Kasvu on nopea.

Growth is fast.

Breakdown of Kasvu on nopea.

• olla: to be
• nopea: fast
• kasvu: the growth

Questions & Answers about Kasvu on nopea.

What does kasvu mean and how is it different from kasvi?

Kasvu is a noun meaning “growth,” derived from the verb kasvaa (“to grow”).
Kasvi, on the other hand, means “plant.” They look similar but are completely different words.

What case and number is kasvu in Kasvu on nopea?

It’s nominative singular. In Finnish, the subject of a sentence (and the predicate noun/adjective in an affirmative sentence with olla “to be”) stays in the nominative.

Why are there no articles (“a”, “the”) in this sentence?

Finnish has no grammatical articles. Context tells you whether you mean “a growth,” “the growth,” or just the general idea of growth.

Why is nopea used here instead of nopeasti?

Nopea is an adjective describing the subject through the verb olla.
Nopeasti is an adverb and would modify a verb directly—e.g. kasvu kiihtyy nopeasti (“growth accelerates quickly”).

How would you ask “Is the growth fast?” in Finnish?

Flip the verb and subject to make a yes/no question:
Onko kasvu nopea?

How do you make the sentence negative (“Growth is not fast”)?

Use the negative verb ei and put the predicate adjective in the partitive case:
Kasvu ei ole nopeaa.
(In negative clauses, the object or predicate takes partitive.)

How do you form the comparative “faster” from nopea?

Replace the adjective stem ending –ea with –empi:
nopea → nopeampi
You can say: Kasvu on nopeampi (“growth is faster”) or nopeampi kasvu (“faster growth”).

How do you form the superlative “fastest” from nopea?

Take the comparative nopeampi and add –in:
nopeampi → nopein
Then you get Kasvu on nopein (“growth is the fastest”) or nopein kasvu (“the fastest growth”).