Finnish turns actions and qualities into nouns with a small set of transparent suffixes. Three of them carry most of the load: -us / -ys makes an act or its result out of a verb (vastata "to answer" → vastaus "an answer"), -uus / -yys makes an abstract quality out of an adjective (rakas "dear" → rakkaus "love"), and -minen makes a neutral verbal noun — a gerund — out of any verb at all (lukea "to read" → lukeminen "reading"). English speakers usually file answer, love and reading as three unrelated words; in Finnish they are three instances of the same predictable machinery, so learning the pattern replaces learning the words one by one.
-us / -ys: the act or its result
Added to a verb stem, -us / -ys names either the action or the thing it produces. Many are everyday nouns you already know without noticing the verb inside them.
| Verb | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|
| vastata | vastaus | answer |
| opettaa | opetus | teaching, instruction |
| rakentaa | rakennus | building |
| ehdottaa | ehdotus | proposal |
| selittää | selitys | explanation |
| kysyä | kysymys | question |
Notice the gradation on the way in: rakentaa → rakennus (nt → nn), opettaa → opetus (tt → t), ehdottaa → ehdotus (tt → t). And every one of these has the oblique stem -ukse- / -ykse-, which you need for all cases except the nominative: vastaus → vastauksen (genitive), vastausta (partitive), vastaukset (plural).
Lähetin hakemuksen, mutta en ole vielä saanut vastausta.
I sent the application, but I haven't got an answer yet.
Opettajan selitys oli niin selkeä, että kaikki ymmärsivät heti.
The teacher's explanation was so clear that everyone understood right away.
Sinun ehdotuksesi on hyvä, mutta se maksaa liikaa.
Your proposal is good, but it costs too much.
This family is partly lexicalised — you cannot freely coin new -us nouns from any verb; you learn the ones the language has settled on. It is the productive twin -minen that fills every gap.
-uus / -yys: quality from an adjective
Added to an adjective, -uus / -yys names the abstract quality: "the state of being X." This one is fully productive — take any adjective and you can build its quality noun.
| Adjective | Noun | English |
|---|---|---|
| rakas | rakkaus | love |
| kaunis | kauneus | beauty |
| vapaa | vapaus | freedom |
| nopea | nopeus | speed |
| mahdollinen | mahdollisuus | possibility |
| ystävällinen | ystävällisyys | kindness |
A few nouns take it too, giving relationship abstracts: ystävä → ystävyys ("friendship"), veli → veljeys ("brotherhood"). The oblique stem is -uude- / -yyde-: rakkaus → rakkauden (genitive), rakkautta (partitive); ystävyys → ystävyyden, ystävyyttä.
Vanha ystävyys ei ruostu, vaikka näkisi harvoin.
Old friendship doesn't rust, even if you rarely see each other.
Nopeusrajoitus tällä tiellä on kahdeksankymmentä.
The speed limit on this road is eighty.
Hänen ystävällisyytensä yllätti minut täysin.
His kindness took me completely by surprise.
-minen: the all-purpose verbal noun
-minen is the fully productive one: any verb, no exceptions, yields a neutral noun for the activity — the equivalent of English -ing. Tehdä → tekeminen ("doing"), lukea → lukeminen ("reading"), uida → uiminen ("swimming"), matkustaa → matkustaminen ("travelling"). It inflects like every other -nen noun, with the oblique stem -mise-: tekeminen → tekemisen (genitive), tekemistä (partitive).
Uiminen on hauskaa, mutta juokseminen on minulle rankempaa.
Swimming is fun, but running is tougher for me.
Pidän lukemisesta enemmän kuin television katsomisesta.
I like reading more than watching television.
Kielten opiskeleminen vaatii kärsivällisyyttä ja toistoa.
Studying languages takes patience and repetition.
Because -minen is limitless, it is the safe default when no ready-made -us noun exists: you may not know a settled noun for "the swimming," but uiminen is always available and always correct. The heavier, clause-like uses of -minen — where it takes objects and modifiers like a whole sentence — belong to nominalization.
Two smaller families: -nti/-nta and -o/-u
Beyond the big three, a couple of minor patterns turn verbs into nouns. -nti / -nta names an activity, common in commerce: myydä → myynti ("sale, selling"), tuoda → tuonti ("import"), kysyä → kysyntä ("demand"). And a short vowel -o / -ö / -u / -y makes many old, lexicalised act-and-result nouns: ostaa → osto ("purchase"), laulaa → laulu ("song"), itkeä → itku ("crying"), muuttaa → muutto ("a move, relocation").
Talon myynti kesti puoli vuotta, koska kysyntää oli vähän.
Selling the house took six months, because there was little demand.
Common Mistakes
❌ En saanut vielä vastausen.
Incorrect — the oblique stem of -us is -ukse-: vastauksen.
✅ En saanut vielä vastausta. / Odotan vastauksen saapumista.
I haven't got an answer yet. / I'm waiting for the answer to arrive.
❌ Rakkausen tunne on vahva.
Incorrect — the oblique stem of -uus is -uude-: rakkauden.
✅ Rakkauden tunne on vahva.
The feeling of love is strong.
❌ Pidän uimuksesta.
Incorrect — there is no -us noun here; use the productive -minen: uiminen.
✅ Pidän uimisesta.
I like swimming.
❌ Onko siihen mitään mahdollus?
Incorrect — the quality noun from mahdollinen is mahdollisuus, not mahdollus.
✅ Onko siihen mitään mahdollisuutta?
Is there any possibility of that?
❌ Uiminen on hauska.
Incorrect — an activity subject takes a partitive predicate adjective: hauskaa.
✅ Uiminen on hauskaa.
Swimming is fun.
Key Takeaways
- -us / -ys builds an act/result noun from a verb (vastaus); oblique stem -ukse-. Partly lexicalised.
- -uus / -yys builds a quality noun from an adjective (rakkaus, mahdollisuus); oblique stem -uude-. Fully productive.
- -minen builds a verbal noun from any verb (lukeminen); oblique stem -mise-. The safe default.
- Mind gradation and harmony into the stem (rakentaa → rakennus, ystävällinen → ystävällisyys), and use the partitive predicate for activity subjects (Uiminen on hauskaa).
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- -us / -ys Nouns: vastaus → vastaukse-B1 — Deverbal nouns in -us/-ys hide an -ukse-/-ykse- stem: vastaus → vastauksen, vastausta. How to tell them from the -uus abstracts.
- -uus / -yys Nouns: rakkaus → rakkaude-B1 — Abstract quality nouns in -uus/-yys hide an -uude-/-yyde- stem: kauneus → kauneuden, kauneutta. How they differ from the -ukse- nouns.
- Deriving New Words: An OverviewA2 — How Finnish builds new words from roots plus derivational suffixes — the main suffix families, why the language grows vocabulary this way, and how to parse and predict.
- Nominalization and Heavy Noun PhrasesC2 — Packing clauses into heavy noun phrases with the -minen infinitive, -us/-uus abstracts, and se, että — the hallmark of academic Finnish.