Verb Conjugation: Olla (To Be) in Present and Imperfect Tense

I will get to conjugation rules later. I think it is better approach to first learn some basic verbs by heart - the logic will come clearer little by little and sentence structure opens in a different way after one is able to recognize verbs. Even if the meaning is unknown, just recognizing the predicate of each sentence might be beneficial.


This seems to be a wonderful source - all about verb conjugation. I haven't verified its full accuracy yet, but random tests seem to validate it.



Present (expressing an action now going on or habitually performed or a condition now existing)

Imperfect (denoting a past action in progress but not completed at the time in question) 

Once you've learnt the present tense of olla-verb, you only have to change the vowel (e > i) and learn the third person to form imperfect tense.

Olla - to be

minä olen - I am >>> minä olin - I was
sinä olet - you are >>> sinä olit - you were (singular)
hän, se on - s/he, it is >>> hän, se oli - s/he, it was
me olemme - we are >>> me olimme - we were
te olette - you are >>> te olitte - you were (plural)
he ovat - they are >>> he olivat - they were 

With some basic vocabulary, you may now start forming sentences:

• Conjugate the verb and then add an adjective in nominative form. Personal pronoun isn't obligatory when the verb conjugation reveals the person.
• (Minä) olen + suomalainen. = I am Finnish. 
• (Sinä) olet + kaunis. = You are beautiful.
• Hän + oli + kohtelias. = S/he was polite.
• Or, instead of the pronoun, you could safely put a noun in a nominative form. Then add olla-verb in singular third person (= on). Then add an adjective in a nominative form. This way you are able to create sentences that state qualities of concrete items, people and places. (With abstract nouns it gets easily more complicated, so don't go there, if you are afraid of mistakes.)
• Talo + on + vihreä. = A/the house is green.
• Koira + on + hassu. = A/the dog is silly.
• Sohva + oli + kova. = A/the couch was hard.
• Learn the adessisive form of personal pronouns, put one of them in front of olla-verb in singular third person (= on) and you are able to express 'someone has something'. Again, concentrate on concrete items first for the same reason as stated above. It is also safe to put an adjective in a nominative form after the verb.
• Meillä + on + auto. = We have a car.
• Sinulla + on + musta + kitara. = You have a black guitar.
• Hänellä + oli + pieni + kissa. = S/he had a small cat.
• Olla-verb in singular third person in front of the name of any weekday or month works, too:
• On + maanantai. = It is Monday.
• Oli + tammikuu. = It was January.
• Tänään + on + lauantai. = Today is Saturday.
• Huomenna + on + sunnuntai. = Tomorrow is Sunday.

Exercises:

• http://www.yle.fi/moodle/yle/attempt.php?q=627