The most common type of adverb expresses manner, and is formed by adding
the ending -sti to the inflectional stem of an adjective, e.g. hauska ‘nice’ :
hauska/sti ‘nicely’. This ending causes consonant gradation, e.g. helppo
‘easy’ : helpo/sti ‘easily’ (§15.6).
Basic form Adverb in -sti
paksu paksu/sti thickly
kiltti kilti/sti good-naturedly
nopea nopea/sti fast
suuri suure/sti greatly
tavallinen tavallise/sti usually
kaunis kaunii/sti beautifully
puhdas puhtaa/sti purely
voimakas voimakkaa/sti powerfully
Jussi laulaa kaunii/sti. Jussi sings beautifully.
Panen runsaa/sti voita leivän I put plenty of (‘abundantly’)
päälle. butter on the bread.
Puhukaa aivan vapaa/sti! Speak quite freely!
Nyt täytyy puhua lyhye/sti. Now one must speak briefly.
Tavallise/sti menen sänkyyn klo 23. Usually I go to bed at 11 o’clock.
Teen työtä tehokkaa/sti. I work efficiently.
En pidä tästä erityise/sti. I don’t particularly like this.
The corresponding comparative and superlative expressions are derived by
changing the endings -mpi and -in to -mmin (comparative) and -immin
(superlative).
Other word classes 219
Adjective Comparative Superlative Comparative Superlative
basic adjective adjective adverb adverb
form basic form basic form in -mmin in -immin
helppo easy helpo/mpi helpo/in helpo/mmin helpo/immin
selvä clear selve/mpi selv/in selve/mmin selv/immin
kova hard kove/mpi kov/in kove/mmin kov/immin
matala low matala/mpi matal/in matala/mmin matal/immin
tarkka exact tarke/mpi tark/in tarke/mmin tark/immin
suuri great suure/mpi suur/in suure/mmin suur/immin
tavallinen usual tavallise/mpi tavallis/in tavallise/mmin tavallis/immin
kaunis beautiful kaunii/mpi kaune/in kaunii/mmin kaune/immin
puhdas clean puhtaa/mpi puhta/in puhtaa/mmin puhta/immin
runsas abundant runsaa/mpi runsa/in runsaa/mmin runsa/immin
terve healthy tervee/mpi terve/in ter vee/mmin terve/immin
Yrjö juoksee nopea/mmin kuin Lauri.
Yrjö runs faster than Lauri.
Aja hitaa/mmin!
Drive more slowly!
Tuo mies ajaa kaikkein hita/immin.
That man drives the slowest of all.
Yritä opiskella ahkera/mmin.
Try to study more diligently.
Bill ääntää selv/immin.
Bill pronounces the most clearly.
Tavallis/immin herään klo 7.
Most commonly I wake at 7 o’clock.
Elä tervee/mmin!
Live more healthily!
Siellä oli runsaa/mmin ihmisiä kuin oli odotettu.
There were more people there than had been expected.
Kyllä Johanna laulaa kaune/immin, ainakin kaunii/mmin kuin Aune.
Johanna certainly sings the most beautifully, at least more beautifully
than Aune.
The comparative and superlative of paljon ‘much, many’ are exceptional:
enemmän ‘more’ and eniten ‘most’.
Another common group of adverbs are those expressing place or
direction, such as alas ‘down’, pois ‘away’. These adverbs often inflect in the
three external locative cases (§40) in accordance with the direction of the
action of the verb.
220 Finnish: An Essential Grammar
alas down
alhaa/lla, -lta, -lle down, below
ede/ssä, -stä, eteen in front, before
kaikkia/lla, -lta, -lle everywher
kaukana, kaukaa, kauas far
kotona, kotoa, kotiin at home
oikea/lla, -lta, -lle on the right
poissa, pois away
sie/llä, -ltä, sinne there (unspecified place)
tuo/lla, -lta, -nne there (place pointed to)
tää/llä, -ltä, tänne here
ulkona, ulkoa, ulos outside
vasemma/lla, -lta, -lle on the left
ylös up
Many common adverbs indicate time.
aikaisin early joskus sometimes
aina always kauan for a long time
eilen yesterday kerran once
ennen before kohta soon
harvoin rarely myöhään late
heti immediately nyt now
huomenna tomorrow silloin then, at that time
tänään today sitten then, after that
usein often
Another major group are those of degree, measure or quantity.
aika quite, rather kovin very
aivan quite, completely kyllin enough
erittäin extremely liian too
hieman slightly melko quite, considerably
hiukan a little niin so
varsin exceedingly, quite
In addition to those mentioned above there are also other adverbs of
manner.
hiljaa quiet(ly) näin in this way
hyvin well oikein right
ilmaiseksi free of charge samoin in the same way
itsestään of itself siten in that way
mielellään with pleasure yksin alone
Also important are the modal adverbs, which indicate in a variety of
subjective ways the speaker’s attitude to what he or she is saying.
Other word classes 221
ainakin at least muun muassa among other things
ehkä perhaps myös also
jopa even päinvastoin on the contrary
juuri just tietenkin of course
kai probably tietysti of course
kenties perhaps tosin to be sure
kyllä certainly, indeed; yes tosiaan really
mieluummin rather vain only
