Breakdown of Sika ei ole aasia itsepäisempi.
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
sika
the pig
aasi
donkey
itsepäinen
stubborn
Questions & Answers about Sika ei ole aasia itsepäisempi.
Why is "donkey" in the partitive case (aasia) instead of using a word for "than"?
This sentence uses the partitive comparative structure you are currently learning. Instead of using kuin (than) and the basic nominative case (kuin aasi), you can simply put the thing being compared against into the partitive case (aasia). Both ways mean exactly the same thing.
Why does the partitive word aasia come before the adjective itsepäisempi?
When using this partitive comparative structure without kuin, the standard of comparison (aasia) almost always comes immediately before the comparative adjective (itsepäisempi). If you used kuin, the order would be reversed: itsepäisempi kuin aasi.
How is the comparative word itsepäisempi formed from the basic adjective itsepäinen (stubborn)?
For adjectives ending in -nen, you first find the word stem by dropping the -nen and replacing it with -se-. This gives you the stem itsepäise-. Then you just attach the standard comparative ending -mpi, giving you itsepäisempi.
If the sentence was positive ('The pig is more stubborn than the donkey'), would the partitive structure still be exactly the same?
Yes! The comparative structure works exactly the same way in positive sentences. You would just drop the negative verb and use the verb to be: Sika on aasia itsepäisempi.
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