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Finnish

In English, we use the word "not" to make a sentence negative. In Finnish, "not" is actually a verb! This means that the negative word changes (conjugates) depending on who is the subject of the sentence.

### The Negative Verb

To say "I do not", "you do not", or "he does not", Finnish uses different forms of the negative verb.

| Person | Pronoun | Negative Verb |
|---|---|---|
| I | minä | **en** |
| you | sinä | **et** |
| he / she / it | hän / se | **ei** |
| we | me | **emme** |
| you (plural) | te | **ette** |
| they | he / ne | **eivät** |

### Negating "to be" (Olla)

When you use a negative verb, the main verb of the sentence takes a special neutral form (called the connegative form). It loses its personal endings and stays exactly the same, no matter who the subject is.

For the verb *olla* (to be), this unchanging form is **ole**.

To make a negative sentence, simply pair the correct negative verb with **ole**:

- Minä **en ole** (I am not)
- Sinä **et ole** (You are not)
- Hän **ei ole** (He/she is not)

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### Plural Negation

The rule is exactly the same for plural subjects. Match the negative verb to the subject (*emme*, *ette*, *eivät*) and follow it with the unchanging **ole**.

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### Negating "This" and Other Nouns

When talking about an object, a concept, or using a demonstrative like *tämä* (this), treat it as a "he/she/it" subject. You will use the third-person singular negative verb **ei** along with **ole**.

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Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

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)

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)

Partitive plural (-ita / -itä)

Question	Answer
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)	ei
sick	sairas
today	tänään
I am not sick today.	Minä en ole sairas tänään.
He is not sick, but he is tired.	Hän ei ole sairas, mutta hän on väsynyt.
doctor	lääkäri
You are not a doctor.	Sinä et ole lääkäri.
She is not a doctor. She is a teacher.	Hän ei ole lääkäri. Hän on opettaja.
sure / certain	varma
Are you sure?	Oletko sinä varma?
I am not sure.	Minä en ole varma.
yet / still	vielä
We are not at home yet.	Me emme ole vielä kotona.
You are not here today.	Te ette ole täällä tänään.
They are not inside.	He eivät ole sisällä.
easy	helppo
This word is not easy.	Tämä sana ei ole helppo.
This book is easy.	Tämä kirja on helppo.
difficult / hard	vaikea
This book is not difficult.	Tämä kirja ei ole vaikea.
Is this word difficult?	Onko tämä sana vaikea?
ready	valmis
Are you ready?	Oletko sinä valmis?
food	ruoka
The food is not ready yet.	Ruoka ei ole vielä valmis.
Where is the food?	Missä ruoka on?
young	nuori
He is old. He is not young.	Hän on vanha. Hän ei ole nuori.
Who is not young?	Kuka ei ole nuori?