Perfektimuotoa

Perfektimuoto, in Finnish grammar commonly referred to as the perfect tense (perfekti), is the form of a verb used to express completed actions with relevance to the present or to describe past experiences. It is built with the auxiliary verb olla in a present or past tense and the main verb’s past participle.

Formation and examples

- Present perfect (perfekti): forms such as olen tehnyt, olet lukenut, olemme nähneet. In these constructions, the present tense of olla (olen, olet, on, olemme, olette, ovat) is combined with the past participle of the main verb (tehnyt, lukenut, nähnyt). I have done, you have read, we have seen.

- Past perfect (pluperfect): forms such as olin tehnyt, olit nähnyt, olimme lukeneet. Here the past tense of olla (olin, olit, oli, olimme, olitte, olivat) plus the past participle expresses an action that had been completed before another past moment.

- Negation: negated perfect forms use ei: en ole tehnyt, et ole lukenut, emme ole nähneet.

Past participles

Past participles show the action's completed state and vary by verb class. Regular verbs often yield endings like -nut or -nyt (tehnyt, lukenut, nähnyt), while irregulars include kuten ollut (from olla), tullut, sanonut, nähnyt, käynyt, tehnyt. The exact form depends on the verb’s stem and conjugation.

Usage and contrasts

The perfekteilla expresses actions with present relevance, experiences, or results rather than simple past narration. It contrasts with the imperfect (imperfekti), which is used for straightforward past actions, and with the present tense for actions occurring now. Some time expressions (jo, vielä) guide the intended sense of the perfect.