Breakdown of Rehevä kasvillisuus kiinnostaa niin vaeltajia kuin tutkijoitakin.
tutkija
researcher
kuin
than / before (in 'ennen kuin') / like / as
-kin
also / too (suffix)
kiinnostaa
to interest
rehevä
lush
kasvillisuus
vegetation
vaeltaja
hiker
niin
both (in 'niin ... kuin ... -kin')
Questions & Answers about Rehevä kasvillisuus kiinnostaa niin vaeltajia kuin tutkijoitakin.
How exactly does the niin ... kuin ... -kin structure translate to 'both ... and', and where does the -kin go?
This correlative pair acts as 'both... and' but literally means something closer to 'as... as... also'. You place niin before the first item (vaeltajia) and kuin before the second item (tutkijoita). The clitic -kin (also/even) must be attached to the very end of the second item, after its case ending. So it becomes tutkija + ita (partitive plural) + kin.
Since this sentence means 'hikers and researchers are interested', why is the verb kiinnostaa in the singular?
Because Finnish flips the structure compared to the most common way we express this in English. The verb kiinnostaa means 'to interest'. The singular subject doing the action is actually rehevä kasvillisuus (lush vegetation), which governs the singular verb. The hikers and researchers are the objects receiving the interest.
Why are the objects vaeltajia and tutkijoitakin in the partitive plural?
The verb kiinnostaa (to interest) is a partitive verb. It expresses an ongoing emotion or state of mind, so its object—the person experiencing the interest—must always be in the partitive case. Here, the objects take the plural partitive endings -ia and -ita.
The word kasvillisuus looks quite long. How is it built from its root?
It comes from the root noun kasvi (plant). The suffix -llinen turns it into the adjective kasvillinen (vegetative or plant-bearing). Finally, the suffix -uus turns the adjective into the abstract noun kasvillisuus (vegetation). Recognizing these stacked suffixes helps easily break down long Finnish words!
Learn Rehevä kasvillisuus kiinnostaa niin vaeltajia kuin tutkijoitakin 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