Vertailullisen

Vertailullisen is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective vertailullinen. The base term means “relating to comparison” and is used in grammar to describe the category of the comparative degree (vertailumuoto) of adjectives and adverbs. In practical terms, vertailullisen usage appears whenever a quality is being compared between two or more referents.

In Finnish, the degree of comparison consists of a positive form (perusaste), a comparative form (vertailullinen/vertailun aste), and a superlative form. The comparative is typically formed by adding the suffix -mpi to the adjective stem, with some irregulars. Examples include iso → isompi (big → bigger), pieni → pienempi (small → smaller), vanha → vanhempi (old → older). Irregulars include hyvä → parempi (good → better). Adverbs can also take comparative forms, often through periphrastic or suffixal changes such as nopea, nopeampi or nopeammin in some constructions.

The comparative form is used with the word kuin to express comparison, as in talo on isompi kuin auto (the house is bigger than the car). Superlatives use their own forms, but the focus here is on the comparative, which signals a higher degree of a quality relative to another referent.

Related terms include vertailumuoto (the category of comparative forms) and perusaste (positive form). Vertailullisen usage thus centers on describing relative differences in properties, quantities, or attributes between entities, within the framework of Finnish grammar.