Breakdown of Uusi suunnittelija on mitä innovatiivisin ammattilainen.
olla
to be
uusi
new
ammattilainen
professional
suunnittelija
the designer
Questions & Answers about Uusi suunnittelija on mitä innovatiivisin ammattilainen.
Why is mitä used before the superlative innovatiivisin?
In this structure, mitä doesn't mean 'what'. Instead, combining mitä with a superlative adjective creates an 'absolute superlative'. It expresses an extremely high degree of a quality without comparing it directly to a specific group. It translates to 'exceedingly', 'most', or 'as [adjective] as can be'.
Why is ammattilainen in the nominative case?
When using the absolute superlative with mitä, the noun following the adjective simply stays in the same case as the subject (here, the nominative). If this were a regular comparison, you might see the elative case used for the group being compared to (e.g., innovatiivisin ammattilaisista meaning 'the most innovative of the professionals'), but here it functions like a normal adjective modifying a singular noun.
How is the superlative innovatiivisin formed from innovatiivinen?
For adjectives ending in -nen, you drop the -nen and add the superlative ending -sin. So, the basic form innovatiivinen becomes the stem innovatiivi- plus -sin, resulting in innovatiivisin.
Could I just say erittäin innovatiivinen instead of mitä innovatiivisin?