(1) An habitual action, or an action which is going on at the present
time. =Joka päivä hän lukee sanomalehden alusta loppuun saakka=, _every
day he reads the newspaper through from one end to the other_. =Mihin
menette? Menemme metsään=, _where are you going? we are going to the
wood_. When it is desired to emphasise the fact that some one is engaged
in an action at the present time, such phrases as =he ovat kalastamassa=,
_they are fishing_, may be used (_v._ p. 191).
(2) A future action, as we say ‘he comes to-morrow.’ Some distinction is
made between these two uses by the fact that while a verb representing an
action as going on always takes an object in the partitive, a verb which
represents an action as to be completed in the future takes an object in
the genitive. =Kirjoitan kirjettä=, _I am writing a letter_; =huomenna
kirjoitan kirjeen=, _I shall write a letter to-morrow_. =Kun saan tietää
missä asuu, niin menen hänen luo=, _when I know where he lives I shall go
and see him_.
(3) In a few expressions the present indicative is used in a concessive
sense. =Maksaa mitä maksaa=, _cost what it may_. =Sano mitä sanot=, _say
what you will_.