Imperative Mood in Finnish

In Brief

Finnish uses the imperative mood for commands, requests, instructions, and permission. For one familiar person, use a bare command form such as puhu! (“speak!”); for several people or polite address, use puhukaa! Negative commands begin with a form of ei: älä puhu! (“don’t speak!”) and älkää puhuko! (“don’t speak!” to several people).

Overview

The imperative, called imperatiivi in Finnish, is a mood (a verb form that presents an action as a command, wish, or possibility rather than simply stating a fact). You hear it in ordinary requests such as Odota hetki (“Wait a moment”), in directions such as Käänny vasemmalle (“Turn left”), and in warnings such as Älä koske! (“Don’t touch!”).

English often uses the same unchanged verb for every command: “Come here” can address one person or a whole group. Finnish marks that difference on the verb. Tule tänne addresses one familiar person, whereas Tulkaa tänne addresses several people and can also address one person politely. Finnish normally leaves out the subject pronoun in a command, just as English normally omits “you.”

The core imperative belongs at B1 because using it well requires more than memorising one ending. You need the right verb stem, the right form for the addressee, and a different construction for negative commands. The everyday second-person forms are the most important; third-person forms such as tulkoon (“let him/her come”) are less frequent and often more formal.

How It Works

The main person forms

A grammatical person tells you who is acting: the speaker, the person addressed, or someone else.

Addressee or subject	Affirmative form	Example	Meaning
2nd person singular: one familiar person	command stem, no ending	puhu!	speak!
2nd person plural: several people, or polite singular	imperative stem + -kaa/-kää	puhukaa!	speak!
3rd person singular	imperative stem + -koon/-köön	puhukoon!	let him/her speak!
3rd person plural	imperative stem + -koot/-kööt	puhukoot!	let them speak!
1st person plural, formal or solemn	imperative stem + -kaamme/-käämme	puhukaamme!	let us speak!

The choice between back-vowel endings (-kaa, -koon) and front-vowel endings (-kää, -köön) follows vowel harmony: Finnish chooses the ending whose vowels fit the word. Compare puhukaa but menkää.

The formal first-person plural form is correct but uncommon in relaxed conversation. Everyday Finnish normally uses a passive-looking form instead: Mennään! (“Let’s go!”), not Menkäämme! The form menkäämme suits speeches, ceremonies, written appeals, and deliberately elevated language.

Forming the singular command

The second-person singular imperative is the same shape as the connegative form (the main verb form used after a negative verb). A practical shortcut is to begin with the present-tense sinä form and remove final -t:

Infinitive	Present with sinä	Remove -t	Command
puhua	sinä puhut	puhu	Puhu!
ottaa	sinä otat	ota	Ota!
lukea	sinä luet	lue	Lue!
tulla	sinä tulet	tule	Tule!
mennä	sinä menet	mene	Mene!
tarvita	sinä tarvitset	tarvitse	Tarvitse!

This shortcut handles consonant gradation automatically because the singular command usually has the same stem grade as the sinä present form: ottaa → otat → ota, not otta. Consonant gradation is the alternation seen in pairs such as tt : t or k : ∅ inside related forms.

A few very common verbs must simply be learned:

Infinitive	Singular command	English
olla	ole!	be!
tehdä	tee!	do! / make!
nähdä	näe!	see!
juosta	juokse!	run!

Forming plural, polite, and third-person commands

The longer imperative forms use an imperative stem that is not always visible in the singular command. This is especially clear with verb types 2 and 3:

Infinitive	Singular	Plural/polite	3rd singular
puhua	puhu	puhukaa	puhukoon
syödä	syö	syökää	syököön
tulla	tule	tulkaa	tulkoon
mennä	mene	menkää	menköön
tehdä	tee	tehkää	tehköön
nähdä	näe	nähkää	nähköön
valita	valitse	valitkaa	valitkoon

Do not form tulkaa by merely attaching -kaa to tule. Learn the longer forms alongside each verb type: tule — tulkaa, mene — menkää, tee — tehkää.

