Verb as a noun: ma-infinitive

Sometimes verbs can function like nouns, and they can have location case endings.

• Minne menet? Menen nukkumaan.
• Where do you go? I go to sleep.

• Missä olit? Olin lukemassa.
• Where were you? I was reading.

• Mistä tulet? Tulen pelaamasta.
• Where are you coming from? I come from the game (playing).

• Tule pelaamaan meidän kanssa krokettia!
• Come to play croquet with us!

This verb form is the ma-infinitive, or third infinitive. It can have inessive, elative and illative case, and thus it answers the question where?, where to? and where from?

Ma-infinitive is formed from the stem of the 3rd person plural by adding -ma/-mä + case ending.

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luke-vat ->	lukemassa lukemasta lukemaan
nukku-vat ->	nukkumassa nukkumasta nukkumaan
pelaa-vat->	pelaamassa pelaamasta pelaamaan

Adessive and abessive

Ma-infinitive can also have adessive or abessive case.

Adessive case answers the question how?

• Harjoittelemalla oppii.
• You learn by practising.

• Osallistumalla voit voittaa.
• You can win by participating.

Abessive case means without.

• Minun pitää olla syömättä ja juomatta.
• I must not eat or drink.

• Istu siinä puhumatta.
• Sit there without speaking.

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All topics

• Vowel harmony
• Consonant gradation
• Verbs in general
• Personal forms
• Tempus
• Infinitives
• Verb types
• Negation
• Participles
• Nomines in general
• Nominative, genitive, partitive
• Essive, translative, abessive
• Location cases
• Pronouns
• Subjects and objects
• Types of senteces
• Questions
• Modifiers
• Derivation
• Orthography