Would in Reported Speech

Level 4

In Finnish, when you report a past promise, plan, or expectation, you use the conditional mood to represent what was 'future' at that time.

How It Works

Finnish does not have a future tense, but it uses the conditional mood as a functional 'future-in-the-past' marker in reported speech.

1. Function:
When a reporting verb is in the past (e.g., hän sanoi 'he said', lupasin 'I promised'), the conditional indicates that the following action was intended or expected to happen after that moment.

  • Hän sanoi: 'Tulen huomenna.' (He said: 'I will come tomorrow.')
  • Hän sanoi, että tulisi huomenna. (He said that he would come tomorrow.)

2. Nuance vs. Indicative:
If the reported event is still certain or currently relevant, Finnish speakers often use the present indicative (Hän sanoi, että tulee). The conditional (tulisi) is chosen to specifically highlight the past perspective or to report a promise that might not have been fulfilled.

3. Formation and Vowel Changes:
The conditional always uses the strong vowel stem and does not trigger consonant gradation (e.g., anta- becomes antaisi, not annaisi). The marker -isi- is added to the stem with these rules:

  • Stem-final -e and -i are dropped: luke- → lukisin, oppi- → oppisin.
  • Long vowels shorten: saa- → saisi, jää- → jäisi.
  • Diphthongs ending in -e, -o, -ö drop the first vowel: syö- → söisi, juo- → joisi, tie- → tietäisi.

4. Usage Restriction:
While formal Finnish often uses the referative construction to report speech, this construction is avoided here because Finnish lacks a conditional participle. To preserve the 'would' meaning, you must use an että-clause.

5. Spoken Finnish:
In spoken Finnish, the marker -isi- is often shortened to -is-. In the 1st and 2nd person singular, the personal endings are frequently dropped (e.g., mä tulis, sä tulis). For plural forms, speakers typically use the passive construction (me tultais) or the singular form with a plural pronoun.

Examples (4)

  1. Hän lupasi, että tulisi ajoissa.

    He promised that he would come on time.

    Word by Word: He promised, that (he) would-come in-time.

    The conditional 'tulisi' shows that the coming was a future event relative to the past promise.

  2. En tiennyt silloin, että hän muuttaisi ulkomaille.

    I didn't know then that she would move abroad.

    Word by Word: Not (I) knew then, that she would-move to-abroad.

    The conditional 'muuttaisi' represents a future event from the perspective of 'then' (silloin).

  3. Sanoin, että auttaisin sinua muutossa.

    I said that I would help you with the move.

    Word by Word: I-said, that (I) would-help you in-move.

    The conditional 'auttaisin' reports a past offer or intention.

  4. He kertoivat, että he ostaisivat uuden auton.

    They told (us) that they would buy a new car.

    Word by Word: They told, that they would-buy new car.

    The conditional 'ostaisivat' indicates a plan reported from a past conversation.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the conditional where the plain past is meant.

    Different MeaningHän sanoi, että hän olisi väsynyt.
    Hän sanoi, että hän oli väsynyt.

    'Hän sanoi, että hän olisi väsynyt' is correct, but the conditional marks a report the speaker does not vouch for ('he said he was, supposedly, tired'). To report plainly that he said he was tired, use the past indicative: 'oli väsynyt'.

  • Using the conditional for past habits.

    Lapsena hän leikkisi aina ulkona.
    Lapsena hän leikki aina ulkona.

    English uses 'would' for past habits ('He would always play outside'). Finnish uses the simple past (imperfect) for this, not the conditional.

How It Connects

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

Would in Reported SpeechLevel 4

Learn This First

To understand how to use the conditional in reported speech, you first need to know how to form the conditional mood using the -isi- marker. You also need to be familiar with basic reported speech structures using the conjunction 'että' (that) to link the reporting verb to the statement being reported.

Words in This Pattern

-isi-