pienemmän

Pienemän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish comparative adjective pienempi, meaning smaller. It is used in noun phrases where the noun being modified is in the genitive case, to express possession or a relation to the smaller item. Pienempi itself is used for comparing two items, but pienemmän appears when the adjective takes its genitive ending inside a larger noun phrase.

Morphology and usage

In Finnish, adjectives decline for case and number like other parts of speech. The base comparative form pienempi becomes pienemän in the genitive singular when it modifies a genitive noun. This form is not used standalone; it functions inside a larger noun phrase such as a possessive construction or a descriptive modifier.

Examples

- Pienemmän koiran omistaja means “the owner of the smaller dog.” Here pienemmän koiran is in genitive, describing omistaja.

- Pienemmän talon ikkunat means “the windows of the smaller house.” The phrase modifies talon in genitive.

Related terms

- Pieni: the positive form meaning small.

- Pienempi: the basic comparative form meaning smaller.

- Genitive case: the Finnish case used to show possession or close association in noun phrases.

Notes

Pienemmän is a grammatical form rather than a standalone lexical item. It appears only within noun phrases where the associated noun is in the genitive, making its primary role descriptive rather than substantive in itself.