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Finnish

### Superlative Ranking: "Toiseksi suurin"

When you want to talk about the "second largest," "third best," or "fourth wealthiest" of something, Finnish uses a consistent structure. Combine an ordinal number in the **translative case** (*-ksi*) with a **superlative adjective**.

Common translative ordinals used for ranking:

| Base Form | Translative Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| toinen | toiseksi | second |
| kolmas | kolmanneksi | third |
| neljäs | neljänneksi | fourth |
| viides | viidenneksi | fifth |

To define the scope of the record—like "the world's" or "Europe's"—start the phrase with a genitive noun (e.g., *maailman*, *Euroopan*).

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### Expanding the Ranks: Third, Fourth, and Fifth

The same pattern applies further down the list. Just swap *toiseksi* for *kolmanneksi*, *neljänneksi*, or *viidenneksi*.

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### Unchanging Translative Ordinals

While Finnish adjectives generally agree with their noun, the translative ordinal (*toiseksi*, *kolmanneksi*) in this structure acts as an adverb modifying the superlative. It is "frozen" and **does not change** case.

Notice how the superlative and noun take the partitive case below (because they are the object of the verb), but the ranking word (*toiseksi*) remains exactly the same.

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Superlative ranking (toiseksi suurin)

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
Europe	Eurooppa
population (number)	väkiluku
What is Europe's second largest city by population?	Mikä on Euroopan toiseksi suurin kaupunki väkiluvun mukaan?
This country's population is the world's third largest.	Tämän maan väkiluku on maailman kolmanneksi suurin.
surface area	pinta-ala
Its surface area is Europe's second smallest.	Sen pinta-ala on Euroopan toiseksi pienin.
desert	aavikko
This desert's surface area is the world's second largest.	Tämän aavikon pinta-ala on maailman toiseksi suurin.
China	Kiina
wealthy	varakas
industry	teollisuus
China was not even the world's second wealthiest country before its industry grew.	Kiina ei edes ollut maailman toiseksi varakkain maa ennen kuin sen teollisuus kasvoi.
China is the world's second largest economy.	Kiina on maailman toiseksi suurin talous.
The country's industry is Europe's third largest.	Maan teollisuus on Euroopan kolmanneksi suurin.
Is that woman the city's fourth wealthiest person?	Onko tuo nainen kaupungin neljänneksi varakkain ihminen?
mammal	nisäkäs
Today we are studying the world's second largest mammal.	Tänään tutkimme maailman toiseksi suurinta nisäkästä.
This is the world's fifth rarest mammal.	Tämä on maailman viidenneksi harvinaisin nisäkäs.
Is any other animal the world's second fastest mammal?	Onko mikään muu eläin maailman toiseksi nopein nisäkäs?
waterfall	vesiputous
That is the world's second highest waterfall, and it is almost a thousand meters high.	Tuo on maailman toiseksi korkein vesiputous, ja se on melkein tuhat metriä korkea.
This is not the world's third largest waterfall.	Tämä ei ole maailman kolmanneksi suurin vesiputous.
What is Asia's third largest desert?	Mikä on Aasian kolmanneksi suurin aavikko?
He is studying Asia's second largest desert instead of studying mountains.	Hän tutkii Aasian toiseksi suurinta aavikkoa sen sijaan, että hän tutkisi vuoria.
producer	tuottaja
That country is the world's second largest producer of coffee.	Tuo maa on maailman toiseksi suurin kahvin tuottaja.
Who is the world's second best chef?	Kuka on maailman toiseksi paras kokki?
China is the world's second largest producer.	Kiina on maailman toiseksi suurin tuottaja.