The agent participle (-ma / -mä) is used to describe a noun by stating who performed an action on it. It translates roughly to "done by [someone]" and functions exactly like an adjective. This structure is perfect for describing homemade food and handmade crafts.
Nouns as Agents
When a specific person (like mother or grandmother) did the action, put their name or title in the genitive case (ending in -n), followed by the agent participle and the noun it describes.
Genitive Subject + Agent Participle (-ma/-mä) + Noun
| The pie baked by mother is really tasty. | Äidin leipoma piirakka on todella maukas. |
| Isn't the jam made by father on the shelf? | Eikö isän tekemä hillo ole hyllyllä? |
Because the agent participle acts exactly like an adjective, it must agree with the noun it modifies in both number and case.
| The woolen socks knitted by grandmother are on the table. | Isoäidin neulomat villasukat ovat pöydällä. |
Notice how neuloma becomes neulomat to match the plural noun villasukat.
| We are eating the apples grown by grandfather. | Me syömme isoisän kasvattamia omenia. |
Here, the participle takes the partitive plural ending to match omenia.
Pronouns as Agents
When the agent is a personal pronoun (I, you, we, etc.), you still use the genitive pronoun (minun, sinun, meidän). However, a strict rule applies: you must also attach a possessive suffix to the end of the participle.
Genitive Pronoun + Agent Participle + Possessive Suffix + Noun
| This is the recipe written by me, which is really easy. | Tämä on minun kirjoittamani resepti, joka on todella helppo. |
| Isn't this the mushroom picked by you? | Eikö tämä ole sinun poimimasi sieni? |
| The berries picked by us are on the plate. | Meidän poimimamme marjat ovat lautasella. |
Notice how the possessive suffix (-ni, -si, -mme) is always attached directly to the end of the participle, matching the genitive pronoun at the start of the phrase.
