Persoonapääte

Persoonapääte is a term used in Finnish grammar to refer to the personal ending of a verb. These endings are crucial for indicating the subject of the verb, meaning who or what is performing the action. Finnish verbs conjugate by adding specific suffixes to the verb stem, and these suffixes change depending on the person (first, second, or third) and number (singular or plural) of the subject.

For example, in the verb "puhua" (to speak), the stem is "puhu-". The first person singular ending is "-n", resulting in "puhun" (I speak). The second person singular ending is "-t", giving "puhut" (you speak). The third person singular ending is typically zero, so "puhuu" means "he/she/it speaks". For plural forms, the first person plural ending is "-mme" ("puhumme" - we speak), the second person plural ending is "-tte" ("puhutte" - you speak [plural]), and the third person plural ending is "-vat" or "-vät" ("puhuvat" - they speak).

The system of persoonapääte is a fundamental aspect of Finnish verb conjugation and plays a vital role in sentence structure and clarity. Understanding these personal endings is essential for constructing grammatically correct Finnish sentences. They are consistent across different verb types, though some minor variations can occur based on vowel harmony or the specific verb conjugation class.