Määritepartisiipit

Määritepartisiipit, often translated as adjectival participles or participial adjectives, are verb forms in Finnish that function as adjectives. They describe a noun and agree with it in case, number, and possessive suffix. These participles are derived from verbs and carry semantic information about the action or state of the verb.

There are two main types of määritepartisiipit: active and passive. Active participles describe an action performed by the noun itself. For example, "juokseva lapsi" (running child) uses the present active participle of "juosta" (to run). Passive participles, on the other hand, describe a state or action that is done to the noun. "Luettu kirja" (read book) is an example, using the past passive participle of "lukea" (to read).

Finnish has both present and past forms for both active and passive participles. The present active participle typically ends in -va/-vä or -nna/-nnä. The past active participle ends in -nut/-nyt. The present passive participle often uses the stem of the verb with specific endings like -ttu/-tty. The past passive participle is formed with the past participle stem and endings like -tu/-ty.

Määritepartisiipit are crucial for creating more descriptive and nuanced sentences in Finnish. They allow for conciseness by combining verbal and adjectival functions into a single word, enriching the grammatical possibilities of the language. Their use is widespread in both spoken and written Finnish.