Negative commands

Finnish does not add a separate word meaning “do not” to an affirmative command. It uses imperative forms of the negative verb ei, followed by the main verb without a personal ending.

Person	Negative verb	Main verb	Complete form
2nd singular	älä	singular command form	Älä puhu!
2nd plural / polite	älkää	-ko/-kö form	Älkää puhuko!
3rd singular	älköön	-ko/-kö form	Älköön puhuko!
3rd plural	älkööt	-ko/-kö form	Älkööt puhuko!
1st plural, formal	älkäämme	-ko/-kö form	Älkäämme puhuko!

The singular pattern is especially useful: älä + the same form used in the positive command. Compare Tule! and Älä tule! For the plural, both parts change: Tulkaa! becomes Älkää tulko!—not älkää tulkaa.

Pronouns and word order

Finnish normally omits sinä and te in commands because the verb form already identifies the addressee:

• Istu tähän. — Sit here.
• Istukaa tähän. — Sit here, everyone / Please sit here.

An explicit pronoun adds contrast or insistence: Mene sinä ensin means “You go first” or “You be the one to go first.” The verb commonly comes first, but other words may be moved forward for focus: Tämä lue ensin (“Read this first”).

Objects in commands

An object is the person or thing directly affected by the action. In an affirmative command expressing a completed result, a whole noun object often appears in the nominative-looking form:

• Lue kirja. — Read the book (all of it).
• Sulje ovi. — Close the door.

A negative command normally puts the object in the partitive case (a Finnish noun form often used with negation):

• Älä lue kirjaa. — Don’t read the book.
• Älkää avatko ovea. — Don’t open the door.

The broader choice between total and partitive objects also depends on whether the action has a clear endpoint. That is part of Finnish object grammar, not a special imperative ending.

Examples in Context

Finnish	English	Note
Puhu hitaammin!	Speak more slowly!	One familiar person
Tulkaa tänne!	Come here!	Several people or polite address
Älä huoli!	Don’t worry!	Reassuring singular command
Odottakaa hetki.	Wait a moment.	Plural or polite request
Avaa ikkuna, ole hyvä.	Open the window, please.	Ole hyvä softens the request
Älä koske siihen!	Don’t touch it!	Warning to one person
Älkää menkö vielä.	Don’t leave yet.	Addressing several people
Lue ohjeet huolellisesti.	Read the instructions carefully.	Instruction
Kääntykää seuraavasta risteyksestä oikealle.	Turn right at the next intersection.	Polite or plural direction
Olkaa varovaisia!	Be careful!	Plural adjective agrees with the group
Ottakoon jokainen oman kynän.	Let everyone take their own pen.	Formal third-person instruction
He puhukoot nyt.	Let them speak now.	Third-person plural; formal tone
Aloittakaamme kokous.	Let us begin the meeting.	Formal first-person plural
Mennään kotiin!	Let’s go home!	Normal conversational “let’s” form
Mene sinä ensin.	You go first.	Pronoun gives contrast

Common Mistakes

Adding an ending to the singular command

• Wrong: Puhut hitaammin!
• Right: Puhu hitaammin!
• Why: Puhut is the ordinary present statement “you speak.” Remove the final -t for the singular command.

Using the singular form for a group

• Wrong: Tule tänne! (to several people)
• Right: Tulkaa tänne!
• Why: Finnish distinguishes one familiar addressee from several addressees. Use the -kaa/-kää form for a group.

Keeping the affirmative verb after älkää

• Wrong: Älkää puhukaa.
• Right: Älkää puhuko.
• Why: A plural negative command requires älkää plus the -ko/-kö form, not the affirmative plural imperative.

Guessing longer forms from the singular

• Wrong: Tulekaa tänne.
• Right: Tulkaa tänne.
• Why: Type 3 verbs use a different stem in the longer imperative: tule but tulkaa, mene but menkää.

