Breakdown of Traktorin moottori on tehokkaampi kuin moottoripyörän moottori.
olla
to be
moottoripyörä
motorcycle
kuin
than / before (in 'ennen kuin') / like / as
moottori
engine
Questions & Answers about Traktorin moottori on tehokkaampi kuin moottoripyörän moottori.
Do the words after kuin need to be in a special case?
No, when using kuin (than) for comparisons, the things being compared usually stay in the same case. Here, both engines are the subject of the sentence, so the second moottori is in the basic nominative case just like the first one.
How is the word tehokkaampi (more powerful) formed?
The basic adjective is tehokas (powerful or efficient). To make the comparative form, we take the word's stem, which is tehokkaa-, and add the comparative ending -mpi. Notice how the single k becomes a double kk in the stem!
Why do traktori and moottoripyörä end with an -n here?
The -n ending is the genitive case, which shows ownership. It works exactly like the apostrophe-s in English. Traktorin means "the tractor's" and moottoripyörän means "the motorcycle's".
Is moottoripyörä (motorcycle) a compound word?
Yes! It is made up of moottori (engine) and pyörä (wheel or bike). So a motorcycle is literally an "engine bike" in Finnish.