Breakdown of Isokokoiset koirat tarvitsevat enemmän tilaa kuin pienikokoiset.
koira
dog
tarvita
to need
tila
space
kuin
than / before (in 'ennen kuin') / like / as
enemmän
more (comparative of paljon)
isokokoinen
large-sized
pienikokoinen
small-sized
Questions & Answers about Isokokoiset koirat tarvitsevat enemmän tilaa kuin pienikokoiset.
How do the compound adjectives isokokoiset and pienikokoiset work?
They are formed by combining an adjective modifier (iso or pieni) with the noun koko (size) and the property suffix -inen. Because they describe the plural noun koirat, the basic singular forms isokokoinen and pienikokoinen take the plural nominative marker -t.
Why can't we just use the compound nouns isokoko and pienikoko to describe the dogs?
The suffix -inen turns a noun into an adjective describing a characteristic, much like adding '-sized' instead of 'size' in English. While isokoko means the noun 'large size', isokokoinen is the adjective meaning 'large-sized' or 'having a large size'.
Why is the word for space in the partitive case (tilaa)?
There are two reasons that overlap here. First, the comparative word enemmän (more) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the partitive case. Second, the verb tarvita (to need) takes a partitive object when the object is an uncountable or indefinite mass, like space.
The English translation ends with 'ones', but there is no word for that in Finnish. Why?
Finnish does not use a placeholder pronoun like 'ones' in comparisons. The adjective pienikokoiset stands perfectly on its own, and its plural marker -t makes it completely clear that it refers back to the previously mentioned plural noun koirat.
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