To turn a verb into a descriptive adjective—like changing "to sing" into "singing" or "to flow" into "flowing"—Finnish uses the active present participle.
Forming the Participle
The easiest way to build this form is to take the 3rd person plural (he) form of the verb and drop the final -t.
| Verb | 3rd Person Plural | Active Present Participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| laulaa | laulavat | laulava | singing |
| nukkua | nukkuvat | nukkuva | sleeping |
| virrata | virtaavat | virtaava | flowing |
| piiloutua | piiloutuvat | piiloutuva | hiding |
| hiipiä | hiipivät | hiipivä | sneaking |
These participles modify nouns just like adjectives. Here they are in the basic nominative case:
| The flowing river is beautiful when the sun shines. | Virtaava joki on kaunis, kun aurinko paistaa. |
| There is a sleeping moose in the forest. | Metsässä on nukkuva hirvi. |
| There is a sneaking wolf in the tall grass. | Korkeassa ruohossa on hiipivä susi. |
| The singing bird builds a nest. | Laulava lintu rakentaa pesää. |
Case Agreement
Because the active present participle acts like an adjective, it must agree with the noun it modifies. If the noun changes its case, the participle takes the same case ending.
The Partitive Case
Verbs like tarkkailla (to observe) require objects in the partitive case. The participle takes the partitive -a or -ä ending to match the animal:
| I am observing the sleeping bear. | Minä tarkkailen nukkuvaa karhua. |
| We observe the hiding hare. | Tarkkailemme piiloutuvaa jänistä. |
The Accusative Case
When an action is completed, such as spotting an animal (nähdä), the object often takes the -n ending. The participle matches this:
| We see the sneaking wolf. | Me näemme hiipivän suden. |
| If you are quiet, you can see a sneaking wolf. | Jos olet hiljaa, voit nähdä hiipivän suden. |
Location Cases
This agreement also applies to location cases:
| The moose drinks water when it stands in the flowing river. | Hirvi juo vettä, kun se seisoo virtaavassa joessa. |