Copying English “please” into every request

• Awkward in some situations: Ole hyvä ja odota repeated with every small instruction.
• Natural options: Odota hetki, Odottakaa hetki, or Voisitko odottaa hetken?
• Why: Finnish can express politeness through tone, context, plural address, or a conditional question. Ole hyvä is useful, but it is not required every time English uses “please.”

Forgetting the object change under negation

• Wrong: Älä avaa ovi.
• Right: Älä avaa ovea.
• Why: Negation normally requires a partitive object: ovi becomes ovea.

Usage Notes

The singular imperative is normal among friends, family members, colleagues in an informal setting, and adults speaking to children. Its force depends heavily on voice and context. Istu can be a neutral instruction, a warm invitation, or a sharp order. Adding vain often makes an invitation more welcoming: Istu vain (“Do sit / Go ahead and sit”).

The plural form can politely address one person, but modern Finnish also relies heavily on other strategies. In service encounters or requests to strangers, a conditional question is often gentler than an imperative: Voisitteko odottaa hetken? (“Could you wait a moment?”). English speakers should not assume that every bare imperative is rude, but they should also avoid using a sharp command where a question would fit the social situation better.

Written instructions freely use imperatives because the context makes them neutral: Lisää vesi ja sekoita (“Add the water and stir”), Valitse kieli (“Choose a language”), and Paina tästä (“Press here”). Notices often use a negative command: Älä peitä (“Do not cover”) or the polite/plural Älkää koskeko (“Do not touch”).

In colloquial speech, common commands may be shortened: standard tule can sound like tuu, mene like mee, and ole like oo. You may hear Älä tuu (“Don’t come”) or Älä mee (“Don’t go”). These are useful to recognise, but standard forms are the safest choice in writing.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Third-person imperatives do more than command someone directly. They can express permission, indifference, a wish, or a formal instruction:

• Tulkoon mukaan, jos haluaa. — Let him/her come along if they want.
• Olkoon niin. — So be it.
• Maksakoon itse. — Let him/her pay for it themselves.
• Tapahtukoon sinun tahtosi. — May your will be done.

These forms can sound official, literary, solemn, or irritated depending on context. The third-person plural -koot/-kööt is still less common in everyday conversation: He tehkööt mitä haluavat (“Let them do what they want”) has a marked, dismissive force.

Finnish also has a passive imperative, used when an unnamed group is to perform an action. Forms such as tehtäköön (“let it be done”) and älköön tehtäkö (“let it not be done”) occur especially in regulations, meeting language, formal resolutions, and fixed expressions. They are worth recognising, but most B1 learners do not need to produce them often.

A command can be strengthened or softened with particles—small words that colour the speaker’s attitude. Compare Tule! (“Come!”), Tulepa tänne (“Come here a moment / Now come here”), and Tulehan sisään (“Do come in”). The particles -pa/-pä and -han/-hän do not have one fixed English translation; intonation and situation decide whether they sound encouraging, reminding, or insistent.

Finally, älä sometimes appears in phrases that function more like emotional reactions than literal prohibitions: Älä ihmeessä! can mean “Absolutely not!” or “Don’t even think of it!”, while Älä muuta sano literally means “Don’t say anything else” but idiomatically agrees strongly: “You can say that again.” Learn such expressions as complete phrases.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-form sets. For each new verb, say the infinitive, singular command, and plural command: mennä — mene — menkää; tehdä — tee — tehkää. This exposes stem changes before they become errors.
2. Turn positive instructions negative. Change Avaa ovi into Älä avaa ovea, and Avatkaa ovi into Älkää avatko ovea. Check both the verb and the object.
3. Collect real instructions. Look at Finnish recipes, app buttons, public notices, and travel directions. Sort the forms you find into singular, plural/polite, negative, and conversational “let’s” forms.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — its sinä form helps you find the singular imperative stem.