Part 17

(1) The passive of ordinary verbs is used absolutely; that is to say, no noun is connected with it as subject or object. =Koulussa kirjoitetaan ja luetaan=, _they read and write in the school_. =Helsingissä huvitellaan paljo talven aikoina=, _there is much amusement in Helsingfors in winter time_. =Suomen järvissä ja joissa kalastetaan=, _people fish_ (or _there is fishing_) _in the lakes and rivers of Finland_.

(2) As the above examples show, the passive represents the action of a verb without designating the agent. It is not unnatural that such forms should be used in an imperative or optative sense, for the second singular of the imperative is simply the root of the verb. It is true that the imperative is the closed root, due to the loss of =k=, but like the passive it has no sign of person.

This use of the passive for the imperative is particularly common in dialects, though it is also found in the literary language. Its usual meaning is ‘_Let us_.’ =Mennään sisään=, _let us go in_. =Luetaan=, _let us read_, or _it’s time to read_. =Lähdetään kotia=, _we ought to go home_. =Mennäänkö jalan vain ajetaanko hevosella?= _Shall we go on foot, or take a carriage?_

(3) This use of the passive for the imperative is important as explaining the common use of the form with a nominative case. Such a phrase as =mies tunnetaan= can be correctly translated as _the man is known_; but there is no doubt that the nominative is really the object of an impersonal verb, which naturally remains invariable, whatever the noun is. Now the object of the imperative is also put in the nominative and not in the accusative, though both in the case of the imperative and the passive it may be put in the partitive, if partial. It would seem that in these forms of the verbs, where the agent is not denoted by any suffix, it was felt that the sense was sufficiently clear without adding any termination to the noun to mark its exact relation to the verb.

The object of the passive, as above stated, can be either in the nominative, if total, or in the partitive, if partial.

_a._ Nominative. =Koira ajetaan huoneesta ulos=, _the dog is sent out of the room_. =Palvelija lähetetään viemään kirjettä postiin=, _the servant is sent to take a letter to the post_. =Hevoset valjastetaan=, _the horses are being harnessed_. =Ruis kylvetään syksyllä=, _rye is sown in the autumn_. =Keskellä yötä sammutetaan tulet=, _the lights are put out at midnight_. =Tässä sodassa tapettiin viisikymmentä tuhatta miestä=, _fifty thousand men were killed in this war_.

_b._ Partitive. =Miksi sanotaan sitä Englannin kielellä?= _What is that called in English?_ =Jos ei aleta varhain, niin ei työtä saada aikanansa valmiiksi=, _the work won’t be ready in time if not begun early_. =Poikaa ei vielä pantu kouluun=, _the boy was no longer sent to school_. =Ei vielä ollut uutta kirkkoa rakennettu=, _the new church had not yet been built_. =Ei kynttilätä sytytetä ja panna wakan ala=, _neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel_, S. Matt. v. 15.

When the personal pronouns are used with the verb, it is commoner, particularly in speaking, to put them in the accusative ending in =t=, e.g. =minut=, =sinut=, =hänet nähdään=, is more usual than =minä=, =sinä=, =hän nähdään=. But the form with the nominative is not only grammatically correct, but found in writing, especially in the Bible, e.g. Rom. viii. 36, =Sinun tähtes me kuoletetaan yli päivää: me pidetään niinkuin teurastettavat lampaat=, _for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter_. Similarly 2 Cor. xi. 36, =Kuka pahoitetaan ja en minä pala?= _Who is offended and I burn not._ =Sillä he ravitaan=, _for they shall be filled_, S. Matt. v. 6. =Että te heiltä nähtäisiin=, _that ye may be seen of them_, S. Matt. vi. 1[15].

