Absolute superlatives (mitä ammattitaitoisin)

When writing a letter of recommendation (suosituskirje), standard compliments sometimes aren't quite enough. To offer the highest possible praise in Finnish, you can use the absolute superlative construction.

The Absolute Superlative

To express an extreme positive degree—meaning "exceedingly" or "the absolute most"—Finnish uses the word mitä followed by an adjective in the superlative degree (ending in -in) and a noun.

While mitä usually means "what", in this structure it acts as a powerful intensifier. The adjective and the noun it modifies are in the nominative case.

For example, the adjective ammattitaitoinen (professional) becomes the superlative ammattitaitoisin. Paired with mitä, it creates a glowing endorsement:

If you want to describe someone as irreplaceable (korvaamaton), you use its superlative form, korvaamattomin:

Recommending with Confidence

To write a truly persuasive recommendation, it is common to state that you "warmly" (lämpimästi) recommend the person.

We can combine this sentiment with the absolute superlative of osaava (competent), which becomes osaavin:

Elevating Professional Traits

This grammatical structure works beautifully with a variety of professional characteristics. Here are two more excellent adjectives to use in their superlative forms:

• esimerkillinen (exemplary) becomes esimerkillisin
• innovatiivinen (innovative) becomes innovatiivisin

Notice how the absolute superlative elevates these already positive traits into the absolute highest tier of praise: