The Conditional Mood (-isi-)
To talk about dreams, hypothetical situations, or what you would do, Finnish uses the conditional mood. You will often see it paired with the word jos (if).
| If I won the lottery, I would be rich. | Jos voittaisin lotossa, olisin rikas. |
| My brother would play the lottery if he had money. | Veljeni pelaisi lottoa, jos hänellä olisi rahaa. |
The conditional marker is -isi-. It is attached to the verb stem, and any personal ending (like -n for "I" or -mme for "we") goes at the very end.
When adding -isi-, the final vowel of the verb stem often drops to make room for the i:
- olla (to be) → olisi-
- -n → olisin (I would be)
- voittaa (to win) → voittaisi-
- -n → voittaisin (I would win)
In the third-person singular, there is no personal ending. The verb simply ends in -isi.
- pelata (to play) → pelaisi (he/she would play)
- olla (to be) → olisi (it would be / someone would have)
More Verbs in the Conditional
Just like in the present tense, you can use the conditional for any person by swapping the personal ending.
- ostaa (to buy) → ostaisi (she would buy)
- antaa (to give) → antaisin (I would give)
- rakentaa (to build) → rakentaisimme (we would build)
| A rich woman would buy a new mansion. | Rikas nainen ostaisi uuden kartanon. |
| If I were rich, I would give a lot of money to charity. | Jos olisin rikas, antaisin paljon rahaa hyväntekeväisyyteen. |
| We would build our own house. | Me rakentaisimme oman talon. |
Describing Possessions and Actions
The third-person olisi (would be) is incredibly useful for describing what you would own or what would exist around you in your dream life.
| He would get two million euros and a new villa. | Hän saisi kaksi miljoonaa euroa ja uuden huvilan. |
| In the villa's yard there would be a big swimming pool. | Huvilan pihalla olisi iso uima-allas. |
You can attach the conditional marker to any verb to describe how you would spend your time or what luxury items you would choose.
| The boy would fly to school by helicopter. | Poika lentäisi kouluun helikopterilla. |
| My wife would choose a beautiful diamond. | Vaimoni valitsisi kauniin timantin. |