Verbimuotoja

Verbimuotoja is the term used in Finnish grammar to refer to the many grammatical forms a Finnish verb can take. These forms encode information about person and number, tense, mood, voice, and other grammatical categories. Verbs also appear in non-finite forms, which function within larger constructions rather than as the main predicate.

Finite forms are used to make statements about time and subject. The present tense expresses current actions or general truths, as in minä kirjoitan (I write). The imperfect or past tense expresses past actions, as in hän kirjoitti (he wrote). Finnish does not have a dedicated future tense; future time is normally indicated by context or auxiliary phrases. Negation is formed with ei plus the positive form, for example en kirjoita (I do not write). The imperative expresses commands, as in kirjoita! The conditional mood describes hypothetical actions, as in kirjoittaisin (I would write). The passive voice, used to shift focus from the agent, is formed with a passive suffix, as in kirjoitetaan (it is written).

Non-finite forms include infinitives and participles. The infinitive acts as a base form for dictionaries and many constructions, for example kirjoittaa (to write). Participles function as adjectives or in forming complex tenses: present active participle kirjoittava (the one who is writing), past active participle kirjoittanut (has written), and passive past participle kirjoitettu (written/was written).

Finnish verbs are traditionally grouped into several conjugation types (I–IV), which guide their finite-form endings and stem changes. Understanding verbimuotoja helps explain how a single verb can convey person, time, mood, voice, and modality within sentences.