The conjugation of a passive form contains not only the strictly impersonal forms, like =luetaan=, _people read_, =luettiin=, _people did read_, but also compound tenses formed with the past passive participle which stand grammatically upon a different footing. For the participle in question is a simple adjective (or substantive), and such phrases as =kirja on luettu=, =kirjat ovat luetut= are exactly analogous to =kirja on hyvä= and =kirjat ovat hyvät=. In some cases, however, double constructions are possible: one can say either =kirjat eivät ole löydetyt=, _the books have not been found_, which is a simple adjectival construction; or =kirjoja ei ole löydetty=, in which the construction with the participle is assimilated to that with the other forms of the verb. If a participle of =olla= is employed in a compound tense in this construction it must be the passive participle. =Kirjaa ei oltu löydetty=, _the book was not found_.

INFINITIVES.

The five infinitives of the Finnish verb play a great part in the syntax, and are often used to express the subordinate sentences (temporal, final, etc.) of other languages. The simplest way to understand their many uses is to recollect that they are equivalent to an English verbal ending in _ing_, such as _cutting_. Now a word like this is a noun, but it can also have an object, e.g. _cutting the wood_, and it can be also combined with a substantive or pronoun indicating the agent, e.g. _my cutting the wood_ or _the man’s cutting the wood_. Such expressions as _my cutting the wood is unavoidable_, _during my cutting the wood_, or _without my cutting the wood_ are intelligible in English, though not idiomatic; but they are the literal translation of the Finnish idiom. In other words, the infinitive is a noun capable of declension in certain cases and of being combined with a genitive or personal affix to mark the agent. As it is also a verbal noun, it is likewise capable of being combined with a second substantive to mark the object of the action. Thus =nähdessänsä minun päiväni= is literally ‘_in his seeing my day_,’ that is _when he saw_. The use of the fourth infinitive is slightly different. In the phrase =Minun on tämä kirja lukeminen=, _I should read this book_, it will be observed that the object is in the nominative. This is because the literal meaning seems to be, _This book is a reading for me_, though it must be admitted that the negative form =Ei ole minun tätä kirjaa lukemista= does not lend itself to this explanation, and can only be explained by supposing it is due to analogy. The object of the other infinitives is mostly put in the partitive, partly perhaps because, as the genitive and accusative are identical in form in the singular, the subject and object might be confused if the latter were in the accusative. The object is, however, often put in the nominative. The rule generally given is that this is only right if the infinitive depends on an imperative or a verb implying necessity, as =minun pitää ostaman hevonen=, _I must buy a horse_. But this rule is not always observed in the Kalevala, or even in modern books. E.g. Kal. xi. 127, =Onko saarella sioa minun leikki lyöäkseni?=

_Infinitive I._

The first infinitive has two forms, one with the translative termination and always used with a prominal suffix; the other with no case termination and used without a pronominal suffix.

A. The longer form with the suffix is used to express the purpose of the action of the main verb, and is rendered in English by _in order to_ or by a simple infinitive. =Antakaa vettä juodakseni=, _give me water to drink_. This is of course literally _give me water for my drinking_, and is exactly analogous to the use of the same case of a noun in the sentence, =Juon vettä terveydekseni=, _I drink water for my health_. It is important to notice that the pronominal suffix always indicates the subject of the action denoted by the infinitive, and not the object, though in translation it is often necessary to invert the sentence. For instance in S. John vii. 19 and 20 the questions ‘_Why go ye about to kill me? Who goeth about to kill thee?_’ are rendered =Miksi te etsitte minua tappaaksenne? Kuka sinua etsii tapaaksensa?= literally _Why seek ye me for your killing? Who seeks thee for his killing?_ =Me pyysimme venettä soutaaksemme=, _we asked for a boat to row in_. =Menkäämme tuolle vuorelle katsellaksemme järveä=, _let us go up that hill to have a view of the lake_. =Tahdon lukea laskun nähdäkseni onko kaikki oikein=, _I want to read the bill to see if everything is right_. =Oli paljon matkustellut ulkomailla täydentääkseen sivistystään=, _he had travelled much abroad to complete his education_. The distinction between the uses of the longer and shorter forms of the infinitive is not always observed in dialects and poetry. Thus the longer form is used with impersonal verbs, e.g. =Sinun täytyy mennäksesi=, _you must go_, where =mennä= would now be used. So too =Älä pelkää ottaaksesi=, _fear not to take_. Kal. i. 165, =Wilu tääll’ on ollakseni, Waiva wärjätelläkseni, Aalloissa asuakseni, Weessä wierielläkseni=, _it is cold for me to be here, painful to stay, to dwell in the waves, to roll in the water_. Cf. Kal. xliii. 401, and xvii. 507.

B. The fact that the last syllable of the shorter form of the first infinitive is closed shows that it has undoubtedly lost a letter or syllable. It is probable therefore that the short form is not really the nominative from which the translative is derived, but a translative which has lost its termination. Cf. =luo=, =taa= for =luoksi=, =taaksi=. The employment of the form is also agreeable to its origin, for its manifold uses, as given in grammars, may be summed up in the formula that it defines the meaning of verbs, adjectives, and substantives; that is to say, it expresses that towards which an action tends, which is one of the uses of the translative (p. 159). Such phrases as =voin=, =tahdon=, =tiedän lukea=, _I can read_, _wish to read_, or _know how to read_ might be expressed as _I have power_, _will_, or _knowledge for reading_.

In some cases the use of the translative and this infinitive are obviously analogous. =Ei sovi suuttua=, _it is not fitting to be angry_. =Hän sopii sotamieheksi=, _he is fit for a soldier_. =Ei minun kelpaa juoda vettä=, _it does not suit me to drink water_, can be also expressed in the form, =Vesi ei kelpaa minulle juotavaksi= (_or_ =juomaksi=).

The short form of this infinitive never takes suffixes in ordinary Finnish, though it does occasionally in the Kalevala; e.g. the first lines =Mieleni minun tekevi, Aivoni ajattelevi, Lähteäni laulamahan, Saa’ani sanelemahan=. =Onko saarella sioa ... Minun laulut laulellani=, _is there a place on the island for me to sing my song_ (Kal. xxix. 137). Cf. =Onpa saarella sioa ... Sinun laulut laulellasi= (_ib._ 147).

The subject of the infinitive, which in the longer form is denoted by a suffix, is in the case of the shorter form either not expressed at all in such a phrase as =Isä antoi kirjan pojalle lukea=, _the father gave the boy the book to read_; or it is put in the _genitive_. =Isä toi kirjan pojan lukea=, _the father bought the book for the boy to read_, literally _for the boy’s reading_.

The short form of the infinitive is used:—

(1) As the subject of impersonal verbs like =täytyy=, =tulee=, =kelpaa=.

=Paha koira tarvitsee tappaa=, _one ought to kill a bad dog_. =Täytyy köyhän kärsiä, pitää kiittää päälliseksi=, _the poor must endure and give thanks into the bargain_ (proverbs). =Sinun tulee puhua totta=, _you must speak the truth_.

In this use two constructions are possible. One can say either =talossa pitää olla isäntä=, _the master must be in the house_, or =Isännän pitää olla talossa=. In this latter case the fact of the obligation affecting the person is emphasized, while the sentence with the nominative means rather, _the master’s being in the house is necessary_.

(2) As the complement of the verb =olla= combined with an adjective or substantive. =Se kirja on hyödyllinen pojan lukea=, _this book is useful for the boy to read_. =Ei ole aikaa lähteä=, _it is not time to go_. =Pyyntösi on mahdoton kenenkään täyttää=, _your prayer is impossible for anyone to fulfil_. =Tämä kuorma on raskas sinun kantaa=, _this burden is hard for you to bear_. =On vaikea sanoa=, _it is hard to say_.

