a linking -e- to build the stem. Master that and Type 3 becomes as regular as any other class. This is A2 material mainly because it depends on already being comfortable with the endings and with gradation.

Building the stem: drop two letters, add -e-

Take off the final two letters (-la, -na, -ra, -sta and their front-vowel twins) and add -e-. The stem always ends in a single consonant plus -e-:

Infinitive	Meaning	Stem
tulla	come	tule-
mennä	go	mene-
purra	bite	pure-
pestä	wash	pese-
nousta	rise, get up	nouse-
opiskella	study	opiskele-
ajatella	think	ajattele-

Notice the spelling shift: the infinitive carries a double consonant (tulla, mennä, purra) because the old infinitive marker -ta assimilated to the stem consonant, but the present stem has a single consonant plus -e- (tule-, mene-, pure-). Keeping the geminate into the stem — *tulle- — is a common misspelling.

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The linking -e- is the heart of Type 3 — it is the vowel every ending needs something to hold onto. Say the stem out loud before conjugating: tulla → tule-, then tule- + n = tulen. Skip the -e- and you get the impossible *tuln.

Full paradigm: tulla (to come)

Add the personal endings to tule-. Just as in Type 1, the third person doubles the final stem vowel, so here the -e- stretches to -ee:

Person	Form	Meaning
minä	tulen	I come
sinä	tulet	you come
hän	tulee	he/she comes
me	tulemme	we come
te	tulette	you (pl.) come
he	tulevat	they come

Tuletko sinä mukaan kaupungille lauantaina?

Are you coming into town on Saturday?

Bussi tulee yleensä muutaman minuutin myöhässä.

The bus usually comes a few minutes late.

Vieraat tulevat seitsemältä, joten ehdimme vielä siivota.

The guests are coming at seven, so we still have time to clean up.

Full paradigm: mennä (to go)

The stem is mene-, and because the infinitive mennä has ä, this is a front-vowel verb — so the plural ending is -vät:

Person	Form	Meaning
minä	menen	I go
sinä	menet	you go
hän	menee	he/she goes
me	menemme	we go
te	menette	you (pl.) go
he	menevät	they go

Menen huomenna aikaisin nukkumaan, koska herään kuudelta.

I'm going to bed early tomorrow because I get up at six.

Minne sinä menet noin hienona?

Where are you going all dressed up like that?

Lapset menevät kouluun kahdeksalta ja tulevat kotiin kahdelta.

The kids go to school at eight and come home at two.

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Present -ee-, past -i-. The Type 3 present tulee/menee ("comes"/"goes") is a whole vowel apart from the past tuli/meni ("came"/"went"). Mixing them up — saying tuli when you mean "comes" — changes the tense, so guard that -ee-.

Full paradigm: opiskella (to study)

Longer verbs work exactly the same way. Opiskella → opiskele-, a back-vowel stem (it contains o and a), so the plural is -vat:

Person	Form
minä	opiskelen
sinä	opiskelet
hän	opiskelee
me	opiskelemme
te	opiskelette
he	opiskelevat

Opiskelen suomea kolme kertaa viikossa iltakurssilla.

I study Finnish three times a week in an evening class.

Mitä sinä opiskelet yliopistossa?

What are you studying at university?

Gradation and the -kse- verb juosta

Because the linking -e- opens the stem syllable, any gradating consonant in a Type 3 verb shows up in the strong grade throughout the present tense — the opposite direction from Type 1. The clearest case is ajatella ("to think"): the infinitive has a single t, but the stem is ajattele- with a geminate tt, so "I think" is ajattelen, not *ajatelen. (Most everyday Type 3 verbs — tulla, mennä, olla, panna — have no gradating stop at all, so they show no such alternation.)

Ajattelen sinua usein, vaikka emme ole nähneet aikoihin.

I think about you often, even though we haven't seen each other in ages.

Mitä sinä ajattelet tästä ideasta?

What do you think of this idea?

One member is genuinely irregular: juosta ("to run"). Its stem is juokse- — a k surfaces before the -se- — so the paradigm is juoksen, juokset, juoksee, juoksemme, juoksette, juoksevat. There is no shortcut; the -kse- stem simply has to be learned.

Juoksen aamuisin metsässä ennen kuin lähden töihin.

I run in the forest in the mornings before I leave for work.

Hän juoksee ensimmäisen maratoninsa ensi keväänä.

He's running his first marathon next spring.

Common Mistakes

❌ Tuln kotiin noin viideltä.

Incorrect — Type 3 inserts a linking -e- into the stem: tulen.

✅ Tulen kotiin noin viideltä.

I'll come home around five.

❌ Juna tule viiden minuutin päästä.

Incorrect — the third person doubles the -e- to -ee: tulee.

✅ Juna tulee viiden minuutin päästä.

The train comes in five minutes.

❌ Minä juosen joka aamu ennen töitä.

Incorrect — juosta has an irregular -kse- stem: juoksen.

✅ Minä juoksen joka aamu ennen töitä.

I run every morning before work.

❌ Ajatelen, että sinun kannattaa levätä.

Incorrect — the stem of ajatella strengthens t → tt: ajattelen.

✅ Ajattelen, että sinun kannattaa levätä.

I think you ought to rest.

Key Takeaways

Stem: drop the -la/-na/-ra/-sta ending and add -e- (tulla → tule-, pestä → pese-, opiskella → opiskele-).
Spelling: the infinitive's double consonant becomes single in the stem (tulla → tule-, not *tulle-).
Third person doubles the -e- to -ee (tulee, menee, opiskelee) — a whole vowel away from the past -i- (tuli, meni).
Gradation runs strong in the stem (ajatella → ajattelen), and juosta has the irregular -kse- stem juokse- (juoksen).

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