Breakdown of Tämä tietokone ei ole minun, mutta etsin nopeampaa mallia.
tämä
this
olla
to be
minä
I
mutta
but
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
tietokone
computer
etsiä
to look for
nopea
fast (adjective)
malli
the style / the model
Questions & Answers about Tämä tietokone ei ole minun, mutta etsin nopeampaa mallia.
How is the word nopeampaa formed?
The base adjective is nopea (fast), and its comparative is nopeampi (faster). When we put it in the partitive case, the -mpi ending changes to the strong stem -mpa-, and we add the partitive ending -a. This makes nopeampaa.
Why do we use the strong stem -mpa- here instead of the weak stem -mma-?
The partitive ending -a (or -ä) is just a vowel and does not close the syllable. Because the syllable stays open, we use the strong grade stem -mpa-. You would use the weak stem -mma- with endings that close the syllable, like the genitive -n (forming nopeamman).
Why is the object nopeampaa mallia in the partitive case?
The verb etsiä (to look for, to search) requires its object to be in the partitive case. In Finnish, searching for something is seen as an ongoing, incomplete process, so both the adjective and the noun must take the partitive endings.
Why does the sentence use just minun instead of attaching a possessive suffix to a word?
In the phrase ei ole minun, the genitive pronoun minun stands alone to act as a predicate meaning 'mine'. When you are simply stating who something belongs to (like 'is mine' or 'is not yours'), you only use the genitive pronoun. Possessive suffixes are used when the pronoun modifies a noun directly, like in minun tietokoneeni (my computer).
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