huomattavan

Huomattavan is a Finnish inflected form of the adjective huomattava, meaning “noticeable, considerable, significant.” In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they describe in number and case, and huomattavan is the genitive singular form used when the modified noun is in the genitive or when it appears in certain descriptive phrases.

Morphology and form. The base form is huomattava. The form huomattavan is the genitive singular, which appears in phrases where the noun it modifies is in the genitive or in complex noun phrases that require a genitive modifier. Other common forms of the same adjective include huomattava (nominative singular) and huomattavaa (partitive singular), with corresponding plural forms for different cases.

Usage. The form kesk has broad usage in formal writing and descriptive prose. It typically precedes a noun as an attributive modifier and can be used in noun phrases such as “huomattavan suuri osa” (a considerably large part) or “huomattavan kokoinen rakennus” (a notably large building). It may also be used in predicative constructions where a phrase expresses degree or extent, such as “red flag” sentences, with the adjective modifying a subsequently stated noun in appropriate case.

Etymology. huomattava is derived from the verb huomata (“to notice”) with the suffix -ttava, which forms adjectives meaning “notable/noticeable.” The genitive singular ending -an yields huomattavan in contexts where the noun it describes is in genitive.

See also. Finnish grammar, adjectives, nominal phrases, genitive case.