Questions & Answers about Mikä peto on pahin?
What is the basic form of pahin and how is it formed?
The basic form is paha (bad). This is a highly irregular adjective! The comparative is pahempi (worse) and the superlative is pahin (the worst).
Why is the adjective pahin in the nominative case instead of the partitive pahinta?
Because peto (predator) is a countable noun. When describing a countable noun with the verb olla (to be), the adjective stays in the nominative. You would use the partitive pahinta for uncountable or abstract things, like in the phrase 'Tämä on pahinta!' (This is the worst!).
Why do we use mikä (what/which) instead of kuka (who) for a predator?
In Finnish grammar, kuka is strictly reserved for human beings. All animals are referred to with mikä (what/which) or se (it), even if they are active subjects in the sentence.
How would the word pahin change if we put it in another case?
Superlatives ending in -in have a stem that changes to -impa- or -imma- when you add most case endings. For example, 'from the worst' would be pahimmasta and 'to the worst' would be pahimpaan.