The Comparative -mpi: 'more' | Finnish Grammar

To say "bigger, older, more beautiful," Finnish does not add a separate word like English more. It bolts a suffix — -mpi — straight onto the adjective's stem: iso → isompi, vanha → vanhempi, kaunis → kauniimpi. There is no more floating in front of it; the comparison lives inside the word. Once you can find an adjective's stem and attach -mpi, you can compare almost anything in Finnish.

The basic pattern: stem + -mpi

Take the adjective's inflectional (vowel) stem — the part you see in the genitive — and add -mpi:

Adjective	Stem	Comparative	Meaning
iso	iso-	isompi	bigger
pieni	piene-	pienempi	smaller
suuri	suure-	suurempi	bigger, greater
nuori	nuore-	nuorempi	younger
kaunis	kaunii-	kauniimpi	more beautiful

Meidän uusi asuntomme on isompi kuin vanha.

Our new flat is bigger than the old one.

Hän on paljon nuorempi kuin luulin.

He is much younger than I thought.

Tämä maisema on vielä kauniimpi keväällä.

This scenery is even more beautiful in spring.

Notice how the stem does its ordinary work: the -e stem of pieni and suuri surfaces (pienempi, suurempi), and the long -ii- of kaunis shows up (kauniimpi). The comparative simply piggybacks on the stem you would use for any other ending.

The a/ä → e shift in two-syllable words

Here is the one twist worth memorising. When a two-syllable adjective ends in -a or -ä, that final vowel changes to -e- before -mpi. It is vanhempi, never vanhampi:

Adjective	Comparative	Meaning
vanha	vanhempi	older
kylmä	kylmempi	colder
kova	kovempi	harder, louder
halpa	halvempi	cheaper (note p → v)

Tänään on kylmempi kuin eilen.

Today is colder than yesterday.

Etsin halvempaa lentoa, tämä on liian kallis.

I'm looking for a cheaper flight, this one is too expensive.

Isoäitini on vanhempi kuin isoisäni.

My grandmother is older than my grandfather.

Longer adjectives ending in -a/-ä keep the vowel: nopea → nopeampi ("faster"), ihana → ihanampi ("lovelier"), matala → matalampi ("lower"). The -a → -e- switch is specifically a two-syllable rule.

Juna on nopeampi ja mukavampi kuin bussi.

The train is faster and more comfortable than the bus.

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The word vanhempi is a small trap: it means "older," but vanhemmat (its plural) is also the everyday word for "parents." Context sorts them out — vanhempi sisar ("older sister") vs minun vanhempani ("my parents") — but do not be surprised to meet the same shape wearing two hats.

The comparative declines like any adjective

-mpi is not a frozen tag — it is a full nominative form that inflects in every case. In the oblique cases the -mpi changes to -mma-/-mmä-: isompi → isomman (genitive), isommassa (inessive), isommat (plural). And because it is an adjective, it agrees with its noun just like the base form:

Muutimme isompaan asuntoon keskustassa.

We moved into a bigger flat downtown.

Vanhemmat lapset saavat mennä myöhemmin nukkumaan.

The older children get to go to bed later.

The full paradigm — including the awkward -mpi → -mma- alternation and the partitive-singular exception (isompaa, not isommaa) — has its own page: comparative stem changes. For now, just register that the comparative is a normal, fully-declining adjective.

Saying "than": kuin or the partitive

To attach the thing you are comparing against, Finnish offers two routes. The first is kuin ("than"), followed by the second item in the same form as the first:

Koira on isompi kuin kissa.

The dog is bigger than the cat.

The second is more compact: put the compared item in the partitive, with no kuin at all — koira on kissaa isompi ("the dog is bigger than the cat"). Both are correct and common; the choice and its details are covered on the comparisons with 'than' page.

Tämä tehtävä on tuota helpompi.

This task is easier than that one. (partitive: tuota)

The one you must memorise: hyvä → parempi

The single most common adjective in the language does not follow the rule at all. Hyvä ("good") has the suppletive comparative parempi ("better") — an entirely different root, exactly as English good → better abandons good. Do not build *hyvämpi:

Tämä ravintola on parempi kuin se toinen.

This restaurant is better than that other one.

Voisitko keksiä paremman tekosyyn?

Could you come up with a better excuse?

A handful of other adjectives have irregular comparatives — pitkä → pidempi / pitempi ("longer"), lyhyt → lyhyempi ("shorter") — and they are collected on the irregular comparison page. But hyvä → parempi is the one to burn in from day one.

Common Mistakes

❌ Tämä on enemmän iso kuin tuo.

Incorrect — Finnish uses the suffix -mpi, not a separate 'more' word: isompi.

✅ Tämä on isompi kuin tuo.

This is bigger than that.

❌ Isäni on vanhampi kuin äitini.

Incorrect — a two-syllable -a shifts to -e- before -mpi: vanhempi.

✅ Isäni on vanhempi kuin äitini.

My father is older than my mother.

❌ Tämä kahvi on hyvämpi kuin eilinen.

Incorrect — hyvä is suppletive: the comparative is parempi.

✅ Tämä kahvi on parempi kuin eilinen.

This coffee is better than yesterday's.

❌ Juna on nopempi kuin bussi.

Incorrect — the -a of the 3-syllable nopea stays: nopeampi, not nopempi.

✅ Juna on nopeampi kuin bussi.

The train is faster than the bus.

Key Takeaways

The comparative is a suffix, -mpi, added to the adjective stem: iso → isompi, kaunis → kauniimpi — never a separate more word.
A two-syllable adjective in -a/-ä changes that vowel to -e-: vanha → vanhempi, kylmä → kylmempi. Longer ones keep it: nopea → nopeampi.
The comparative declines fully (-mpi → -mma-/-mmä-) and agrees with its noun; see comparative stem changes.
"Than" is kuin or the partitive of the compared item: isompi kuin kissa = kissaa isompi.
Hyvä → parempi is suppletive — memorise it.

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