adjektiivinmuoto

Adjektiivinmuoto refers to the grammatical form an adjective takes in Finnish. Unlike in some other languages, Finnish adjectives do not change their form based on the noun's gender or number. However, they do agree with the noun in case and definiteness. This means an adjective will adopt the same case ending as the noun it modifies. For example, if the noun is in the genitive case, the adjective will also be in the genitive case. Similarly, if the noun is definite, the adjective will take the definite form, which often involves adding an -n suffix to the adjective if it ends in a vowel, or a similar modification.

This concept of agreement is crucial for understanding Finnish sentence structure. The adjective's form provides contextual information about its relationship to the noun within the sentence. While the core meaning of the adjective remains constant, its ending signals its grammatical role and connection to the noun it describes. For instance, a singular, nominative adjective will look different from a plural, partitive adjective modifying the same noun. The adjective adapts to its syntactic environment, ensuring a cohesive grammatical structure.