Language/Finnish/Grammar/Adjectives

Finnish Grammar - Adjectives

Hi Finnish learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about adjectives in Finnish. Adjectives are words used to describe or modify nouns, pronouns or verbs. They give more information about the noun, such as its color, size, shape or any other quality.

Basic Adjectives

In Finnish, adjectives can be placed before or after the noun, but they must agree with the noun in case, number, and definiteness. The basic adjectives in Finnish are not inflected, meaning they do not change their form to match the case or number of the noun they describe.

Finnish	Pronunciation	English
kaunis	/ˈkɑu̯.nis/	beautiful
iso	/ˈi.so/	big, large
pieni	/ˈpie̯.ni/	small, little
punainen	/ˈpu.nɑi̯.nen/	red
sininen	/ˈsi.ni.nen/	blue
vihreä	/ˈvi.hre̞.æ/	green
keltainen	/ˈkel.tɑi̯.nen/	yellow

Here are some examples of basic adjectives in use:

• Tämä on kaunis kukka. (This is a beautiful flower.)
• Iso auto ajoi ohitse. (A big car drove by.)
• Pieni tyttö juoksi kadulla. (A small girl ran on the street.)
• Punainen talo on minun. (The red house is mine.)
• Sininen paita sopii sinulle hyvin. (The blue shirt suits you well.)
• Vihreä auto pysähtyi liikennevaloihin. (The green car stopped at the traffic lights.)
• Keltainen aurinko laski horisontin taakse. (The yellow sun set behind the horizon.)

Comparison of Adjectives

In Finnish, adjectives can be compared using the comparative and superlative forms. The comparative is used to compare two things, while the superlative is used to indicate the highest degree of a quality among three or more things.

Comparative

To form the comparative form of adjectives, you need to add the suffix "-mpi" to the stem of the adjective. If the stem ends in a vowel, you need to add the consonant "m" before the suffix. The comparative form must agree with the noun it describes in case, number, and definiteness.

Finnish	Comparative	English
kaunis	kauniimpi	more beautiful
iso	isompi	bigger, larger
pieni	pienempi	smaller, less
punainen	punaisempi	redder
sininen	sinisempi	bluer
vihreä	vihreämpi	greener
keltainen	keltaisempi	yellower

Here are some examples of the comparative form in use:

• Tämä kukka on kauniimpi kuin tuo. (This flower is more beautiful than that.)
• Tämä auto on isompi kuin se. (This car is bigger than that.)
• Tämä lelu on pienempi kuin tuo. (This toy is smaller than that.)
• Tämä talo on punaisempi kuin tuo. (This house is redder than that.)
• Tämä paita on sinisempi kuin tuo. (This shirt is bluer than that.)
• Tämä puu on vihreämpi kuin tuo. (This tree is greener than that.)
• Tämä auto on keltaisempi kuin tuo. (This car is yellower than that.)

1. 1. 1. Formation

Comparative form is always formed by taking the stem of the basic adjective and adding the ending '-mpi'.

1. 1. 1. Possessive suffixes with comparative

When you add a comparative adjective after a word with a possessive suffix, you need to add the possessive suffix to the comparative as well.

Eg. Tämä on isäni iso auto. This is my father's big car.

   Tämä auto on isompi kuin äitini auto. This car is bigger than my mother's car.

1. 1. 1. Adjectives in -as

Adjectives in -as, like kallis (expensive) and helppo (easy), and their corresponding words derived from verbs are compared differently.

Eg. Kallis becomes kalliimpi instead of kalliampi.

   Helppo has the comparative helpompi instead of helpomampi. 

Superlative

To form the superlative form of adjectives, you need to add the suffix "-in" to the stem of the adjective. If the stem ends in a vowel, you need to add the consonant "n" before the suffix. The superlative form must agree with the noun it describes in case, number, and definiteness.

Finnish	Superlative	English
kaunis	kaunein	most beautiful
iso	suurin	biggest, largest
pieni	pienin	smallest, least
punainen	punaisin	reddest
sininen	sinisin	bluest
vihreä	vihrein	greenest
keltainen	keltaisin	yellowest

Here are some examples of the superlative form in use:

• Tämä kukka on kaunein kaikista. (This flower is the most beautiful of all.)
• Tämä auto on suurin kaikista. (This car is the biggest of all.)
• Tämä lelu on pienin kaikista. (This toy is the smallest of all.)
• Tämä talo on punaisin kaikista. (This house is the reddest of all.)
• Tämä paita on sinisin kaikista. (This shirt is the bluest of all.)
• Tämä puu on vihrein kaikista. (This tree is the greenest of all.)
• Tämä auto on keltaisin kaikista. (This car is the yellowest of all.)

1. 1. 1. Possessive suffixes with superlative

As with the comparative, when an adjective in superlative is added after a word with a possessive suffix, the possessive suffix is added also to the adjective.

Eg. Tämä on isänikin suurin auto. This is even bigger than my father's car.

   Tämä auto on äitini autoja keltaisin. This car is the yellowest of my mother's cars.

Dialogue

To reinforce the use of adjectives, here's an example dialogue:

• Person 1: Oletko löytänyt uuden asunnon? (Have you found a new apartment?)
• Person 2: Kyllä, minulla on kaunis uusi asunto lähellä keskustaa. (Yes, I have a beautiful new apartment near the city center.)
• Person 1: Ihanaa! Onko siellä paljon tilaa? (Great! Is there a lot of space?)
• Person 2: On, siellä on iso olohuone ja pieni keittiö. (Yes, there's a big living room and a small kitchen.)
• Person 1: Kuulostaa hyvältä. Minkä väriset seinät siellä on? (Sounds good. What color are the walls?)
• Person 2: Ne ovat valkoiset, mutta olen ajatellut maalata muutaman seinän punaisiksi. (They're white, but I've been thinking of painting some of the walls red.)

Conclusion

Learning adjectives in Finnish is not easy, but with practice, you'll get the hang of it. Remember that adjectives can come before or after the noun, but they must agree with the noun in case, number, and definiteness. To improve your Finnish Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

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