Uusi kielemme - Finnish for Busy People

The passive past participle

1. What are participles?

Participles are verbal adjectives which can be formed from all verbs. Like ordinary adjectives, they are declined in all cases and agree with the noun which the qualify. They can be in active and passive form, and have an 'agent' participle. On this page you find just the passive past participle.

2. Use

syöty omena = the eaten apple
maalattu talo = the painted house

2.1. Denotes an action that is over, with no subject mentioned - either because it is not known, or because it isn't important.

Examples:

Söimme keitettyä kalaa.

= Söimme kalaa, joka oli keitetty

= We ate boiled fish.

Käsin kudotut puserot maksavat paljon.

= Puserot, jotka ovat käsin kudotut, maksavat paljon.

= Hand-made sweaters are expensive.

Formation

Verbtype 1: passive stem + -ttu/-tty.

Infinitive	Stem	Participle	Example	English
sanoa	sanotaan	sanottu	äsken sanotut sanat	the recently said words
maksaa	maksetaan	maksettu	maksettu lasku	the bill that was paid
ottaa	otetaan	otettu	otettu pois	taken away
lukea	luetaan	luettu	luettu kirja	the book that has been read

Verbtypes 2, 3: passive stem + -tu/-ty.

Infinitive	Stem	Participle	Example	English
nähdä	nähdään	nähty	nähty ihme	the miracle that has been seen
saada	saadaan	saatu	saatu rangaistus	the received punishment
luulla	luullaan	luultu	luultu ajatus	the thought that has been thought
opiskella	opiskellaan	opiskeltu	opiskeltu kieli	the studied language

Verbtypes 4, 5 and 6: passive stem + -ttu/-tty.

Infinitive	Stem	Participle	Example	English
tavata	tavataan	tavattu	tavattu julkkis	the celebrity that has been met
pelata	pelataan	pelattu	pelattu peli	the played game
valia	valitaan	valittu	valittu ehdokas	the chosen candidate
vaaleta	vaaletaan	vaalettu	vaalettu seinä	the wall that has whitened

4. Inflection

As said above, participles inflect freely. They will be put in the same form as the word they are connected to.

Examples:

Laulatussa laulussa oli 200 sanaa.

= In the sang song there were 200 words.

häirityllä miehellä oli kiire.

= The man that had been disturbed was in a hurry.

maksetun laskun summa oli 200 euroa.