Breakdown of Sinun kokoinen mies tarvitsee vähintään kymmenen grammaa rasvaa.
sinä
you
mies
man
kymmenen
ten
tarvita
to need
vähintään
at least (minimum quantity)
kokoinen
-sized / size of
gramma
gram
rasva
fat
Questions & Answers about Sinun kokoinen mies tarvitsee vähintään kymmenen grammaa rasvaa.
What is the difference between vähintään and ainakin? Could I use ainakin in this sentence?
Both translate to "at least", but vähintään is used for strict numerical minimums and measurements, like the ten grams mentioned here. Ainakin is more subjective and expresses a minimum expectation, relief, or a conversational pivot (e.g., "At least it's not raining"). Because this sentence states an exact limit, vähintään is the natural and correct choice.
How is the word vähintään formed?
It is built from vähin, which is the superlative form of vähän (a little/few). The suffix -tään (or -taan) is used to create adverbs that set a limit or boundary. You can see the exact same grammatical pattern in korkeintaan (at most), which comes from korkein (the highest).
How does the grammar in the phrase sinun kokoinen mies work?
It pairs a genitive word (sinun, meaning your) with an adjective ending in -inen, which is here derived from koko (size). This is a very common Finnish pattern for describing proportions, shapes, or appearances. You will see it in many other everyday phrases, such as saman pituinen (of the same length) or hänen näköinen (looking like him/her).
Why are both grammaa and rasvaa in the partitive case?
Grammaa is partitive because it directly follows a number greater than one (kymmenen). Rasvaa (fat) is partitive because it follows a unit of measurement (grammaa). This chain reaction is standard in Finnish: whenever you specify a quantity of an uncountable mass noun, the substance itself takes the partitive case.
Learn Sinun kokoinen mies tarvitsee vähintään kymmenen grammaa rasvaa 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