maistanut

Maistanut is the past active participle of the Finnish verb maistaa, meaning to taste or sample something. It denotes the action of having tasted in the past and is commonly used to form perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb on (has/have tasted). The participle generally agrees with the subject in mood and voice but not in person or number, and it can function as an adjective or part of a compound verb construction.

Morphology and usage

Maistanut is part of a class of Finnish past participles formed with the suffix -nut. In sentences, it is typically used with an auxiliary like on to indicate a completed tasting event. The object of maistaa is in the partitive case, reflecting indefiniteness or ongoing quantity: Hän on maistanut kahvia (He has tasted coffee). The form can also appear without an auxiliary to describe a characteristic or action related to a subject in a non-finite clause, though this is less common in everyday speech.

Common contexts

- Perfect tenses: Olen maistanut, hän on maistanut, he ovat maistaneet.

- Descriptive usage: Maistanut ruokia voi kuvailla monin tavoin, kuten “maistanut ja hyväksynyt” in tasting notes or narratives.

- Negation: Hän ei ole maistanut tätä vielä.

Etymology

Maistanut derives from maistaa plus the past active participle suffix -nut, a common pattern for forming verbal adjectives that indicate completed action.

See also

Maistaa, maistelu, tasting note terminology in Finnish.