-van/-vansa

Reported Thought (-van/-vansa)

Level 4

The referative construction (referatiivirakenne) is a formal 'shortcut' for reporting what someone says, thinks, or sees. Instead of saying 'I see that he comes' (että-clause), you say 'I see him coming' using the genitive case and the present participle.

How It Works

The referative construction is a non-finite clause equivalent (lauseenvastike) that replaces an että (that) clause, used primarily in formal writing (kirjakieli).

1. Trigger Verbs
This construction is used with verbs of saying, thinking, and perceiving (verba sentiendi, dicendi, et declarandi), such as sanoa (to say), luulla (to think), huomata (to notice), and kuulla (to hear).

Note on Perceptual Verbs: With verbs like näyttää (to seem) and tuntua (to feel like), the subject of the että clause is 'raised' to become the subject of the main verb. For example, Näyttää siltä, että hän on väsynyt becomes Hän näyttää olevan väsynyt (He seems to be tired).

2. Formation and Timing
The construction uses different participles in the genitive case to indicate the timing and voice of the action:

  • Present Active (-van/-vän): Simultaneous or future action. Uses the present active participle.
    Hän sanoo olevansa sairas. (He says he is [now] sick.)
  • Past Active (-neen): Completed action. Uses the genitive of the past active participle (-neen).
    Hän sanoi tehneensä työt. (He said he had done the work.)
  • Present Passive (-tavan/-tävän): Ongoing passive action. Uses the genitive of the present passive participle.
    Luulin asian hoidettavan. (I thought the matter was being handled.)
  • Past Passive (-tun/-tyn): Completed passive action. Uses the genitive of the past passive participle.
    Luulin asian hoidetun. (I thought the matter had been handled.)

3. Reporting Negative Actions
The referative construction generally lacks a negative conjugation. If the original että clause is negative, it generally cannot be replaced by a referative construction. Instead, you must revert to a negative että clause.
Example: Hän sanoi, ettei tule. (He said that he is not coming.)

4. The Subject Rules

  • Different Subject: The subject is in the genitive case.
    Example: Luulen hänen olevan kotona. (I think [that] he is at home.)
  • Plural Subjects: Even when the genitive subject is plural, the participle always takes the singular genitive form (-van, -neen, -tavan, -tun). Plural genitive participles are never used here.
    Example: Tiedän heidän tulleen. (I know they came.)
  • Same Subject: The pronoun is dropped and a possessive suffix is added. The genitive -n of the participle must be dropped before adding the possessive suffix (e.g., olevan + -ni = olevani).
    Example: Luulen oleva-ni kotona. (I think [that I] am at home.)
  • 3rd Person Contrast: In the 3rd person, Hän sanoo oleva-nsa means he is talking about himself. Hän sanoo hänen olevan means he is talking about someone else.

5. Object Case
In an active referative construction, an object normally has the case it would have in the corresponding että-clause: Näin hänen ostavan auton and Hänen nähtiin ostavan auton. A passive main verb does not itself remove the embedded object’s -n. With an imperative and a shared actor expressed by a possessive suffix, both are possible: Kuvittele ostavasi auton ~ auto. Passive participles such as hoidettavan follow a separate pattern: compare Luulin asian hoidettavan with Suunniteltiin hoidettavan asia.

6. Punctuation
Unlike an että-clause, you never use a comma before a referative construction.

Existential and Possessive Clauses
Partitive subjects remain partitive: Luulen pihalla olevan lapsia corresponds to Luulen, että pihalla on lapsia. A plural nominative possessed item can also retain its case: Uskon hänellä olevan hyvät mahdollisuudet. The participle remains singular in form. These differ from ordinary actors such as hänen or heidän.

Examples (4)

  1. Näen pojan juoksevan puistossa.

    I see the boy running in the park.

    Word by Word: I-see boy's running park-in.

    Here, 'pojan' is the genitive subject and 'juoksevan' is the participle. It replaces 'Näen, että poika juoksee'.

  2. Hän väittää tietävänsä vastauksen.

    He claims to know the answer.

    Word by Word: He claims knowing-his answer.

    Because the subject (he) is the same for both verbs, we use the possessive suffix -nsä instead of a genitive pronoun.

  3. Uskon tämän olevan totta.

    I believe this to be true.

    Word by Word: I-believe this's being truth.

    A common way to express 'I believe that this is true' in formal Finnish.

  4. Kuulin heidän puhuvan suomea.

    I heard them speaking Finnish.

    Word by Word: I-heard their speaking Finnish.

    The genitive plural 'heidän' acts as the subject of the participle 'puhuvan'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a comma before the construction.

    Luulen, hänen tulevan.
    Luulen hänen tulevan.

    Learners often carry over the comma rule from 'että' clauses, but participial constructions do not take commas.

  • Using a genitive pronoun when the subject is the same person.

    Different MeaningHän sanoo hänen olevan väsynyt.
    Hän sanoo olevansa väsynyt.

    This sentence is fine, but 'hänen' points to a different person: 'He says that (someone else) is tired.' If 'he' is the one who is tired, use the possessive suffix: 'Hän sanoo olevansa väsynyt.'

  • Using the nominative case for the subject.

    Näen poika juoksevan.
    Näen pojan juoksevan.

    An ordinary expressed actor such as poika takes the genitive here. Existential and possessive clauses have separate case patterns, so the rule is not universal.

How It Connects

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

-van/-vansaLevel 4Reported Thought (-van/-vansa)

Learn This First

To understand the referative construction, you must first be familiar with the active present participle (-va/-vä), as this form is the base of the construction. You also need to understand how 'että' clauses work, as this construction is a way to shorten them. Finally, knowledge of possessive suffixes is required because they are used to indicate the subject of the participle when it matches the main subject.

Words in This Pattern

-va-nsa