Questions & Answers about Lammas on usein vuohta puhtaampi.
Why is vuohta (goat) in the partitive case?
This is the partitive comparative structure you are learning right now! Instead of saying kuin vuohi (than a goat), we can drop the word kuin (than) and put the thing being compared to into the partitive case (vuohta).
Could I say Lammas on usein puhtaampi kuin vuohi instead?
Yes, absolutely. Both mean exactly the same thing. The version with kuin is slightly more common in everyday spoken Finnish, while the partitive structure (vuohta puhtaampi) is very common in written Finnish and sounds a bit more concise.
Why does vuohta come before the adjective puhtaampi?
When you use the partitive case to mean 'than', the word in the partitive almost always comes directly before the comparative adjective. If you used kuin instead, it would come after: puhtaampi kuin vuohi.
How do we form the comparative puhtaampi from the basic adjective puhdas (clean)?
Adjectives ending in -as or -äs undergo a stem change before taking endings. The -s changes to a long vowel (-aa-), and the consonants switch to the strong grade (the weak hd in puhdas becomes the strong ht). This gives us the strong stem puhtaa-. Then you simply add the comparative ending -mpi.
How is the partitive vuohta formed from the basic word vuohi?
Vuohi belongs to a small group of older Finnish words that use a consonant stem for the partitive. The ending -ta is attached directly after dropping the final vowel, making it vuohta. Other common examples you might remember are lapsi (child) becoming lasta and veitsi (knife) becoming veistä.
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