Kasva

Kasva is a Finnish verb meaning to grow or to increase in size, amount, or development. It is used for living beings such as people and animals, for plants, and for more abstract growth, such as a population, an economy, or a skill. The word sits in the same semantic family as kasvu (growth) and kasvi (plant), reflecting the broader concept of emergence and development in Finnish.

In usage, kasva describes processes of growth that occur over time. It is commonly seen in phrases like kasvaa nopeasti (to grow quickly) or kasvaa suureksi (to grow large). It can be used to express natural maturation, such as lapsi kasvaa aikuiseksi (the child grows into an adult), as well as increases in quantities, e.g., väestö kasvaa (the population grows) or kasvu on ollut merkittävä (growth has been significant). Finnish verbs inflect for person, number, and tense, so kasva appears in different finite forms depending on the subject and time frame.

Kasva also gives rise to related forms such as kasvu, the noun for growth, and various participles and derived phrases that describe ongoing or completed growth. While primarily a Finnish term, kasva appears in scientific, agricultural, and everyday language to convey development, expansion, and maturation.

See also: kasvu, kasvi.