muuta

Muuta is a Finnish word with several related uses centered on the idea of “other,” “else,” or “different.” It is most often encountered as the partitive form of the adjective muu (the base meaning is “other” or “another”). In everyday Finnish, muuta appears in expressions that refer to something different from what has already been mentioned or to denote a desire for something additional.

As a determiner and pronoun, muuta is used in phrases such as Haluaisin muuta, meaning “I would like something else,” or Ota muuta, meaning “Take something else.” The word also participates in inflection patterns for number and case. Common forms include muuta (singular partitive), muut (plural nominative), and muita (plural partitive). The expression muuta kuin is widely used to mean “other than” or “different from.” For example, Se on muuta kuin totuus translates roughly as “That’s something other than the truth.”

Etymologically, muuta is linked to the Proto-Finnic root *muu-, which underpins the core meaning of “other.” Because it behaves like other Finnish adjectives and pronouns, muuta follows standard Finnish declension rules and combines with nouns and pronouns to form various case and number forms.

Related Finnish terms include muu (base form “other”), muutos (change), and muuttua (to change), as well as the noun muodostus and related derivatives. Muuta thus functions both as a flexible modifier and as a pronoun-like element in constructions that compare, contrast, or extend a statement beyond what has already been mentioned.