Breakdown of Uusi opiskelija on mitä esimerkillisin oppilas.
olla
to be
uusi
new
opiskelija
student
oppilas
pupil (at school)
mitä
exceedingly / the most (intensifier)
esimerkillinen
exemplary
Questions & Answers about Uusi opiskelija on mitä esimerkillisin oppilas.
Why does mitä mean "exceedingly" here instead of "what"?
This sentence uses the absolute superlative construction, which is the focus of this lesson. When the word mitä is placed directly in front of a superlative adjective like esimerkillisin, it stops acting as a question word. Instead, it acts as a strong intensifier meaning "extremely", "exceedingly", or "as [adjective] as can be".
Why does the sentence use both opiskelija and oppilas to refer to a student?
While both translate to "student" or "pupil", they have slightly different implications. Opiskelija usually refers to a student in higher education or an adult learner, whereas oppilas is typically used for a younger pupil in primary or middle school. Using both here is a stylistic choice to avoid repeating the exact same word, emphasizing that this older student behaves like a perfect model learner.
How exactly is the superlative esimerkillisin formed from its base word?
The base adjective is esimerkillinen (exemplary). For adjectives ending in -nen, the grammatical stem changes to -se-, giving us esimerkillise-. To form the superlative, you add the marker -in, which replaces the final vowel of the stem. Dropping the final e and adding in yields esimerkillisin.
Why is oppilas in the nominative case rather than the partitive?
In the absolute superlative structure, the case of the noun is determined by its normal role in the sentence. Here, the phrase acts as a basic subject complement describing a singular, countable person (the student). Therefore, the nominative case oppilas is used. If the sentence were describing a mass noun or uncountable concept, you would use the partitive case instead.
Learn Uusi opiskelija on mitä esimerkillisin oppilas 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