Verbtaivutus

Verbtaivutus is a Finnish grammatical term that refers to the inflection of verbs. This process involves changing the form of a verb to express various grammatical meanings such as tense, mood, voice, person, and number. Finnish is a highly agglutinative language, meaning that suffixes are attached to the verb stem to convey these meanings.

For example, the infinitive verb "puhua" (to speak) can be inflected in numerous ways. "Puhun" indicates the first person singular present tense ("I speak"), while "puhuit" shows the second person singular past tense ("you spoke"). The passive voice is also formed through inflection, as in "puhutaan" ("it is spoken" or "one speaks").

Finnish verb inflection is systematic and follows predictable patterns, although there are some irregularities. The main categories of inflection include personal forms (indicating the subject), tense (present, past, perfect, pluperfect), and mood (indicative, conditional, imperative, potential). Understanding verbtaivutus is crucial for comprehending and constructing grammatically correct Finnish sentences. It plays a significant role in conveying the precise nuances of action and state in the language.