Breakdown of Tämä kyky on laajempi.
tämä
this
olla
to be
kyky
the ability
laaja
wide (extensive, broad in scope)
Questions & Answers about Tämä kyky on laajempi.
How does the base form laaja become laajempi here?
When you form the comparative of a two-syllable adjective ending in -a or -ä, that final vowel changes to -e- before adding the -mpi suffix. Because of this rule, laaja becomes laajempi rather than laajampi.
Would laajempi be used for physical width as well?
It can be, but laaja is more often used for abstract broadness, extensive concepts, or large areas (like a broad topic or an extensive forest). For the physical width of an object like a door or a road, Finnish usually prefers the word leveä (comparative: leveämpi).
The word kyky (ability) looks like it might have a tricky stem. Does the second k change in other sentences?
Yes, it undergoes consonant gradation. When adding an ending that closes the syllable, the k weakens to a v. For example, the inessive case (in the ability) is kyvyssä. In this sentence, it stays kyky because the basic nominative form does not close the syllable.
Why is laajempi in the nominative case here and not the partitive case?
In this sentence, the adjective describes kyky, which is a singular, countable noun. When describing a whole, singular, countable noun using the verb olla (to be), the predicative adjective must also be in the nominative case.
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