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Finnish

In Finnish, you can express that something causes a reaction or a feeling by using causative verbs. These verbs characteristically end in the suffix **-ttaa** or **-ttää** (following vowel harmony).

For example, from the basic verb *nauraa* (to laugh), we get *naurattaa* (to make laugh). From *itkeä* (to cry), we get *itkettää* (to make cry).

### Expressing Cause and Effect

When using these verbs, the thing causing the reaction is the subject of the sentence (in the standard nominative case). The person experiencing the feeling is the object, and must always be in the **partitive** case (e.g., *minua*, *sinua*, *meitä*).

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This structure works exactly the same in questions, and when the experiencer is a regular noun rather than a pronoun. Remember to put the noun in the partitive case as well!

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### Feelings Without a Direct Subject

Often, a feeling is caused by an entire situation rather than a specific object. In these sentences, the person experiencing the emotion (still in the partitive case) typically moves to the front of the sentence. 

The causative verb stays in the third-person singular ("it" makes me feel), and the cause is explained afterward using conjunctions like *kun* (when) or *jos* (if).

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You can also use this structure on its own to simply state how you feel in general, such as *Minua väsyttää* (I feel tired, literally: "It tires me") or *Mua hävettää* (I feel ashamed).

Causative verbs (-ttaa/-ttää)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
comedy	komedia
to make laugh	naurattaa
This comedy makes me laugh.	Tämä komedia naurattaa minua.
comedian	koomikko
The comedian makes the audience laugh.	Koomikko naurattaa yleisöä.
to make cry	itkettää
That sad movie always makes me cry.	Tuo surullinen elokuva itkettää minua aina.
to scare	pelottaa
rollercoaster	vuoristorata
Does this rollercoaster scare you?	Pelottaako tämä vuoristorata sinua?
to tire	väsyttää
A bad movie makes us tired.	Huono elokuva väsyttää meitä.
It tires me when the comedian is not funny.	Minua väsyttää, kun koomikko ei ole hauska.
to embarrass	nolottaa
It embarrasses me when I drop the phone.	Minua nolottaa, kun pudotan puhelimen.
The actor's mistake embarrasses the director.	Näyttelijän virhe nolottaa ohjaajaa.
to anger	suututtaa
The comedian's bad story angers the audience.	Koomikon huono juttu suututtaa yleisöä.
It angers me if the movie is worse than the book.	Minua suututtaa, jos elokuva on huonompi kuin kirja.
drama	draama
That new drama surely makes everyone cry.	Tuo uusi draama itkettää varmasti kaikkia.
to make ashamed	hävettää
I am ashamed because I am so lazy.	Mua hävettää, koska oon niin laiska.
The new comedy does not make me laugh anymore.	Uusi komedia ei naurata minua enää.
Does the comedy sound better than the drama?	Kuulostaako komedia paremmalta kuin draama?
He would go to the rollercoaster, even though it scares him.	Se menis vuoristorataan, vaikka sitä pelottaa.
Does that big mistake make you ashamed?	Hävettääkö tuo suuri virhe sinua?
to annoy, to irritate	ärsyttää
This bad movie annoys me.	Tämä huono elokuva ärsyttää minua.
Does this drama annoy you?	Ärsyttääkö tämä draama sinua?
to vex, to make (someone) sorry	harmittaa
It vexes me, because the comedy ended.	Minua harmittaa, koska komedia loppui.
The actor's mistake vexes the director.	Näyttelijän virhe harmittaa ohjaajaa.

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