Question 1

Why is nopeaa in the partitive case here instead of the nominative nopea?

Accepted Answer

Even though the subject kaupungistuminen (urbanization) is in the nominative case, it represents an abstract, uncountable process. In Finnish, when the subject is an abstract concept or a mass noun, the describing adjective (predicative) takes the partitive case, hence nopeaa.

Question 2

How is the long word kaupungistuminen constructed from the basic word for city (kaupunki)?

Accepted Answer

It is built through a series of regular suffixes! It starts with the noun kaupunki (city). Adding the verb-forming suffix -stua (meaning "to turn into" or "to become") creates the verb kaupungistua (to urbanize). Finally, adding the -minen suffix turns that verb into the noun kaupungistuminen (the process of urbanization).

Question 3

Could I use vielä instead of yhä for "still" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you could perfectly well say Onko kaupungistuminen vielä niin nopeaa? Both mean "still". However, yhä strongly emphasizes that an ongoing state is continuing unchanged over time, which fits a continuous process like urbanization nicely. Vielä is more common in everyday spoken Finnish, while yhä is a bit more formal or emphatic.

Question 4

How would I change this sentence to mean "Will urbanization still be so fast?" using the tulla future construction from this lesson?

Accepted Answer

To make it future tense using this analytical construction, you use tulla as the main conjugated verb and put the verb "to be" (olla) into the 3rd infinitive illative form (olemaan). With the question particle attached to the new main verb, the sentence becomes: Tuleeko kaupungistuminen yhä olemaan niin nopeaa?

Onko kaupungistuminen yhä niin nopeaa?

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