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Finnish |
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| Finno-Ugric | Baltic-Finnic |  Finland  European Union Minority In:  Sweden |
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Adjectives in Finnish work similarly to nouns except they can also be inflected for comparatives and superlatives. On this page we will discuss the formation of comparatives and superlatives.
Contents |
Positive
This is the basic form of adjectives. It is inflected by number and case just like a noun.
- Taloni on iso (My house is big)
- Helsinki on suuri (Henlsinki is big)
- Vanhat miehet katsovat elokuvan (Old men are watching a/the movie)
- Söi maukkaan omenan (I ate a tasty apple)
- Se koira kävele aavalla kadulla. (That dog walks on a broad street)
- Asut suuressa kaupungissa (You live in a big city)
- Näin sinisia linnuja eilen. (I saw blue birds yesterday)
Comparatives
Comparatives are formed by adding the ending -mpi onto an adjective that has undergone some sort of change depending on the type of adjective it is. I will discuss these different types in detail below.
Singular
Adjectives in comparative form must also agree with the case of what they describe, so the -mpi (nominative) ending changes for -mpa/-mpä (partitive, illative and essive) or -mma/-mmä (other cases)
| Nominative | Comparative | Comparative + Case ending | |
| -mpi | -mpä/a -mma/ä | ||
| big | iso | isompi | isomma-n |
| old | vanha | vanhempi | vanhempa-a |
| cold | kylmä | kylmempi | kylmemmä-ssä |
| traditional | perinteinen | perinteisempi | perintesempa-na |
| rich | rikas | rikkaampi | rikkaamma-lla |
Plural
In plural, the ending will be, depending on the case, -mma/ä (nominative), -mpi (partitive, essive and illative) or -mmi (other cases)
| Nominative | Comparative | Comparative + Case ending | |
| -t | -mma/ä | -mpi -mmi | |
| small | pienet | pienemmät | pienemmi-ltä |
| short | lyhyet | lyhyemmät | lyhyempi-ä |
| hard | kovat | kovemmat | kovemmi-sta |
| glad | iloiset | iloisemmat | iloisempi-in |
| shy | pelokkaat | pelokkaammat | pelokkaammi-lle |
Changes
- -a -> -e-
- -ä -> -e-
- -i -> -e-
- -nen -> -se-
- -Vs -> -VV-
Emphasizing
Next to comparatives you may add one of the folowing adverbs in order to strengthen or weaken the comparison.
- paljon (much)
- vielä (even)
- vähän (a little)
- ei yhtään (not a bit)
Examples
- Maaria on pitempi kuin Julia = Maaria on Juliaa pitempi. (Maaria is taller than Julia)
- Helsinki on suurempi kuin Oulu. (Helsinki is bigger than Oulu)
- Hän asuu vanhemmassa talossa kuin Liisa. (He lives in an older house than Liisa)
- Tämä paikka näyttää vielä huonommalta kuin viime vuonna. (This place looks even worse than it did last year)
- Minun kissa ei ole yhtään lihavempi kuin sinun. (My cat isn't a bit fatter than yours)
- Joni ja Jukka ovat vähän lyhyemmät kuin Mona (Joni and Jukka are a bit shorter than Mona)
- Menin kuumempaan huoneeseen. (I went into a hotter room)
Superlatives
Superlatives are formed by adding the ending -in onto an adjective that has undergone some sort of change depending on the type of adjective it is. I will discuss these different types in detail below.
Singular
Adjectives in superlative must also agree with the case of what they describe, so the -in (nominative, partitive) ending changes for -impa/-impä (illative and essive) or -imma/-immä (other cases)
| Nominative | Superlative | Superlative + Case ending | |
| -in | -in -impä/a -imma/ä | ||
| big | iso | isoin | isoimma-n |
| old | vanha | vanhin | vanhin-ta |
| cold | kylmä | kylmin | kylmimmä-ssä |
| traditional | perinteinen | perinteisin | perintesimpa-na |
| rich | rikas | rikkain | rikkaimma-lla |
Plural
In plural, the ending will be, depending on the case, -imma/ä (nominative), -impi (partitive, essive and illative) or -immi (other cases)
| Nominative | Superlative | Superlative + Case ending | |
| -t | -imma/ä | -impi -immi | |
| small | pienet | pienimmät | pienimmi-ltä |
| short | lyhyet | lyhyimmät | lyhyimpi-ä |
| hard | kovat | kovimmat | kovimmi-sta |
| glad | iloiset | iloisimmat | iloisimpi-in |
| shy | pelokkaat | pelokkaimmat | pelokkaimmi-lle |
Changes
- -a -> disappears
- -ä -> disappears
- -i -> -e-
- -ii -> -e-
- -nen -> -s-
- -VV -> -V-
- -Vs -> -VV -> -V-
Emphasizing
Next to superlatives you may add one of the folowing adverbs in order to strengthen or weaken the importance of the word.
- maailman (the world's)
- kaikkein (of all)
- toiseksi (second)
- kolmanneksi (third)
- jne.
Examples
- Maaria on kaunein nainen, jota olen nähnyt. (Maaria is most beautiful woman, i've ever seen)
- Jukka on maailman tylsin. (Jukka is the world's most boring person)
- Hän asuu kaikkein vanhimmassa talossa. (He lives in the oldest house of all)
- Tämä paikka näyttää vielä huonommalta kuin viime vuonna. (This place looks even worse than it did last year)
- Minun kissa syö toiseksi isointa omenaa. (My cat eats the second biggest apple)
- Joni ja Jukka ovat pitimmät, mitä tunnen (Joni and Jukka are the tallest i know)
- Söin pieneimmän appelsiinin. (I ate the smallest orange)
| Finnish pages
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| Introduction · Adjectives · Cases · Lexicon · Negative Verb · Numbers · Pronouns · Sounds and Writing · Suffixes · Verbs |
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| Baltic-Finnic |  Estonian · Finnish ·  Ingrian ·  Karelian ·  Livonian ·  Veps ·  Votic ·  Võro
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| Permic |  Komi ·  Udmurt
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| Ugric |  Hungarian ·  Khanty ·  Mansi
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