Degree adverbs are the words that turn "good" into "quite good," "very good," or "too good." They sit in front of an adjective or another adverb and dial its intensity up or down. English crowds so, too, very, quite, really into one loose slot, and speakers reach for whichever fits. Finnish keeps a sharper line — especially between "very much" and "too much" — and getting that line right is what separates tosi hyvä (great) from a sentence that accidentally says something is excessive.
The intensity ladder
Finnish has a graded set of intensifiers. Here they are on a single adjective, kallis (expensive), from mild to strong:
| Phrase | English | Strength / register |
|---|---|---|
| aika kallis | quite / fairly expensive | mild, neutral |
| melko kallis | fairly / rather expensive | mild, neutral |
| hyvin kallis | very expensive | strong, neutral |
| todella kallis | really expensive | strong, neutral |
| tosi kallis | really expensive | strong, casual |
| erittäin kallis | extremely expensive | very strong, formal |
| liian kallis | too expensive | excess — a different idea |
Tämä ravintola on aika kallis, mennäänkö johonkin halvempaan?
This restaurant is fairly expensive, shall we go somewhere cheaper?
Talvi oli tänä vuonna hyvin pitkä ja pimeä.
The winter was very long and dark this year.
Elokuva oli tosi hyvä, suosittelen lämpimästi!
The movie was really good, I warmly recommend it!
"Very": hyvin, todella, tosi, oikein, erittäin
There are several ways to say "very," and they differ mostly in register, not meaning:
- hyvin — neutral, all-purpose "very." (It is also the adverb "well" — see forming adverbs with -sti.)
- todella — "really," neutral to slightly emphatic; fine in writing and speech.
- tosi — "really," distinctly casual; the spoken-language favourite among friends.
- oikein — "very / quite," a slightly softer, warmer intensifier, common in polite speech (oikein hyvää joulua — a very merry Christmas).
- erittäin — "extremely," the formal high-degree word, at home in reviews, reports, and careful speech.
Kiitos, ruoka oli oikein hyvää.
Thank you, the food was very good.
Palvelu oli erittäin ystävällistä ja nopeaa.
The service was extremely friendly and fast.
Because hyvin means both "well" and "very," you can even stack it in front of hyvä: hyvin hyvä = "very good." That looks like a typo to an English eye, but it is perfectly correct.
"Quite / fairly": aika, melko, jokseenkin
These pull intensity down toward the middle:
Suomi on aika vaikea kieli, mutta ei mahdoton.
Finnish is quite a difficult language, but not impossible.
Sää on ollut melko lämmin tähän aikaan vuodesta.
The weather has been fairly warm for this time of year.
Jokseenkin ("somewhat, rather") belongs to the same mild band but is more formal/literary — you meet it in writing far more than in conversation:
Tulokset olivat jokseenkin yllättäviä.
The results were somewhat surprising.
The big trap: liian means EXCESS, not "very"
This is the error that matters most. liian does not mean "very" — it means "too," in the sense of more than is acceptable or workable. It carries a built-in negative judgement: the thing has passed the point where it is fine.
Kahvi on liian kuumaa, en voi vielä juoda sitä.
The coffee is too hot, I can't drink it yet.
Herätyskello soi liian aikaisin, olen väsynyt.
The alarm went off too early, I'm tired.
So liian hyvä means "too good" (suspiciously good, better than the situation warrants) — not "very good." If you want a strong compliment, you need tosi/todella/hyvin hyvä. English lets too drift toward emphasis ("too kind!"), but Finnish keeps liian firmly on the "excessive" side of the line. Say liian hyvä to praise a meal and a Finn will wait for the "but":
Tämä kakku on liian makeaa minulle.
This cake is too sweet for me.
"Too much / a little / a lot / completely"
Rounding out the set:
| Finnish | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| tarpeeksi | enough | neutral, everyday |
| kylliksi | enough | formal / literary flavour |
| vähän | a little, slightly | lowers degree |
| paljon | much, a lot | often with comparatives: paljon parempi |
| täysin | completely, fully | |
| aivan | completely / quite / right | also "exactly" |
| niin | so | emphatic: niin kaunis! |
Onko sinulla tarpeeksi lämmin takki mukana?
Do you have a warm enough coat with you?
Olen täysin samaa mieltä kanssasi.
I completely agree with you.
Uusi puhelin on paljon nopeampi kuin vanha.
The new phone is much faster than the old one.
Note that paljon typically intensifies comparatives ("much faster," paljon nopeampi), while hyvin / tosi / erittäin intensify plain adjectives ("very fast," hyvin nopea). Reach for paljon only when there is a -mpi comparative to strengthen — comparison of adverbs is covered on comparing adverbs.
Aivan varma en ole, mutta luulen niin.
I'm not completely sure, but I think so.
Common Mistakes
❌ Sää on tänään liian kaunis!
Incorrect — this says the weather is excessively beautiful; for a compliment use tosi/hyvin.
✅ Sää on tänään tosi kaunis!
The weather is really beautiful today!
❌ Tämä puhelin on hyvin nopeampi kuin vanha.
Incorrect — a comparative is intensified with paljon, not hyvin.
✅ Tämä puhelin on paljon nopeampi kuin vanha.
This phone is much faster than the old one.
❌ Työhakemuksessa: Olen tosi motivoitunut hakija.
Too casual for a formal application — use erittäin/hyvin.
✅ Työhakemuksessa: Olen erittäin motivoitunut hakija.
In a job application: I am an extremely motivated applicant.
❌ Onko sinulla liian rahaa lippuun?
Incorrect — 'enough' is tarpeeksi; liian means 'too (much)'.
✅ Onko sinulla tarpeeksi rahaa lippuun?
Do you have enough money for a ticket?
Key Takeaways
- The neutral "very" is hyvin; todella and tosi are "really" (tosi = casual); erittäin is the formal "extremely."
- aika / melko mean "quite, fairly"; jokseenkin is the same but literary.
- liian means "too" (excess), never "very" — liian hyvä is "too good," not "very good."
- Intensify plain adjectives with hyvin/tosi/erittäin; intensify comparatives with paljon (paljon parempi).
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Start learning Finnish→Related Topics
- Adverbs in FinnishA1 — A map of the Finnish adverb system — manner -sti, the three-way place set, time, degree, frequency — built on the idea that most adverbs are frozen case forms.
- The Comparative -mpi: 'more'A2 — Finnish builds the comparative with the suffix -mpi on the adjective stem: iso → isompi, vanha → vanhempi, kaunis → kauniimpi, hyvä → parempi.
- How: miten, kuinka, millä tavallaB1 — Three ways to ask how in Finnish — miten, kuinka and millä tavalla — plus the partitive traps of kuinka paljon and kuinka monta.
- Comparing Adverbs: paremmin, parhaitenB1 — Finnish adverbs form the comparative in -mmin and superlative in -immin (nopeammin, nopeimmin), plus suppletive chains like hyvin → paremmin → parhaiten.