Suunnitellaverbistä

Suunnitellaverbistä is a term that appears in some linguistic discussions to refer to verbs and verb-like expressions that convey planning or deliberate intention in Finnish. It is not a standard, widely accepted grammatical category in Finnish syntax or lexicography, but the label is used to describe a semantic field rather than a fixed morphosyntactic class. In practice, planning or intentional meaning in Finnish is typically expressed with periphrastic constructions around verbs such as aikoa (to intend) and suunnitella (to plan), rather than by a distinct verb-form class.

The core idea behind the term is to group together verbs and verb-like expressions that encode forward-looking planning. Common examples include aikoa + infinitive and suunnitella + infinitive or related subordinate structures. For instance, Hän aikoo aloittaa projektin ensi kuussa expresses intention to perform a future action, while Hän suunnittelee aloittavansa projektin ensi kuussa signals more concrete planning. The distinction between these constructions is often pragmatic: aikoa tends to convey intention with a more immediate or less committed nuance, whereas suunnitella suggests a more detailed or deliberate plan.

Grammatical treatment of planning expressions in Finnish typically treats them as separate lexical items and constructions rather than as a single inflectional class. In teaching and reference grammars, discussions about planning-related meaning are usually found under sections on aikoa, suunnitella, and related future-marking forms, rather than under a formal “planning-verb” category.

See also: aikoa, suunnitella, aikomus, tulevaisuuden ilmaisut, perifrastiset verbit.