Pitempiä

Pitempiä is a form that appears in Finnish as a nonstandard variant of the comparative adjective meaning “longer.” In standard Finnish, the corresponding comparative is pidempi, and its plural partitive is pidempiä. Because pitempiä is not the normative form, it is mainly encountered in informal speech, regional dialects, or as a spelling error in formal writing.

In standard Finnish grammar, adjectives decline to agree with the noun they modify, and the correct partitive plural of the comparative pidempiä is pidempiä. The appearance of pitempiä is typically discussed in language guides as an example of nonstandard usage rather than a recognized grammatical form. Speakers who use pitempiä are usually understood, but editors, teachers, and language authorities would correct it to pidempiä in formal contexts.

Usage notes and examples:

- Nonstandard (colloquial): Hän kertoi pitempiä tarinoita kuin ennen. Standard equivalent: Hän kertoi pidempiä tarinoita kuin ennen.

- Nonstandard (colloquial): Ne ovat pitempiä kuin nämä. Standard equivalent: Ne ovat pidempiä kuin nämä.

Pitempiä is sometimes treated as a regional or casual variant rather than a separate word with its own defined grammar. For most purposes, especially in writing and instruction, it is advisable to use pidempiä for the plural partitive, and pidemmät for the nominative plural. See also pidempi, pidemmät, and Finnish comparative forms.