The Present Active Referative Construction
In Finnish, instead of using an että (that) clause to say "I see that the pilot is walking" or "I hear that the radar is working," you can compress the sentence into a single clause using the present active referative construction.
To build this structure from a standard että clause, you need to make two changes to the sub-clause:
- Change the subject of the action into the genitive case (usually adding -n).
- Change the verb into the present active participle and add the genitive -n. The resulting verb ends in -van or -vän.
| Basic Verb | Present Participle | Referative Form (-van / -vän) |
|---|
| kävellä | kävelevä | kävelevän |
| toimia | toimiva | toimivan |
| lähestyä | lähestyvä | lähestyvän |
This construction is frequently used with verbs of perceiving (seeing, hearing), reporting (saying, announcing), and thinking. Because it sounds slightly more formal and efficient than an että clause, it is very common in official settings, such as aviation announcements and flight statuses.
Describing States with "Olla"
You can also use this construction to describe how things currently are. The verb olla (to be) becomes olevan.
Just like with other verbs, the subject of olevan goes into the genitive case. Keep in mind that if the subject takes a possessive suffix (such as turvavyöni, my seatbelt), the genitive -n drops out, but the sentence structure works exactly the same way.