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Finnish

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:

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

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### 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*:

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### 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:

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Absolute superlatives (mitä ammattitaitoisin)

adjective

adposition

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (tämä, tuo, se)

Singular personal pronouns (minä, sinä, hän)

Plural personal pronouns (me, te, he)

Plural demonstratives (nämä, nuo, ne)

Coordinating conjunctions (ja, mutta, tai)

Yes/no questions (-ko / -kö)

Basic question words (kuka, mikä, missä)

Negation of to be (en ole, ei ole)

The inessive case (-ssa / -ssä)

Double consonant gradation (kk, pp, tt)

Consonant gradation (-ssa/-ssä)

Verb Type 1 (puhun, puhut, puhuu)

Verb Type 1 with consonant gradation

Negative verbs (en puhu, et lue)

External location (-lla/-llä)

There is / there are (kaupungissa on)

Possession (minulla on)

Numbers 1 to 10 (yksi, kaksi, kolme)

The partitive singular (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Quantities with numbers (kaksi autoa)

Negative possession (ei ole)

Numbers 11 to 100 and 1000

Partitive verbs

Partitive personal pronouns (minua, sinua)

Verb Type 2 (-da/-dä)

Partitive for mass nouns (-a/-ä, -ta/-tä)

Partitive for negative objects

Adjective agreement

Verb Type 3

The elative case (-sta/-stä)

Negative possession (minulla ei ole…)

The illative case (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Numbers 21 to 99

Static vs. movement verbs

Verb Type 4 (-Vta / -Vtä)

Verb Type 5 (-ita / -itä)

Genitive singular for possession (-n)

Total object (-n)

Accusative personal pronouns (-t)

Obligation (täytyy)

Into places (-Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Postpositions with the genitive

My and your (-ni, -si)

Onto and to someone (-lle)

From someone or somewhere (-lta, -ltä)

Telling time (kello on...)

Months of the year (-ssa, -ssä)

Days of the week (-na, -nä)

When and why (milloin, miksi)

The illative case (mihin, -Vn, -hVn, -seen)

Past tense of to be (olin, olit, oli)

The seasons (kevät, kesä, syksy, talvi)

The imperative mood (lue!, syö!, mene!)

The past tense of to be (olin, oli)

The illative case (-hVn, -seen)

Greetings and goodbyes (hei, näkemiin)

Thank you and sorry (kiitos, anteeksi)

Liking things (pitää / tykätä + -sta/-stä)

Temporary states and roles (-na/-nä)

Change of state (-ksi)

Ongoing actions (-massa/-mässä)

Going to do an action (-maan/-mään)

Returning from an action (-masta/-mästä)

Third-person possessives (-nsa/-nsä or -Vn)

Plural possessives (-mme, -nne)

Indefinite pronouns (joku, jokin, kaikki)

Negative indefinite pronouns (ei kukaan, ei mikään)

Commands for verb types 4 and 5

Adverb formation (-sti)

Past tense for verb type 1 (-i-)

Past tense vowel changes for verb type 1 (-o- / -i-)

Past tense for verb type 2 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 3 (-i-)

Past tense for verb type 4 (-si-)

Past tense for verb type 5 (-itsi-)

Past tense consonant gradation

Past participles for verb types 1 and 2 (-nut / -nyt)

Past participle singular for verb types 3-5 (-nnut, -llut)

Active past participle plural (-neet)

Past tense negative (en mennyt, emme olleet)

The perfect tense (olen ollut)

The perfect tense negative (en ole nähnyt)

Total plural objects (-t)

Partitive plural (-ia / -iä)

Partitive plural (-ja / -jä)

Question	Answer
the letter of recommendation	suosituskirje
exceedingly / the most (intensifier)	mitä
professional (skilled, adjective)	ammattitaitoinen
I am writing this letter of recommendation because the intern is an exceedingly professional employee.	Kirjoitan tätä suosituskirjettä, koska harjoittelija on mitä ammattitaitoisin työntekijä.
irreplaceable	korvaamaton
the work community	työyhteisö
He was an absolutely irreplaceable colleague in our work community.	Hän oli mitä korvaamattomin kollega työyhteisössämme.
warmly	lämpimästi
competent	osaava
I can warmly recommend him, for he is an exceedingly competent expert.	Voin lämpimästi suositella häntä, sillä hän on mitä osaavin asiantuntija.
cooperative	yhteistyökykyinen
He is an exceedingly cooperative partner.	Hän on mitä yhteistyökykyisin kumppani.
innovative	innovatiivinen
I am looking for someone who is an exceedingly innovative professional.	Etsin jotakuta, joka on mitä innovatiivisin ammattilainen.
Please read this letter of recommendation, because I warmly recommend her.	Lukekaa tämä suosituskirje, koska suosittelen häntä lämpimästi.
proactive	oma-aloitteinen
We hired an exceedingly proactive employee.	Palkkasimme mitä oma-aloitteisimman työntekijän.
exemplary	esimerkillinen
You are an exceedingly exemplary leader and an irreplaceable part of the group.	Olet mitä esimerkillisin johtaja ja korvaamaton osa ryhmää.
The new designer is an exceedingly innovative professional.	Uusi suunnittelija on mitä innovatiivisin ammattilainen.
She is an exceedingly professional person and ready to help the group.	Hän on mitä ammattitaitoisin ihminen ja valmis auttamaan ryhmää.
the work approach	työote
He has an exceedingly proactive work approach.	Hänellä on mitä oma-aloitteisin työote.
The new student is an exceedingly exemplary pupil.	Uusi opiskelija on mitä esimerkillisin oppilas.
I respect his work approach, for he is an exceedingly competent expert.	Kunnioitan hänen työotettaan, sillä hän on mitä osaavin asiantuntija.
Teamwork requires a cooperative attitude.	Tiimityö vaatii yhteistyökykyistä asennetta.
You are the most professional work community.	Te olette mitä ammattitaitoisin työyhteisö.