(3) It is used to define the meaning of verbs. =Talon mies ei osaa lukea=, _the farm servant does not know how to write_. =Alkaa sataa=, _it begins to rain_. =Laiska lapsi ei tahdo oppia=, _a lazy child does not want to learn_. =Hän ei ymmärrä puhua=, _he does not know how to speak_. =En voi tulla=, _I cannot come_. =Hän saa odottaa=, _he can wait_. =Aiotko viipyä täällä=, _do you mean to stay here_. =Sallitteko minun mennä?= _do you allow me to go?_ =Klaus lähteä lupasi=, _Klaus promised to go_ (Kanteletar).

(4) It is used much like the longer form to express the object of an action. =Tuo kala muidenkin katsella=, _bring the fish for others to see_. =Panen maata=, _I am going to bed_. =Onko teillä hevosta myödä?= _have you a horse to sell?_ =Arvelevi miten olla kuin eleä=, _he considered what he should do, how he should live_.

There is another use of this infinitive, when it is employed with a verb of kindred meaning in an adverbial sense. This use is very frequent in the Kalevala and poetry and occasionally found in prose. It is to be noted, however, that the infinitive generally represents what would be the principal verb in ordinary language, while the verb in the indicative indicates the manner in which the action is performed. Thus such a phrase as =astua taputtelevi=, means _walking he stamped_ or _he stamped as he walked_. =Härkä käyä källeröitti= (Kal. xx. 43), equivalent to =astui keveästi=; cf. =Astua lykyttelevi, Käyä kulleroittelevi= (Kal. ii. 165). =Waka vanha Wäinämöinen Ajoa karittelevi= (Kal. viii. 18). =Soutoa melastelevi= (Kal. v. 41). =Astua ajattelevi, Käyä kääpäröittelevi. Polttaa tuprutteli havannaansa.=

The first infinitive is hardly ever used in the passive form, but the active form may be used with a passive verb or in sentences where our idiom would use the passive infinitive. =Rautatie aiotaan rakentaa=, _the railway is meant to be built_ or _there is an intention to build the railway_. =Linnoitus voidaan ottaa=, _the fortress can be taken_.

The infinitive cannot be used with a negative on account of the peculiar character of the Finnish negative verb. For the various devices used to overcome this difficulty _vide_ pages 193 and 219.

_Infinitive II._

This infinitive is only employed in two cases, the inessive and the instructive.

(1) The inessive expresses an action coincident in time with the action of the principal verb, and must be rendered in English by a temporal sentence, the subject of which appears in Finnish as a genitive, but where the subject of the principal and subordinate sentences are the same in English, the infinitive takes a pronominal suffix. =Palvelijan tullessa kotiin, isäntä läksi metsään=, _when the servant came home, the master went into the wood_, or literally ‘_on the coming home of the servant_.’ =Abraham teidän isänne iloitsi nähdessänsä minun päivääni= (S. John viii. 56), _your father Abraham rejoiced to see (when he saw) my day_. =Ollessani teidän kanssanne=, _when I was with you_. =Astuessansa ahoa, Saloviertä vierressänsä kuuli= (Kal. xliv. 77), _as he went through the desert place, as he walked near the wood he heard_.

This infinitive is frequently used in the passive. =Kaskea poltettaessa=, _while the forest was burning_. =Kotiin tultaessa ei ollut ketäkään=, _on coming home, there was no one_. Kal. iii. 245, =Eikä lie sinua nähty ... Tätä maata saataessa, Ilmoa suettaessa=, etc.

The active infinitive is also used impersonally. =Aika menee arvellessa, päivä päätä käännellessä=, _time passes while one thinks, and the day while one turns one’s head_ (proverb).

As the Finnish negative, owing to its peculiar character, cannot be used with the infinitive, a negative temporal proposition is rendered by the abessive or infinitive III, and the inessive of infinitive II. =Lukematta istuessani=, _when I was not reading_; literally, _in my sitting without reading_.

