punanen / semmonen / tehny

Shortened Spoken Endings

Level 2

Spoken Finnish (puhekieli) systematically shortens specific word endings to sound more natural and informal. Two common changes are diphthongal -ainen/-oinen/-einen reducing to -anen/-onen/-enen and active past participles dropping the final -t.

How It Works

In everyday Finnish, speakers naturally simplify certain sounds to make speech flow faster. This is not 'incorrect' Finnish; it is common in informal speech, with regional and individual variation.

1. The -inen Suffix
For words with a derivational ending in -ainen, -oinen, or -einen, the diphthong is reduced by dropping the -i-. This also applies when the word is inflected and to derived nouns such as suomalainen → suomalanen (a Finn). Note that this rule does not apply to nouns like nainen or pronouns like toinen.

  • punainen → punanen (red)
  • punaista → punasta (red, partitive)
  • semmoinen → semmonen (such a)
  • tällainen → tällanen (this kind of)
  • tuollainen → tuollanen / tommonen (that kind of)

Note that words ending in a plain -inen (like sininen) do not drop the -i- because it is not part of a diphthong.

2. The -ea/-eä Ending
Words ending in -ea or -eä are commonly changed to -ee in speech. These spoken forms have a long vowel and commonly take the partitive -ta/-tä: korkeeta but tärkeetä, following the word’s back/front vowel harmony. Loanwords are the primary exception (e.g., idea remains idea).

  • korkea → korkee (high/tall) → partitive: korkeeta
  • tärkeä → tärkee (important) → partitive: tärkeetä
  • vaaleanpunainen → vaaleenpunanen (pink): vaalean → vaaleen changes the first component’s ea to ee, and punainen → punanen drops i in the second

3. The Active Past Participle (-nut/-nyt/-lut/-sut/-rut)
The active past participle used in the perfect tense or negative past drops the final -t. This common reduction also affects assimilated participles such as ollut → ollu; it is a spoken variant, not obligatory in every speaker’s speech.

  • tehnyt → tehny (done)
  • sanonut → sanonu (said)
  • ollut → ollu (been)

4. Usage Note
In many informal varieties, the singular reduced participle (tehny) is used for plural subjects as well. For the third-person plural, spoken Finnish uses the singular verb form: ne on tehny (they have done) instead of the formal he ovat tehneet. For the first-person plural, spoken Finnish uses the passive construction: me ollaan tehty (we have done) instead of the formal me olemme tehneet. The second-person plural also uses the singular reduced participle: te ootte tehny (you [plural] have done), replacing the formal te olette tehneet.

Examples (5)

  1. Ootko sä jo tehny sun läksyt?

    Have you already done your homework?

    Word by Word: Are-you you already done your homeworks?

    Uses 'tehny' instead of the standard 'tehnyt' and 'sä' instead of 'sinä'.

  2. Se osti semmosen punasen paidan.

    He/she bought that kind of red shirt.

    Word by Word: It bought that-kind-of red shirt.

    Uses 'semmosen' (sellaisen) and 'punasen' (punaisen) in the genitive case.

  3. Mä en oo ikinä sanonu niin.

    I have never said so.

    Word by Word: I not have ever said so.

    Uses 'sanonu' instead of 'sanonut' in a negative perfect construction.

  4. Ne on ollu täällä koko päivän.

    They have been here all day.

    Word by Word: They have been here whole day.

    In speech, 'ne' (they) takes the singular verb 'on' and the singular reduced participle 'ollu'.

  5. Tää on suomalanen juttu.

    This is a Finnish thing.

    Word by Word: This is Finnish thing.

    Uses 'suomalanen' instead of the standard 'suomalainen'.

Common Mistakes

  • Dropping i from plain -inen rather than a diphthong.

    Se on sinnen.
    Se on sininen.

    Sininen has no ai/oi/ei diphthong to reduce. Do not apply punainen → punanen by simply deleting every i before nen.

  • Over-shortening words that are not participles.

    Tämä on lyhy.
    Tämä on lyhyt.

    The participle reduction -nut/-nyt → -nu/-ny is a specific pattern. It does not by itself license deleting the final t of every adjective; forms of other words vary independently by dialect and context.

  • Using spoken forms in formal writing (like the YKI test).

    Different MeaningHän on tehny työtä.
    Hän on tehnyt työtä.

    While these forms are standard in speech, they should be avoided in formal essays or official documents where 'kirjakieli' is required.

How It Connects

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punanen / semmonen / tehnyLevel 2Shortened Spoken Endings

Learn This First

To understand these spoken reductions, you first need to be familiar with the standard forms they are derived from: the '-inen' adjective ending and the '-nut/-nyt' past participle ending. Knowing the basic demonstrative pronouns is also helpful as they frequently appear in these shortened forms.

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Patterns that build on this one.