-tella

See also: tella, Tella, and -tellä

Finnish

Etymology

-ttaa +‎ -ella; the first suffix was adapted by analogy from the causative meaning, taking to "to refer to as" as well as probably later "to act like", while the -ella is a frequentative suffix. The analogy may have also taken place only after the use of -tella in its literal (causative-frequentative) sense for some verbs.

Suffix

-tella (front vowel harmony variant -tellä, stem -ttele-, linguistic notation -ttele- or -tellA)

Forms verbs for calling someone by a name or a label.
‎neiti (“miss”) + ‎-tella → ‎neiditellä (“to call someone "miss"”)
Forms verbs that describe act of pretending to be something.
‎hurskas (“pious”) + ‎-tella → ‎hurskastella (“to be hypocritical”)

Usage notes

Often added to the plural stem of the base noun.

Conjugation

When attached to a vowel stem:

Inflection of -tella (Kotus type 67*C/tulla, tt-t gradation)

indicative mood

present tense

perfect

person

positive

negative

person

positive

negative

1st sing.

-ttelen

en -ttele

1st sing.

olen -tellut

en ole -tellut

2nd sing.

-ttelet

et -ttele

2nd sing.

olet -tellut

et ole -tellut

3rd sing.

-ttelee

ei -ttele

3rd sing.

on -tellut

ei ole -tellut

1st plur.

-ttelemme

emme -ttele

1st plur.

olemme -telleet

emme ole -telleet

2nd plur.

-ttelette

ette -ttele

2nd plur.

olette -telleet

ette ole -telleet

3rd plur.

-ttelevat

eivät -ttele

3rd plur.

ovat -telleet

eivät ole -telleet

passive

-tellaan

ei -tella

passive

on -teltu

ei ole -teltu

past tense

pluperfect

person

positive

negative

person

positive

negative

1st sing.

-ttelin

en -tellut

1st sing.

olin -tellut

en ollut -tellut

2nd sing.

-ttelit

et -tellut

2nd sing.

olit -tellut

et ollut -tellut

3rd sing.

-tteli

ei -tellut

3rd sing.

oli -tellut

ei ollut -tellut

1st plur.

-ttelimme

emme -telleet

1st plur.

olimme -telleet

emme olleet -telleet

2nd plur.

-ttelitte

ette -telleet

2nd plur.

olitte -telleet

ette olleet -telleet

3rd plur.

-ttelivat

eivät -telleet

3rd plur.

olivat -telleet

eivät olleet -telleet

passive

-teltiin

ei -teltu

passive

oli -teltu

ei ollut -teltu

conditional mood

present

perfect

person

positive

negative

person

positive

negative

1st sing.

-ttelisin

en -ttelisi

1st sing.

olisin -tellut

en olisi -tellut

2nd sing.

-ttelisit

et -ttelisi

2nd sing.

olisit -tellut

et olisi -tellut

3rd sing.

-ttelisi

ei -ttelisi

3rd sing.

olisi -tellut

ei olisi -tellut

1st plur.

-ttelisimme

emme -ttelisi

1st plur.

olisimme -telleet

emme olisi -telleet

2nd plur.

-ttelisitte

ette -ttelisi

2nd plur.

olisitte -telleet

ette olisi -telleet

3rd plur.

-ttelisivat

eivät -ttelisi

3rd plur.

olisivat -telleet

eivät olisi -telleet

passive

-teltaisiin

ei -teltaisi

passive

olisi -teltu

ei olisi -teltu

imperative mood

present

perfect

person

positive

negative

person

positive

negative

1st sing.

—

1st sing.

—

2nd sing.

-ttele

älä -ttele

2nd sing.

—

3rd sing.

-telkoon

älköön -telko

3rd sing.

olkoon -tellut

älköön olko -tellut

1st plur.

-telkaamme

älkäämme -telko

1st plur.

—

2nd plur.

-telkaa

älkää -telko

2nd plur.

—

3rd plur.

-telkoot

älkööt -telko

3rd plur.

olkoot -telleet

älkööt olko -telleet

passive

-teltakoon

älköön -teltako

passive

olkoon -teltu

älköön olko -teltu

potential mood

present

perfect

person

positive

negative

person

positive

negative

1st sing.

-tellen

en -telle

1st sing.

lienen -tellut

en liene -tellut

2nd sing.

-tellet

et -telle

2nd sing.

lienet -tellut

et liene -tellut

3rd sing.

-tellee

ei -telle

3rd sing.

lienee -tellut

ei liene -tellut

1st plur.

-tellemme

emme -telle

1st plur.

lienemme -telleet

emme liene -telleet

2nd plur.

-tellette

ette -telle

2nd plur.

lienette -telleet

ette liene -telleet

3rd plur.

-tellevat

eivät -telle

3rd plur.

lienevät -telleet

eivät liene -telleet

passive

-teltaneen

ei -teltane

passive

lienee -teltu

ei liene -teltu

Nominal forms

infinitives

participles

active

passive

active

passive

1st

-tella

present

-tteleva

-teltava

long 1st¹

Possessive forms
Person	sing.	plur.
1st	-tellakseni	-tellaksemme
2nd	-tellaksesi	-tellaksenne
3rd	-tellakseen -tellaksensa

past

-tellut

-teltu

2nd

inessive²

-tellessa

-teltaessa

agent⁴

-ttelema

Possessive forms
Person	sing.	plur.
1st	-tellessani	-tellessamme
2nd	-tellessasi	-tellessanne
3rd	-tellessaan -tellessansa

negative

-ttelematon

instructive

-tellen

—

¹⁾ Used only with a possessive suffix.

²⁾ Usually with a possessive suffix (active only).
³⁾ Some uses of the verbal noun are called the 'fourth infinitive' by certain sources (more details).

⁴⁾ Usually with a possessive suffix. May not be used with all verbs, especially intransitive ones (more details). Distinct from nouns with the -ma suffix and third infinitive forms.

3rd

inessive

-ttelemassa

—

elative

-ttelemasta

—

illative

-ttelemaan

—

adessive

-ttelemalla

—

abessive

-ttelematta

—

instructive

-tteleman

-teltaman

4th³

verbal noun

-tteleminen

5th¹

Possessive forms
Person	sing.	plur.
1st	-ttelemaisillani	-ttelemaisillamme
2nd	-ttelemaisillasi	-ttelemaisillanne
3rd	-ttelemaisillaan -ttelemaisillansa

With consonant stems, the gradation pattern may be different, e.g. no gradation when the ending becomes -stella.