Most of the peculiarities of the Finnish Adjective have been already
noticed. The various rules for its concord with a substantive have been
given on p. 128 f., and rules for the cases used after comparatives and
superlatives on pp. 136 & 143. With reference, however, to this latter
subject, it may be as well to recapitulate the rules.
_Comparative._ After an adjective in the comparative can be used:—
I. The word =kuin=, followed by the substantive in the proper case.
=Oletkos sinä suurempi kuin meidän isämme Abraham?= _art thou greater
than our father Abraham?_
II. Or else the word =kuin= is omitted and the substantive is put in
the partitive. The sentence quoted above from the Bible might have been
equally well written—=Oletkos sinä suurempi meidän isäämme Abrahamia?=
III. Such expressions as ‘it is better to,’ and the like, are rendered
by =parempi on= (_or_ =olisi=), with the first infinitive. =Parempi on
nöyränä olla=, _it is better to be humble_.
_The superlative_ can be used either absolutely, or with some word
depending on it in such phrases as ‘_the greatest of kings_’. Such a
word is put either in the partitive or in the elative, with very little
difference in the meaning. The elative, however, implies reference to a
more definite class than the partitive. =Suurin kuninkaita= is _greatest
of kings_; but =suurin kuninkaista=, _the greatest of the kings_.
Not only are adjectives and substantives declined in exactly the same
manner, but the distinction between them is very slight. The same form
is sometimes used both as a noun and an adjective e.g. =lysti=, =ikävä=,
or adjectives are used in cases which seem to imply that they have a
substantival meaning; =Olla lujassa=, _to be firm_; =olla kylmillä=, _to
be cold_. Some substantives can be compared, as if they were adjectives.
=Rannempi=, _nearer shore_, =mielellämmin=, _more agreeably_; so too
=syrjempi= (=syrjä=), =talvempana=, =keväämpänä=, popular expressions for
_later in winter_ or _spring_. =Minä jätän illemmäksi=, _I leave it till
later in the evening_.