Verbin Substantiivimuoto <> The Noun Form of a Verb
In Finnish you can turn any verb into a noun. The noun form of the verb ends with -minen. It's similar to when we add -ing to a verb in English.
For example: Syöminen = Eating
Juokseminen = Running
Oleminen = Being
To create this form, follow these steps:
1. Find the he form of the verb (remember, he is always strong when KPT applies)
Lukea --> He lukevat 2. Remove vat/vät, leaving the strong stem or vahva vartalo.
Lukevat --> Luke-
3. Add -minen, and you're done.
Luke- --> Lukeminen
You've now created a new noun. And just like any noun, you can add suffixes to it. Fortunately, the noun form of a verb always ends with -nen, so they are all the same word-type. The word types were in the intermediate section, but we can go over -nen words once more here, just to refresh your memory.
Words ending with -nen
The only thing you really need to remember is that to create the vartalo, you have to remove -nen and add -se. For the partitive form however, -nen becomes -sta/stä.
Let's use lukeminen as an example:
Nominatiivi (Mikä) Lukeminen
Partitiivi (Mitä) Lukemista
Genetiivi (Minkä) Lukemisen
Akkusatiivi (Minkä) Lukemisen
Elatiivi (Mistä) Lukemisesta
Inessiivi (Missä) Lukemisessa
Illatiivi (Mihin) Lukemiseen
Let's stop there, because it's very unlikely that you'll ever really need any other form of any -minen word.
Now let's use the word Lukeminen in some sentences. Pay attention to what form it's in.
Lukeminen on hauska harrastus. Reading is a fun hobby. The basic form because here Lukeminen is the subject
Minä rakastan lukemista. I love reading. Partitive because rakastaa is a partitive verb
Minä tykkään lukemisesta. I like reading. Elative because tykätä + mistä
Olen väsynyt lukemiseen. I'm tired of reading. Illative because väsyä + mihin
Notice that the ending changes depending on the verb. You can read more about this in the section entitled "Rectiot".
However, here are some of the most common verbs that often used with -minen words categorised by their relative question words. You'll notice that they are usually verbs that explain how you feel about something.
Partitive
Rakastaa > Rakastan kitaran soittamista. I love playing the guitar.
Harrastaa > Harrastan biljardin pelaamista. I play billiards as a hobby.
Inhota > Minun äiti inhoaa television katsomista. My mother dislikes watching telelvision.
Vihata > Miehet yleensä vihaavat silittämistä. Men usually hate ironing.
Mistä
Tykätä > Tykkään metsässä kävelemisestä. I like walking in the woods.
Pitää > Pidän kuntosalilla käymisestä. I like going to the gym.
Nauttia > Nautitko suomen kielen puhumisesta? Do you enjoy speaking Finnish?
Kiinnostua > En ole kiinnostunut espanjan opiskelemisesta. I'm not interested in studying Spanish.
Unelmoida > Unelmoin rikkaaksi tulemisesta. I dream of becoming rich.
Mihin
väsyä > Olen väsynyt rektioiden opiskelemiseen. I'm tired of studying the rections.
tottua > Emme ole tottuneet niin kylmässä maassa asumiseen. We're not used to living in such a cold place.
kyllästyä > Olen kyllästynyt tämän pelin pelaamiseen. I'm bored of playing this game.
Minkä
Aloittaa > Aloitin polttamisen 16-vuotiaana. I started smoking as a 16-year old.
Lopettaa > Lopetin kurssilla käymisen kun sain työpaikan. I stopped going to the course when I got a job.
Did you notice that the object is placed before the -minen word and it's in the genitive form? This is allways the case.
For example: Soittaa kitaraa (to play the guitar) becomes Kitaran soittaminen (playing the guitar)
Ajaa autoa (to drive a car) becomes Auton ajaminen (driving a car)
Pelata jalkapalloa (to play football) becomes Jalkapallon pelaaminen (playing football)
Katsoa koripalloa (to watch basketball) becomes Koripallon katsominen (watching basketball)
However, if there is no object involved but there is a place, the place has to be in it's relative mistä, missä or mihin form depending on the verb.
