Questions & Answers about Onko aasi sikaa hitaampi?
Where is the word for 'than' in this sentence?
In Finnish, you can express 'than' by putting the word you are comparing against into the partitive case. Here, sika (pig) becomes sikaa. You don't need a separate word for 'than' when you use this structure.
Why is sikaa placed before hitaampi instead of after it?
When using the partitive case to express 'than', the partitive word usually comes right before the comparative adjective. If you translated the word order literally, it would be 'Is the donkey pig-slower?'.
Could I use the word kuin instead to mean 'than'?
Yes! You can say Onko aasi hitaampi kuin sika?. In that case, sika stays in the nominative case (the basic dictionary form) because the word kuin handles the comparison. Both structures are very common and mean exactly the same thing.
How do we get the form hitaampi from the basic adjective hidas (slow)?
To form the comparative, you add -mpi to the vowel stem of the adjective. For words ending in -as or -äs like hidas, the stem is formed by changing the final -s to -a-, giving us the stem hitaa-. Then you just add -mpi to get hitaampi.
Learn Onko aasi sikaa hitaampi and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free