(2) The instructive of infinitive II is used to express the manner in which an action is performed, and is generally rendered by a participle in English. If the subject of the infinitive is expressed (in which case it must be rendered otherwise than by a participle) it is put in the genitive. This form is not used in the passive.

=Astui huollen huokaellen=, _he walked sorrowing and groaning_ (Kal. v. 13). =Muu seura vaikeni, jättäen heidät kahden kesken sanaotteluun=, _the rest of the company was silent, leaving them to argue it out between themselves_. =Toisinaan sydämellisesti syleillen erosivat=, _after again heartily embracing they parted_. =Hän ei ollut ollenkaan ruma nuorukainen=, _he was not at all a bad looking young man_ (literally, _was not in his being_).

A few words, chiefly denoting perception, add suffixes to this infinitive. =Sanoin sen heidän kuultensa=, _I said it in their hearing_. =Hän teki sen rikoksen teidän tietenne=, _he committed this crime with your knowledge_.

_Infinitive III._

The substantival nature of the Finnish infinitives is most apparent in this form, for it is frequently used as a noun without any verbal signification, e.g. =kuolema=, _death_; =elämä=, _life_; =sanoma=, _speaking_ or _report_. Such a sentence as =kuvat ovat maalarin tekemät=, which may be rendered either _the pictures are the work of the painter_, or, _are made by the painter_, shows the connection between the purely substantival and verbal uses of this infinitive.

Its other uses are very various.

I. It is used as a past passive participle. =Tämä kirja on isän antama=, _this book has been given by my father_, or, _is the giving of my father_. =Minä luen isän antamaa kirjaa=, _I read the book given by my father_. As there is no real distinction between the noun and the adjective, this use of a verbal substantive as a participle is not unnatural. =Kirjoittamassansa kirjeessä hän ei ollut puhunut mitään tästä=, _in the letter he wrote he did not say a word about it_. =Omat on virret oppimani=, =Omat saamani sanaiset=.

This infinitive is as a rule only used as a past participle when the agent is indicated, but in the Kalevala it is found used as simple past participle without a genitive or affix. Kal. i. 51, =Viel’ on muitaki sanoja, Ongelmoita oppimia, Tieohesta tempomia, Kanervoista katkomia, Risukoista riipomia, Vesoista vetelemiä, Päästä heinän hieromia, Raitiolta ratkomia=.

II. Most of the other cases of this infinitive are found used in a verbal signification.

A. The case ending in =n= (which is considered by some grammarians as a genitive, and by others, with greater probability, as an instructive) is used with the impersonal verb =pitää=. =Ei sinun pidä tappaman=, _thou shalt do no murder_. =Hänen pitää oleman ankara=, _he should be firm_. This form is also used in the passive. =Lapset pitää otettaman mukaan=, _one should take one’s children with one_. =Työt pitää saataman aikanansa valmiiksi=, _the work should be got ready in time_.

B. The inessive expresses the action in which anyone is engaged. =He ovat oleet jo kauan kalastamassa=, _they have long been fishing_. =Hän on lintuja ampumassa=, _he is out shooting_. =Rupean käymään usein lukemassa englantilaisia sanomalehtiä=, _I shall often read the English papers_.

C. The elative expresses an action from which anyone ceases, or which is forbidden. =He tulivat kotia kalastamasta=, _they came home from fishing_. =Milloin hyvänsä tuli huoneesen tapasi hänen aina lukemasta=, _whenever one went into her room one always found her reading_ (v. p. 145). =Hän kielsi lapsia riitelemästä=, _he forbade the children to quarrel_. =Jumala pelasti miehen hukkumasta=, _God preserved the man from drowning_.

D. The illative is used:—

(1) After verbs, adjectives, and participles, which imply either literally or figuratively motion to perform an action (_v._ the uses of the illative given above). =Mies meni järvelle kalastamaan=, _the man has gone to fish on the lake_. =Neuvon teitä kääntymään Herra V:n puoleen=, _I advise you to apply to Mr. V._ =Ruvennee tulemaan lunta=, _it will probably snow_. =Koko talo rupeaa palamaan=, _the whole house takes fire_. =Hän ei ole tottunut säästelemään=, _he was not accustomed to live economically_. =Minua käskettiin menemään pois=, _I was ordered to leave_.

(2) From such uses the illative passes naturally into an infinitive of purpose. =Tulin kysymään=, _I have come to ask_. =Lähettivät palvelijat häntä ottamaan kiini=, _they sent servants to take him_. =Meni puhdistamaan itseänsä=, _he went to purify himself_. =Menemme puutarhaan juomaan kahvia=, _let us go to take coffee in the garden_.

E. The adessive has two meanings, corresponding to the two uses of that case in nouns.

(1) With the verb =olla= it denotes an action which one is on the point of performing. The infinitive always takes a pronominal suffix in this use. =Olen juuri lähtemälläni=, _I am just going_, literally, _I am on my departing_. =Olin tekemälläni tuhmuuden=, _I was on the point of committing a folly_.

(2) It expresses the means by which an action is performed. =Ostamalla kaikkia saapi=, _one gets everything by buying_. =Hauskempaa on kalastaa onkimalla kuin tarpomalla=, _it is more agreeable to catch fish by angling than by netting_. =Pelasti henkensä uimalla=, _he saved his life by swimming_. =Viittomalla osoiti hän meille tien=, _he showed us the way by waving his hand_.

F. The abessive expresses an action without which the action of the principal verb takes place. It is very largely used in Finnish to express what is represented by negative sentences in other languages, on account of the restrictions on the use of the negative words =en=, =et=, =ei=, etc. It can take the pronominal suffixes. =Viivyttämättä=, _without delay_. =Mies meni pois kenenkään huomaamatta=, _the man went away without any one remarking it_. =Sen asian tunnen sanomattasikin=, _I know that without your saying a word_. =Hänen hyväsydäminen isänsä ei voinut olla hänelle antamatta tulevaa perintöösuutta=, _her good-natured father could not help giving her the part of her inheritance due to her_.

In examples like this the abessive of this infinitive (often with the verb =olla=) serves as a negative form of the other infinitives. =Tahtoisin tulla=, _I should like to come_; but =Tahtoisin olla tulematta=, _I should like not to come_ (_to be without coming_). =Hän läksi minun nähteni=, _he went out while I was looking_. =Hän läksi minun näkemättäni=, _he went out without my seeing_.

This infinitive is also used in a passive sense, though not in a passive form. =Työ on vielä tekemättä=, _the work is not yet done_ (lit. _is without doing_). In this sense it serves as a negative of the past passive participle.

This case of the infinitive III is very common in the Kalevala. E.g. iv. 217, =Parempi minun olisi, Parempi olisi ollut Syntymättä, kasvamatta, Suureksi sukeumatta=, which is equivalent to, _better had it been for me not to have been born_, xliii. 417, =Vihoin päivän paistamatta, Vihoin kuun kumottamatta=, etc.

_Infinitive IV._

The fourth infinitive, like the third, is used as a simple substantive. =Se on parhain keino sen oppimiseen=, _that is the best means for the study of it_. =Viipymisesi on sinua paljo vahingoitanut=, _your delay has greatly injured you_.

There is also a use of this infinitive analogous to that of infinitive I mentioned above, p. 188. In order to express a continued action the verb is repeated in the partitive of infinitive IV with the pronominal suffix. =Vähetä vähenemistään=, _to grow less and less_. =Äiti kiivastui kiivastumistaan tyttärensä itsepintaisuudesta=, _the mother grew more and more furious at her daughter’s obstinacy_. =Päivä alenee alenemistaan=, _the sun sinks lower and lower_.

The fourth infinitive is used verbally in two cases:—