I infinitive (A infinitive)

The simple I infinitive

The I infinitive is “the” infinitive, i.e. the common infinitive used as the reference form in dictionaries and otherwise. It has several different suffixes due to various phonetic changes. The suffix is either A (i.e. a or ä, according to vowel harmony) alone or A preceded by a consonant. In all variants, there is boundary gemination. The suffixes are:

• A: the most common suffix, used when the verb has one stem only and it ends with a short vowel, e.g. sano|a, and in contraction verbs, e.g. vastat|a (: vastaa|n)
• dA: used when the verb has one stem only and it ends with a long vowel or a diphthong, e.g. saa|da, voi|da
• tA: used when the verb has a consonant stem ending with s, e.g. juos|ta (: juokse|n)
• lA: used when the verb has a consonant stem ending with l, e.g. tul|la (: tule|n)
• nA: used when the verb has a consonant stem ending with n, e.g. pan|na (: pane|n)
• rA: used when the verb has a consonant stem ending with r, e.g. pur|ra (: pure|n)

This infinitive form does not correspond to any case of nouns in modern Finnish. Historically, it is a lative form, originally with the k suffix, which has degraded to boundary gemination.

In some grammars, the I infinitive is called the A infinitive, since its written form always ends with a or ä.

Use of the I infinitive short form

The simple I infinitive of a verb is used in conjunction with another verb form, usually a finite form, e.g. Haluan sanoa pari sanaa (I want to say a few words). However, there are complications:

• For many verbs, the associated other verb must be in the illative of the III infinitive, e.g. Pyysin häntä soittamaan minulle (I asked him/her to call me); here soittamaan is the III infinitive form.
• For some verbs, like ehtiä, both infinitives are possible: Ehditkö jutella? ∼ Ehditkö juttelemaan? (Do you have time to chat?). The verb alkaa now officially belongs to this category, e.g. Aloin kirjoittaa ∼ Aloin kirjoittamaan (I started writing); previously only the I infinitive was accepted.
• For some verbs, the associated other verb is represented by its -minen derivation, e.g. Rakastan kirjojen lukemista (I love to read books), though now the I infinitive is accepted, too, despite being apparent foreign influence, e.g. Rakastan lukea kirjoja.

The I infinitive has some special use, too. When associated with the verb olla (to be), usually in past tense, it indicates being close to doing something. Example: Olin pudota tuoliltani (I almost fell off my chair); often the adverb vähällä, here meaning “almost”, is included: Olin vähällä pudota tuoliltani.

As an alternative to such use of the I infinitive, we can use the same structure as in English: Minä melkein putosin tuoliltani.

A construct like olin pudota describes a past event, whereas the V infinitive form olin putoamaisillani descibes a past situation. Only the former can be used in a figurative sense, e.g. when Olin pudota tuoliltani just says that something caused a surprise, without suggesting any actual risk of falling off a chair.

The I infinitive is used along with a descriptive verb in colorative constructs like hän juosta jolkutti (he ran slowly) instead of the simpler hän juoksi (he ran).

Although the use of I infinitive has many features of a noun, it cannot be used as a subject in standard Finnish. An aphorism like “To think is to pause” cannot be properly translated into Finnish using I infinitives. Instead, noun derivations of verbs are used, normally a ‑minen derivation: Ajatteleminen on pysähtymistä (literally: Thinking is pausing).

The longer form: the translative

The I infinitive also has a longer form, which has a different meaning: it means “in order to…”, and it is thus used to form an intentional clause equivalent. It consists of the basic infinitive form followed by the suffix kse (of the translative) and a possessive suffix, selected according to the person form of the verb that it relates to. For example, tulin tavatakseni sinut (I came in order to meet you) has the 1st person singular suffix ni, since the predicate tulin is in the 1st person singular form. This form is common in formal prose, rare in spoken language.

Some longer forms have phraseological use. For example, nähdäkseni can mean “in order to see” (as relating to 1st person singular), but more often it is just a phrase that means “as far as I can see” or “in my opinion”. Other examples: tietääkseni (as far as I know), luullakseni (according to what I believe, I guess), muistaakseni (as far as I remember), and käsittääkseni ∼ ymmärtääkseni (as far as I understand). These are often used in spoken language, too, though mostly preceded by a personal pronoun, e.g. minun tietääkseni or mun tietääkseni.