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Me autamme toisiamme.

Me autamme toisiamme.
We help each other.

Breakdown of Me autamme toisiamme.

me
we
auttaa
to help
toisiamme
each other
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Questions & Answers about Me autamme toisiamme.

Why do we need me if autamme already means we help?

In Finnish, the personal ending -mme on autamme already shows that the subject is we, so me is not strictly necessary.

  • Autamme toisiamme. = We help each other. (neutral)
  • Me autamme toisiamme. = We help each other. (emphasis on we)

Adding me usually:

  • adds emphasis (contrasting with someone else: Me autamme, mutta he eivät. – We help, but they don’t.)
  • makes the sentence a bit clearer for learners or in spoken Finnish when stressing the subject.

So:

  • Grammatically: me is optional here.
  • Stylistically: me adds focus to who is doing the helping.
What form is autamme, and what is its dictionary form?

The dictionary (basic) form is auttaa (to help).

Autamme is:

  • present tense
  • indicative mood
  • 1st person plural (we)
  • from the verb auttaa

The full present tense conjugation of auttaa is:

  • minä autan – I help
  • sinä autat – you (sg) help
  • hän auttaa – he/she helps
  • me autamme – we help
  • te autatte – you (pl) help
  • he auttavat – they help

So autamme = auta- (stem) + -mme (we).

What exactly does toisiamme mean, and how is it formed?

Toisiamme expresses the idea each other / one another when we are the subject.

It comes from toinen (other, another, second).

Breakdown:

  • toinen – (an)other / the other
  • toisia – others / each other (partitive plural)
  • toisiamme – toisia
    • mme

The ending -mme here is the 1st person plural possessive suffix, which in this structure ties the “others” to us:

  • toisiamme ≈ (of) each other (of us)

So Me autamme toisiamme literally feels something like:

  • We help each others-of-us → We help each other.
Why is toisiamme in the partitive case?

Toisiamme is in the partitive plural because of how the verb auttaa normally behaves.

In Finnish, many verbs “govern” (prefer) a certain case for their object. For persons, auttaa very typically takes the partitive object:

  • Autan sinua. – I help you.
  • Autamme heitä. – We help them.
  • Autamme toisiamme. – We help each other.

So:

  • toisia is the partitive plural of toinen.
  • toisiamme is then partitive plural + our.

Grammatically:

  • auttaa + partitive is the default pattern for “help (someone)”.
  • That is why you see -a/-ä at the end of toisiamme.
Could we say Me autamme toisemme instead of Me autamme toisiamme?

You could see toisemme in Finnish, but with auttaa, toisiamme is the normal and natural choice.

Compare:

  • toisemme = toinen (other) + -mme (our)

    • often functions as a total (accusative-like) object: the action is seen as affecting the object completely.
    • e.g. Me tapaamme toisemme. – We meet each other. (a complete meeting event)

  • toisiamme = toisia (partitive plural) + -mme

    • partitive object, typical after auttaa when the idea is “help someone” in a general, not-completely-bounded way.

With auttaa, using toisiamme sounds natural and idiomatic:

  • Me autamme toisiamme. ✔ – standard, what people actually say.

Me autamme toisemme could sound odd or overly concrete, as if “we help each other completely/through to some final state,” and is not what learners should use. Stick with toisiamme with auttaa.

Can we drop me and just say Autamme toisiamme?

Yes.

  • Autamme toisiamme. – We help each other.
  • Me autamme toisiamme. – We help each other.

Both are correct. The meaning is the same; the difference is emphasis and style:

  • Without me: slightly more neutral, and very typical in Finnish, because the verb ending already shows the subject.
  • With me: emphasizes we, or contrasts with someone else.
Is Me autamme toisiamme present tense or future, or both?

Formally it is present tense, but in Finnish the present tense often covers future meaning as well.

So Me autamme toisiamme can mean:

  • We help each other (in general / habitually / right now).
  • We will help each other (in a future context), if the surrounding context makes it future:
    • Huomenna me autamme toisiamme. – Tomorrow we will help each other.

Finnish does not have a separate “future tense” form; context tells you if it’s present or future.

Are there other common ways to say we help each other in Finnish?

Yes, a few common alternatives (all basically we help each other or we help one another):

  1. Me autamme toinen toistamme.

    • More literally: we help one (the) other of us.
    • A bit more formal or literary, but quite common.

  2. Autamme toinen toistamme.

    • Same as above, without the explicit me.

  3. Me autamme aina toisiamme.

    • Adds aina (always): we always help each other.

However, Me autamme toisiamme is short, natural, and very idiomatic for everyday use.

Can the word order change, like Toisiamme me autamme?

Yes, Finnish word order is relatively flexible, and word order is often used for emphasis.

Some possibilities:

  • Me autamme toisiamme. – neutral, straightforward.
  • Autamme me toisiamme. – could appear in questions with -ko/-kö:
    • Autammeko me toisiamme? – Do we help each other?
  • Toisiamme me autamme. – puts strong emphasis on toisiamme:
    • Something like: It is each other that we help (maybe contrasting with helping someone else).

The core information stays the same as long as:

  • autamme is the main verb form,
  • me (explicit or implicit through -mme) is the subject,
  • toisiamme functions as the object.

But the most typical neutral order is exactly what you have: Me autamme toisiamme.

How would this sentence change with different persons (you, they, etc.)?

Here’s how auttaa + toinen (each other) works with different plural persons:

  1. 1st person plural – we

    • Me autamme toisiamme. – We help each other.

  2. 2nd person plural – you (plural)

    • Te autatte toisianne. – You (all) help each other.
      • toisianne = toisia
        • nne (2nd person plural possessive).

  3. 3rd person plural – they

    • He auttavat toisiaan. – They help each other.
      • toisiaan is the 3rd person form (no separate suffix like -mme, -nne).

For singular persons, you don’t normally say “each other” with just I or you (sg), because reciprocity needs at least two participants. You express that by using a plural subject:

  • Minä ja sinä autamme toisiamme. – You and I help each other.
  • Sinä ja hän autatte toisianne. – You and he/she help each other.