Participles as Nouns
In Finnish, participles (verb forms acting as adjectives) can be used directly as nouns. Instead of saying "the dead people" or "the chosen one", you simply say "the dead" or "the chosen". These substantivized participles inflect for number and case exactly like standard nouns.
Active Participles
Active participles describe the one performing the action. For example, from elää (to live) and kuolla (to die), we get the participles elävä (living) and kuollut (dead). Used as nouns, they inflect directly—such as in the adessive (elävillä) or the genitive plural (kuolleiden).
| The living have souls, but the dead do not. | Elävillä on sielu, mutta kuolleilla ei. |
| Can a ritual awaken the souls of the dead? | Voiko rituaali herättää kuolleiden sielut? |
The past active participle of langeta (to fall) is langennut. Its plural nominative form is langenneet (the fallen).
| The legend says that the fallen supposedly return. | Legenda kertoo, että langenneet muka palaavat. |
Passive Participles
Passive participles describe what has been done to someone or something, usually ending in -ttu or -tty. As nouns, they mean "the [verb]ed (ones)".
- valita (to choose) → valittu (the chosen one)
- herättää (to awaken) → herätetty (the awakened one)
- karkottaa (to banish) → karkotettu (the banished one)
| According to the legend, the chosen one will slay the dragon. | Legendan mukaan valittu tappaa lohikäärmeen. |
| The awakened do not need magic. | Herätetyt eivät tarvitse taikuutta. |
They take standard case endings to match their grammatical role, such as the genitive plural (unohdettujen), adessive plural (tuomituilla), or partitive plural (karkotettuja):
| The tribe of the forgotten hides in the shadows. | Unohdettujen heimo piiloutuu varjoihin. |
| The condemned do not have a home, because the elves persecute them. | Tuomituilla ei ole kotia, koska haltiat vainoavat heitä. |
| Are you looking for those banished ones? | Etsittekö noita karkotettuja? |