ei tehdä

Negative Passive

Level 2

The negative passive (e.g., ei tehdä) expresses that an action is not performed by an unspecified person or group. In spoken Finnish, it is the standard way to say 'we don't'.

How It Works

The negative passive is a versatile structure in Finnish used for general rules, prohibitions, and everyday conversation.

1. Formation
To form the negative passive, start with the passive present form and remove the final -an or -än. The negative verb is always ei, regardless of who is being referred to.

  • puhutaan (is spoken) → ei puhuta (is not spoken)
  • syödään (is eaten) → ei syödä (is not eaten)
  • mennään (is gone) → ei mennä (is not gone)

2. Consonant Gradation
If the verb is subject to consonant gradation, the negative passive always uses the weak grade. For example, the verb ottaa (to take) has the passive form otetaan, so the negative is ei oteta.

3. Usage in Standard Finnish
In formal writing, it acts as an impersonal negation. It describes what 'people in general' do not do. It is also the standard form for signs and public instructions (e.g., 'No smoking'). It can also be used for negative suggestions ('Let's not').

4. Usage in Spoken Finnish (Puhekieli)
In spoken Finnish, the negative passive has almost entirely replaced the standard 1st person plural negative (emme tee). Instead, speakers use me + ei + passive stem.

  • Standard: Me emme mene.
  • Spoken: Me ei mennä.

5. Object Case
Crucially, because the sentence is negative, the object of a negative passive sentence must always be in the partitive case.

Examples (6)

  1. Täällä ei tupakoida.

    No smoking here.

    Word by Word: Here not is-smoked.

    A typical formal prohibition using the negative passive of 'tupakoida'.

  2. Suomessa ei puhuta englantia joka paikassa.

    In Finland, English is not spoken everywhere.

    Word by Word: In-Finland not is-spoken English every place-in.

    A general statement about what people do or do not do. Note that 'englantia' is in the partitive case.

  3. Me ei mennä tänään kouluun.

    We aren't going to school today.

    Word by Word: We not is-gone today school-into.

    A common spoken Finnish (puhekieli) sentence where the negative passive replaces the standard 'emme mene'.

  4. Ei mennä vielä!

    Let's not go yet!

    Word by Word: Not is-gone yet!

    The negative passive is used to make negative suggestions ('Let's not...').

  5. Ovea ei avata matkan aikana.

    The door is not to be opened during the journey.

    Word by Word: Door-partitive not is-opened journey during.

    An instruction or rule. The object 'ovi' becomes 'ovea' (partitive) because the sentence is negative.

  6. Tätä kirjaa ei lueta enää.

    This book is no longer read.

    Word by Word: This-partitive book-partitive not is-read anymore.

    Expresses that people in general no longer read this specific book.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the final -an/-än ending.

    Ei puhutaan suomea.
    Ei puhuta suomea.

    You must drop the final -an/-än from the affirmative passive form to create the negative passive.

  • Conjugating the negative verb in the passive.

    Me emme mennä.
    Me ei mennä.

    In the passive construction, the negative verb is always 'ei', even if the implied subject is 'me' (we).

  • Using the nominative case for the object.

    Ei avata ovi.
    Ei avata ovea.

    Negative sentences in Finnish require the object to be in the partitive case.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ei tehdäLevel 2Negative Passive

Learn This First

To form the negative passive, you first need to know how to form the affirmative passive (e.g., 'puhutaan'). You then apply the negative verb 'ei' and drop the final vowel of the passive form to create the negative construction (e.g., 'ei puhuta').

Words in This Pattern

ei