The comparative degree

In English: nicer, cooler, more interesting…

It’s relatively straightforward when we have a word like iso, big (my favourite for examples because it’s so simple!).

So, the positive is iso. To put it in the comparative, we simply add the comparative marker,
–mpi → isompi

Hänen talonsa on isompi kuin meidän.
His/her house is bigger than ours.

Another example:

tärkeä (this word has 3 syllables, bare this in mind for later)
Tämä on tärkeämpi puhelu.
This is a more important phone call.

However, not all the words are as simple as iso.
Take pieni, small.
Meidän talomme on pienempi kuin hänen.
Our house is smaller than his/hers.

Now you’re probably wondering how that i turned into an e. Well, it’s because I added the comparative marker –mpi to the stem of the word, which for pieni is piene-. Another reason why the stem is so important to understand in Finnish.

A couple of examples:

onnellinen, happy → stem: onnellise– → the comparative: onnellisempi
Minä olen onnellisempi kuin koskaan.
I’m happier than ever.

väsynyt, tired → stem: väsynee– → the comparative: väsyneempi
Olen väsyneempi kuin eilen.
I’m more tired than yesterday.

There are instances where you have to change the stem a little before putting it in the comparative. The following conditions must be filled:

• The word has two syllables

• The stem ends in a or ä.

2-syllable word: halpa, cheap → stem: halva– → change a to e → halve– → the comparative: halvempi

2-syllable word: kylmä, cold → stem: kylmä– → change ä to a → kylme– → the comparative: kylmempi

Finnish adjectives that have a life of their own:

hyvä (good) – parempi (better) – paras (the best)
pitkä (long) – pitempi / pidempi (longer) – pisin (the longest)

One more thing. Don’t forget the 2-syllable rule (like I sometimes do!). You may have noticed that the stem for the word tärkeä is tärkeä. Yes, it ends in ä but don’t be fooled – the word has 3 syllables: tär-ke-ä. So keep the ä. Having said that, in spoken language, that ä often turns in to an e regardless.

Standard Finnish: Tämä on tärkeämpi puhelu.
Spoken Finnish: Tää on tärkeempi puhelu.

The same goes for a lot of adjectives that have a similar form:

vaa-le-a, light, fair
Standard Finnish: vaaleampi
Spoken Finnish: vaaleempi

kor-ke-a, tall (building, not person)
Standard Finnish: korkeampi
Spoken Finnish: korkeempi

Ps. To emphasize the comparative degree, i.e. to say much bigger etc. you can use the following words:

vielä isompi – even bigger (in French: encore plus grand)

paljon isompi – much bigger

vähän isompi – a little bit bigger

huomattavasti isompi – considerably bigger