Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Finnish

In this lesson, you will practice discussing the news, journalism, and the media. Along the way, we will review how consonant gradation (changes to **k**, **p**, and **t**) applies to verbs in the past tense.

{{item:905424}}

{{item:905428}}

### Verb Type 4: Reverse Gradation

Verb Type 4 (verbs ending in **-ata/-ätä**, **-ota/-ötä**, etc.) undergoes *reverse consonant gradation*. The dictionary form is in the **weak grade**, but the conjugated stem switches to the **strong grade** for all persons.

For example, *tavata* (to meet) has a weak **v**, which changes to a strong **p** in the past stem (*tapasi-*).

{{item:905430}}

### Verb Type 1: Closed Syllable = Weak Grade

For Verb Type 1, the rule of thumb is: **if the personal ending closes the syllable, use the weak grade**.

Endings that end in a consonant (like **-n**, **-t**, and **-mme**) close the syllable, triggering the weak grade of the verb stem.

- *lukea* (to read): strong **k** → weak **-** (drops out). Past stem: *lui-*

{{item:905431}}

- *jakaa* (to share): strong **k** → weak **-** (drops out). Past stem: *jaoi-*

{{item:905434}}

- *kertoa* (to tell): strong **rt** → weak **rr**. Past stem: *kerroi-*

{{item:905435}}

### Comparing Strong and Weak Grades in Type 1

Third-person forms (*hän*, *se*, *he*) leave the final syllable of the stem open, so they take the **strong grade**.

Let's look at *väittää* (to claim). The strong grade is **tt** and the weak grade is **t**.

| Pronoun | Past Form | Grade | Syllable Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Minä | väitin | Weak (**t**) | Closed by **-n** |
| Hän / Se | väitti | Strong (**tt**) | Open |
| Me | väitimme | Weak (**t**) | Closed by **-mme** |

Notice how the journalist (third-person singular) uses the strong grade **tt**:

{{item:905437}}

But when "we" claim something, the ending closes the syllable, forcing the weak grade **t**:

{{item:905438}}

The same rule applies to verbs like *käyttää* (to use), where **tt** weakens to **t** for "I", "you", "we", and "you (plural)".

{{item:905448}}

{{item:905450}}

Past tense consonant gradation

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 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
news	uutinen
This news is important.	Tämä uutinen on tärkeä.
headline	otsikko
The headline is new.	Otsikko on uusi.
interview	haastattelu
The interview is ready.	Haastattelu on valmis.
journalist	toimittaja
The journalist met me yesterday.	Toimittaja tapasi minut eilen.
I read the article yesterday.	Minä luin artikkelin eilen.
I wrote the headline.	Minä kirjoitin otsikon.
to share / to divide/distribute (into parts)	jakaa
You shared the news.	Sinä jaoit uutisen.
We told the secret.	Me kerroimme salaisuuden.
to claim	väittää
The journalist claimed that the matter is certain.	Toimittaja väitti, että asia on varma.
We claimed that he is sick.	Me väitimme, että hän on sairas.
to use	käyttää
media	media
Mother uses the media.	Äiti käyttää mediaa.
radio	radio
I listened to the radio.	Minä kuuntelin radiota.
channel	kanava
This channel is new.	Tämä kanava on uusi.
Father spoke on the radio.	Isä puhui radiossa.
We shared the picture in the media.	Me jaoimme kuvan mediassa.
You used the channel.	Te käytitte kanavaa.
I read the interview today.	Minä luin haastattelun tänään.
I used the new radio.	Minä käytin uutta radiota.