Learn Hardcore Finnish: Tämä ruoka on vahvempi maultaan kuin edellinen, koska siihen lisättiin enemmän mausteita. - This food has a stronger flavor than the previous one, because more spices were added to it.

The base adjective vahva means "strong," and vahvempi is its comparative form meaning "stronger." In Finnish, comparatives are usually formed by adding the suffix -mpi to the adjective’s stem. This is similar to how English forms comparatives with "-er" (e.g., strong → stronger).

What does maultaan mean, and why is it used in this sentence?

Maultaan comes from the noun maku, which means "taste" or "flavor." The ending -taan turns it into an adverbial expression, effectively meaning "in terms of flavor" or "flavor-wise." This construction allows the speaker to compare the food specifically regarding its taste without using a separate comparative adjective for flavor.

How does the passive form lisättiin function here, and why is it used?

Lisättiin is the passive past form of the verb lisätä ("to add"). In Finnish, the passive voice is often used when the agent (the one doing the action) is either unknown, unimportant, or implied. In this sentence, it tells us that "more spices were added" without specifying who added them, thus focusing on the action itself.

What is the role of siihen in the clause koska siihen lisättiin enemmän mausteita?

Siihen is a pronoun meaning "to it." It refers back to tämä ruoka ("this food") and indicates the target to which the spices were added. Its case form is determined by the requirements of the passive construction with lisättiin, ensuring that the added spices are clearly connected to the food in question.

Why is mausteita in the partitive case, and how does enemmän interact with it?

In Finnish, when expressing quantities or referring to something in an indefinite sense, the object often takes the partitive case. Mausteita is the partitive plural form of mauste ("spice"). Paired with enemmän (meaning "more"), it emphasizes that an increased, but not specifically quantified, amount of spices was added. This usage highlights an open quantity rather than a complete, fixed amount.

How does the conjunction koska function in this sentence?

Koska means "because" and introduces the causal clause that explains why the food tastes stronger. It connects the main statement about the food being stronger in flavor to its reason—namely, that more spices were added. This construction is common in Finnish for linking a result with its cause.