yllättävän

Yllättävän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective yllättävä, which means surprising or astonishing. The form arises from the participial stem yllättävä- and the genitive singular ending -n. In use, yllättävän functions as a degree modifier that precedes the word it describes.

In practice, yllättävän is most commonly found before adjectives or quantifiers, where it expresses that something is more surprising than expected. For example, yllättävän hyvä means “surprisingly good,” and yllättävän moni means “surprisingly many (people).” It can also modify nouns as in yllättävän suuri kustannus (“a surprisingly large cost”). The construction is typical in both written and spoken Finnish and adds a sense of degree to the claim.

A related form is yllättävä, the base adjective meaning “surprising.” The adverbial equivalent is yleisesti expressed with adverbs such as yllättävästi or simply with other adverbs like kovin or aika, depending on nuance. Yllättävän voi olla hieman more formal or neutral depending on the context.

Etymologically, yllättävän derives from the verb yllättää, “to surprise,” through the present-participle suffix -vä and the genitive singular ending -n. This morphology is characteristic of Finnish adjectives deriving from participles and used as degree modifiers.

Usage notes: yllättävän conveys a stronger sense of surprise than ordinary descriptors and often appears in evaluative or evaluative-descriptive statements. It is versatile across topics, from everyday remarks to journalism, and helps signal that the speaker finds the degree of surprise notable.