Describing Inherent Traits
When describing an inherent physical or behavioral trait—like a dog's size, coat length, or breed—Finnish elegantly packs the description into a single compound adjective.
You create these by combining a modifier word (like iso for "large"), a noun stem (like koko for "size"), and the adjective suffix -inen. This is the Finnish equivalent of English "-ed" or "-sized" compounds, such as "short-haired" or "large-sized".
Because these are adjectives, they must agree in case and number with the noun they modify. As you may remember, adjectives ending in -inen change their stem to -ise- before adding most case endings, and become -iset in the plural nominative.
For example, combining puhdas (pure) or seka (mixed) with rotu (breed) creates puhdasrotuinen (purebred) and sekarotuinen (mixed-breed).
| Is that purebred dog's fur brown? | Onko tuon puhdasrotuisen koiran turkki ruskea? |
| Do you prefer a mixed-breed or a purebred cat? | Tykkäätkö enemmän sekarotuisesta vai puhdasrotuisesta kissasta? |
Physical Descriptions: Size and Coat
You can apply this exact same formula to describe a pet's size. Combine iso (large) or pieni (small) with koko (size) to get isokokoinen and pienikokoinen.
| Large-sized dogs need more space than small-sized ones. | Isokokoiset koirat tarvitsevat enemmän tilaa kuin pienikokoiset. |
Similarly, combining lyhyt (short) or pitkä (long) with karva (hair or fur) yields lyhytkarvainen and pitkäkarvainen.
| We have one short-haired and one long-haired cat. | Meillä on yksi lyhytkarvainen ja yksi pitkäkarvainen kissa. |
| A long-haired dog's coat requires a lot of care. | Pitkäkarvaisen koiran turkki vaatii paljon hoitoa. |
Personality and Behavior
This pattern works just as well for personality traits. Sometimes the modifier takes the genitive form, as seen in hyväntuulinen (cheerful, literally "good-mooded"), which combines hyvän (good) + tuuli (mood) + -inen.
Another common behavioral trait for a pet is hyvätapainen (well-mannered), formed from hyvä (good) + tapa (manner) + -inen.
| The well-mannered dog gave me a paw. | Hyvätapainen koira antoi minulle tassua. |
| This cheerful puppy often sleeps in my lap. | Tämä hyväntuulinen pentu nukkuu usein minun sylissäni. |
