tuun / meen / en tiiä

Everyday Spoken Verb Forms

Level 1

In everyday spoken Finnish, the most common verbs are often shortened. Instead of tulen (I come), people say tuun. Instead of menen (I go), they say meen. Instead of en tiedä (I don't know), they say en tiiä.

How It Works

In everyday speech, several common verbs shorten their endings. This happens through a process where the middle consonant is dropped (for short Type 3 verbs) and the vowels merge (assimilate) into one long sound. This is very common in texting and casual conversation.

  • Common Short Verbs: The familiar contraction is characteristic of the frequent verbs tulla (to come), mennä (to go), panna (to put), and olla (to be). It occurs in the 1st and 2nd person singular, as well as the 2nd person plural: tulen → tuun, menet → meet, olette → ootte. Do not apply it to every short Type 3 verb: pestä → pesen and surra → suren do not follow the same tuun/meen pattern. Longer opiskella likewise does not give a regular form opiskeen by this rule.
  • Type 2 Verbs nähdä and tehdä: For the Type 2 verb nähdä (to see), the consonant is already dropped in standard written Finnish (näen), so the shift to nään is purely vowel assimilation. Its twin verb tehdä (to do/make) already looks like a shortened spoken form in standard Finnish (teen, teet), so it doesn't change further in spoken Finnish.
  • 3rd Person Singular: The 3rd person singular does not contract further because it already ends in a long vowel (e.g., hän tulee → se tulee).
  • Negative and Imperative Forms: These verbs also shorten in the negative (en tule → en tuu, en mene → en mee, en ole → en oo, en näe → en nää) and in the imperative (Tuu!, Mee!, Oo!).
  • 1st Person Plural (me): In spoken Finnish, the 'me' form uses the passive: me tullaan, me mennään, me ollaan, me nähdään. Without me, context determines the reading: Mennään! can mean 'Let’s go!', while Suomessa mennään usein saunaan means that people often go to the sauna in Finland. A preceding context can also make a we-reference understood.
  • Verb Type 4: Verbs like haluta (to want) or siivota (to clean) also contract in speech. The stem ends in a vowel (e.g., halua-, siivoa-), and the assimilation happens entirely within the stem before the personal ending '-n' is added: haluan → haluun, siivoan → siivoon.
  • The Verb tietää: The verb 'to know' also shortens in speech. Many spoken varieties drop d, and the ie sequence can become ii: tiedän → tiiän. In the negative, en tiedä becomes en tiiä. The ä remains a front vowel: write tiiän, not tiian.
  • 3rd Person Plural: In speech, the 'they' form (he) is replaced by ne, and the verb uses the 3rd person singular form: he tulevat → ne tulee.

These forms are almost always used with spoken pronouns (mä tuun, sä meet). While spoken Finnish favors keeping pronouns for rhythm, dropping them is perfectly natural and casual (e.g., 'Meen nyt' or giving a short answer to a question like Q: 'Tuutko sä?' A: 'Tuun.').

Examples (5)

  1. Mä meen nyt kotiin.

    I'm going home now.

    Word by Word: I go now home.

    Uses 'meen' instead of the formal 'menen'.

  2. Tuuksä mukaan?

    Are you coming along?

    Word by Word: Come-you along?

    Tuuksä is an informal question corresponding to Tuletko sinä? It combines the spoken tuu- stem with a reduced question/pronoun sequence; it is not the first-person form tuun.

  3. En mä tiiä.

    I don't know.

    Word by Word: Not I know.

    Uses 'tiiä' instead of the formal 'tiedä'.

  4. Ootsä valmis?

    Are you ready?

    Word by Word: Are-you ready?

    Uses 'oot' instead of the formal 'olet'.

  5. Mä oon täällä!

    I am here!

    Word by Word: I am here!

    Uses 'oon' instead of the formal 'olen'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using spoken forms in formal writing.

    Hakemuksessa: Mä tuun haastatteluun.
    Hakemuksessa: Tulen haastatteluun.

    Spoken forms like 'tuun' are for speech and texting. In a formal job application, use the full written form 'tulen'.

  • Applying the contraction to the 3rd person singular.

    Se tuu kotiin.
    Se tulee kotiin.

    The contraction only happens in the 1st and 2nd person (tuun, tuut). In the 3rd person (he/she/it), you must use the full form 'tulee'.

  • Contracting long Type 3 verbs.

    Mä opiskeen suomea.
    Mä opiskelen suomea.

    Only the four short Type 3 verbs (tulla, mennä, panna, olla) contract this way. Longer verbs like 'opiskella' keep their full endings in speech.

How It Connects

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tuun / meen / en tiiäLevel 1Everyday Spoken Verb Forms

Learn This First

To understand these shortened spoken verbs, you first need to know the standard personal endings and how negative sentences are formed using the connegative. Familiarity with spoken pronouns is also essential as these verb forms typically appear together with them.

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Patterns that build on this one.