perusadjektiivia
Perusadjektiivia is a term used in Finnish linguistics to denote the base or lemma form of an adjective. It is the form that appears in dictionaries and grammar references as the core meaning of the adjective, from which all other inflected forms are derived. In everyday language, speakers may encounter the same word in different inflected shapes, but the perusadjektiivia remains the reference form.
In Finnish, adjectives do not have gender and must agree with the noun in number and case.
Adjectives form degrees of comparison from the perusadjektiivia. The comparative is typically built with suffixes like
Examples illustrate the relationship between perusadjektiivia and inflected forms. The base adjective iso yields ison koira
See also: Finnish grammar, adjectives, noun–adjective agreement.