Mennä

Translations

1. (intransitive) to go (to do = illative of the third infinitive) (move away from a point of reference)

   mennä nukkumaan ― to go to sleep, go to bed

   mennä liian pitkälle ― to go too far

   mennä kalastamaan järvelle ― to go to fish at the lake

   mennä kahville ― to go for a coffee

2. (intransitive) to go, extend

   Synonyms: kulkea, ulottua

   Tie menee pellolle saakka.

   The road goes up to the field.

3. (intransitive) to go, lead (of a path, etc.)

   Synonyms: johtaa, kulkea, viedä

   Polku menee talon ohi.

   The path goes by the house.

4. (intransitive) to go, turn out, proceed

   Synonym: sujua

   Sehän meni ihan hyvin.

   That actually went quite well.

5. (intransitive) to go, enter, get, begin, start (+ illative (nouns), translative (adjectives) or adverb) (general verb for describing entering some kind of state)

   mennä töihin ― to go to work, enter the workforce

   mennä myyntiin ― to go on sale

   mennä lakkoon ― to go on strike

   mennä kihloihin ― to get engaged/betrothed

   mennä poikki ― to snap in half/into pieces

   mennä hankalaksi ― to get difficult/tricky/complicated

6. (impersonal + illative) to be spent; take, pass, spend, go (time, resources, etc.) (see usage notes)

   Synonym: kulua

   Hyllyn kokoamiseen meni tunnin verran.

   Assembling the shelf took an hour.

   Siihen olisi voinut mennä kaksikin tuntia.

   It could've taken two hours.

7. (auxiliary) to go (and [do]) (+ illative of the third infinitive) (do an action, implying that someone should be criticized for doing it)

   Miksi sinä menit sellaista tekemään?

   Why did you go and do that?

8. to go, fit (in/into = illative)

   Synonyms: mahtua, sopia

   Montako litraa siihen menee?

   How many litres can you fit in it?

   (literally, “How many litres go in it?”)

9. (colloquial) to do, be good enough

   Synonyms: käydä, menetellä

Conjugations

Indicative Conjugations

The present, imperfect, perfect, and pluperfect (past perfect) tenses in English correspond to "speaks", "spoke", "has spoken", and "had spoken".

Conditional Conjugations

The conditional present and perfect moods in English typically correspond to "would" and "would have".