Log inSign up

Tukka harmaantuu yhä aikaisemmin.

Tukka harmaantuu yhä aikaisemmin.
Hair turns grey increasingly early.
From Lesson 341:Continuous change (yhä)·Finnish

Questions & Answers about Tukka harmaantuu yhä aikaisemmin.

Why does yhä mean "increasingly" here instead of its usual meaning "still"?
When you combine yhä with a comparative adjective or adverb like aikaisemmin, it creates the meaning of continuous change ("increasingly" or "more and more"). If it were used with a non-comparative base word, it would just carry its regular meaning of "still".
How is the verb harmaantuu formed, and can I use this pattern with other words?
It is formed by adding the suffix -ntua to the adjective harmaa (grey). This suffix creates a verb meaning "to become [adjective]" and is very common in Finnish. For example, pieni (small) becomes pienentyä (to become smaller) and lämmin (warm) becomes lämmetä (though the stem changes there, the idea is similar; a cleaner match is suurentua for getting bigger).
Is aikaisemmin the comparative form of an adjective or an adverb?
It is a comparative adverb. It comes from the base adverb aikaisin (early) and its comparative is aikaisemmin (earlier). Because it describes how or when the verb harmaantuu (turns grey) happens, we need the adverb form rather than the adjective comparative aikaisempi.
If I wanted to use hiukset instead of tukka, how would the sentence change?
The word tukka is a singular mass noun, so it takes the singular verb harmaantuu. The word hiukset (hair as individual strands) is plural, so the verb would also need to be plural: Hiukset harmaantuvat yhä aikaisemmin. Both mean the same thing in everyday Finnish.

Learn Tukka harmaantuu yhä aikaisemmin 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
Start learning Finnish →