For example: Kävellä metsässä (to walk in the woods) becomes Metsässä käveleminen (walking in the woods)
Matkustaa ulkomaille (to travel abroad) becomes Ulkomaille matkustaminen (travelling abroad)
Käydä kutosalilla (to go to the gym) becomes Kuntosalilla käyminen (going to the gym)
Ajaa autolla (to drive by/in a car) becomes Autolla ajaminen (driving by/in a car)
For example: Syöminen = Eating
Juokseminen = Running
Oleminen = Being
To create this form, follow these steps:
1. Find the he form of the verb (remember, he is always strong when KPT applies)
Lukea --> He lukevat 2. Remove vat/vät, leaving the strong stem or vahva vartalo.
Lukevat --> Luke-
3. Add -minen, and you're done.
Luke- --> Lukeminen
You've now created a new noun. And just like any noun, you can add suffixes to it. Fortunately, the noun form of a verb always ends with -nen, so they are all the same word-type. The word types were in the intermediate section, but we can go over -nen words once more here, just to refresh your memory.
Words ending with -nen
The only thing you really need to remember is that to create the vartalo, you have to remove -nen and add -se. For the partitive form however, -nen becomes -sta/stä.
Let's use lukeminen as an example:
Nominatiivi (Mikä) Lukeminen
Partitiivi (Mitä) Lukemista
Genetiivi (Minkä) Lukemisen
Akkusatiivi (Minkä) Lukemisen
Elatiivi (Mistä) Lukemisesta
Inessiivi (Missä) Lukemisessa
Illatiivi (Mihin) Lukemiseen
Let's stop there, because it's very unlikely that you'll ever really need any other form of any -minen word.
Now let's use the word Lukeminen in some sentences. Pay attention to what form it's in.
Lukeminen on hauska harrastus. Reading is a fun hobby. The basic form because here Lukeminen is the subject
Minä rakastan lukemista. I love reading. Partitive because rakastaa is a partitive verb
Minä tykkään lukemisesta. I like reading. Elative because tykätä + mistä
Olen väsynyt lukemiseen. I'm tired of reading. Illative because väsyä + mihin
Notice that the ending changes depending on the verb. You can read more about this in the section entitled "Rectiot".
However, here are some of the most common verbs that often used with -minen words categorised by their relative question words. You'll notice that they are usually verbs that explain how you feel about something.
Partitive
Rakastaa > Rakastan kitaran soittamista. I love playing the guitar.
Harrastaa > Harrastan biljardin pelaamista. I play billiards as a hobby.
Inhota > Minun äiti inhoaa television katsomista. My mother dislikes watching telelvision.
Vihata > Miehet yleensä vihaavat silittämistä. Men usually hate ironing.
Mistä
Tykätä > Tykkään metsässä kävelemisestä. I like walking in the woods.
Pitää > Pidän kuntosalilla käymisestä. I like going to the gym.
Nauttia > Nautitko suomen kielen puhumisesta? Do you enjoy speaking Finnish?
Kiinnostua > En ole kiinnostunut espanjan opiskelemisesta. I'm not interested in studying Spanish.
Unelmoida > Unelmoin rikkaaksi tulemisesta. I dream of becoming rich.
Mihin
väsyä > Olen väsynyt rektioiden opiskelemiseen. I'm tired of studying the rections.
tottua > Emme ole tottuneet niin kylmässä maassa asumiseen. We're not used to living in such a cold place.
kyllästyä > Olen kyllästynyt tämän pelin pelaamiseen. I'm bored of playing this game.
Minkä
Aloittaa > Aloitin polttamisen 16-vuotiaana. I started smoking as a 16-year old.
Lopettaa > Lopetin kurssilla käymisen kun sain työpaikan. I stopped going to the course when I got a job.
Did you notice that the object is placed before the -minen word and it's in the genitive form? This is allways the case.
For example: Soittaa kitaraa (to play the guitar) becomes Kitaran soittaminen (playing the guitar)
Ajaa autoa (to drive a car) becomes Auton ajaminen (driving a car)
Pelata jalkapalloa (to play football) becomes Jalkapallon pelaaminen (playing football)
Katsoa koripalloa (to watch basketball) becomes Koripallon katsominen (watching basketball)
However, if there is no object involved but there is a place, the place has to be in it's relative mistä, missä or mihin form depending on the verb.
For example: Kävellä metsässä (to walk in the woods) becomes Metsässä käveleminen (walking in the woods)
Matkustaa ulkomaille (to travel abroad) becomes Ulkomaille matkustaminen (travelling abroad)
Käydä kutosalilla (to go to the gym) becomes Kuntosalilla käyminen (going to the gym)
Ajaa autolla (to drive by/in a car) becomes Autolla ajaminen (driving by/in a car)
