Negation
In Finnish, there is a negative verb. Verbs are negated by adding the negative verb in front of the main verb. This verb will lose its personal ending, because the negative verb will have a personal ending already. The main verb will be written in its stem form, which is found by taking the "minä" form of the verb and removing the -n.
1. Present tense
| Verb | Stem | Negative | Meaning |
| tietää | tiedä- | (minä) en tiedä | I don't know |
| saada | saa- | (sinä) et saa | you don't get |
| tulla | tule- | (hän) ei tule | he doesn't come |
| tavata | tapaa- | (me) emme tapaa | we don't meet |
| tarvita | tarvitse- | (te) ette tarvitse | you (plural) don't need |
| paeta | pakene- | (he) eivät pakene | they don't escape |
2. Present passive tense
The negative is formed by taking the third person singular (no conjugation of the negative verb!) of the "negative verb" (ei), followed by the present passive with the final "-an" removed.
| Verb | Passive | Negative | Meaning |
| tietää | tiedetään | ei tiedetä | it isn't known |
| saada | saadaan | ei saada | it isn't received |
| opiskella | opiskellaan | ei opiskella | it isn't studied |
| tavata | tavataan | ei tavata | it isn't met |
| tarvita | tarvitaan | ei tarvita | it isn't needed |
| vaaleta | vaaletaan | ei vaaleta | it isn't whitened |
3. Imperfect tense
The negative is formed by conjugating the "negative verb", followed by the nominative form (either singular or plural depending on the number of the verb's subject) of the active past participle.
| Finnish | English | Finnish | English |
| Minä en puhunut. | I didn't speak. | Minä en syönyt. | I didn't eat. |
| Sinä et puhunut. | You didn't speak. | Sinä et syönyt. | You didn't eat. |
| Hän ei puhunut. | He didn't speak. | Hän ei syönyt. | He didn't eat. |
| Me emme puhuneet. | We didn't speak. | Me emme syöneet. | We didn't eat. |
| Te ette puhuneet. | You (plural) didn't speak. | Te ette syöneet. | You (plural) didn't eat. |
| He eivät puhuneet. | They didn't speak. | He eivät syöneet. | They didn't eat. |
4. Passive imperfect
The negative is formed by taking the third person singular of the "negative verb" (ei), followed by the nominative singular form of the passive past participle:
| Finnish | Passive | Negative | English |
| tietää | tiedettiin | ei tiedetty | it wasn't known |
| saada | saatiin | ei saatu | it wasn't received |
| opiskella | opiskeltiin | ei opiskeltu | it wasn't studied |
| tavata | tavattiin | ei tavattu | it wasn't met |
| tarvita | tarvittiin | ei tarvittu | it wasn't needed |
| vaaleta | vaalettiin | ei vaalettu | it wasn't whitened |
| Related grammar |
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The verb types :
The passive :
The negative imperfect : The present participle : The passive past participle |