Compound Adjectives: hyvännäköinen mutta pahanhajuinen
This article’s focus is on compound adjectives. A compound word is a word that consists of two parts, glued together (eg. jää+kaappi; jää+kylmä). In this article — as the title says — we will look at compound adjectives like hyvännäköinen and pahanhajuinen.
What is a Compound Adjective?
The compound adjectives on this page have the following things in common:
- Their first part is generally inflected in the genetive case (eg. hyvän+näköinen; saman+hintainen)
- Their second part is an adjective that ends in -inen (eg. isonkokoinen; vakavanilmeinen)
While this page focuses on adjectives that have their first part in the genetive case, many adjectives can have a basic form instead of the genetive. Examples of this are sinisilmäinen, harmaapäinen, mustasukkainen, vaikeakulkuinen, helppotajuinen, ainutlaatuinen, and vasenkätinen.
Written as One or More Words?
Below, you can find the rules for when such a compound adjective is written as one word and when it is written as two words. This is an issue Finns struggle with and learn the rules for in school. I think that — if a Finn makes a mistake in something — it’s acceptable for YOU to also make the same mistake. Let go of perfection!
That said, here are the rules for writing compound adjectives as one word or two separate words:
- If the first word is a short adjective, the compound adjective will usually be one word (1)
- If the first words is a longer adjective, the compound adjective is usually two words (2)
- If the first word is a noun, the compound adjective is usually two words (3)
- If the first part consists of several words, the compound adjective will contain multiple separate words (4)
- If the first word is a noun, but the compound adjective’s meaning is fossilized, it can be one word (5)
Compound Adjective Examples
Words marked with a * can be written both as one and as two words according to Kielitoimiston sanakirja. The numbers correspond to the rules mentioned above in the list with stars.
| # | Finnish | English |
|---|---|---|
| hintainen – priced | ||
| 1 | minkähintainen | what price |
| 1 | samanhintainen* | similarly priced |
| 2 | sopivan hintainen | suitably priced |
| 3 | euron hintainen | priced at one euro |
| 4 | yhdeksän euron hintainen | priced at nine euros |
| arvoinen – worth | ||
| 1 | samanarvoinen* | equal, worth the same |
| 1 | kallisarvoinen | precious |
| 3 | luottamuksen arvoinen | trustworthy |
| 4 | tuhannen euron arvoinen | worth one thousand euros |
| 5 | kullanarvoinen* | worth its weight in gold |
| kokoinen – sized | ||
| 1 | isokokoinen | big, large sized |
| 1 | erikokoinen | of a different size |
| 2 | sopivan kokoinen | of a suitable size |
| 3 | kerrostalon kokoinen | the size of an apartment building |
| 3 | Helsingin kokoinen | the size of Helsinki |
| korkuinen – height | ||
| 1 | samankorkuinen* | of the same height |
| 2 | sopivan korkuinen | the right height |
| 3 | talon korkuinen | as tall as a house |
| 4 | viiden metrin korkuinen | of a height of five meters |
| pituinen – length | ||
| 1 | vääränpituinen | of the wrong length |
| 3 | tulitikun pituinen | the length of a matchstick |
| 4 | sadan vuoden pituinen | a hundred years long |
| hajuinen – smelling | ||
| 1 | pahanhajuinen | malodorous, smelly |
| 2 | voimakkaan hajuinen | strong smelling |
| 3 | pihkan hajuinen | smelling of pitch |
| makuinen – flavored | ||
| 1 | hyvänmakuinen* | good-flavored, good tasting |
| 2 | katkeran makuinen* | bitter tasting |
| 3 | jalapenon makuinen | jalapeno-flavored |
| 5 | paperinmakuinen | tasting like paper |
| näköinen – looking | ||
| 1 | hauskannäköinen* | nice-looking, comely |
| 2 | omituisen näköinen | weird-looking |
| 3 | isänsä näköinen | looking like his father |
| tuntuinen – feeling | ||
| 1 | hyväntuntuinen | pleasant, feels good |
| 2 | tervejärkisen tuntuinen | feels sensible |
| 5 | todentuntuinen | life-like, feels real |
| oloinen – seeming, perceiving | ||
| 1 | pienenoloinen | seeming to be small |
| 2 | kireän oloinen | seeming to be tense |
| 2 | väsyneen oloinen | tired-looking |
| 3 | ammattitaitoisen oloinen | professional-looking |
| 4 | pienen lapsen oloinen | similar to a small child |
| mittainen – sized | ||
| 1 | ylimittainen | oversized |
| 4 | kymmenen sentin mittainen | ten centimeters long |
| 4 | koko päivän mittainen | the length of a whole day |
| muotoinen – shaped | ||
| 1 | pienimuotoinen | small-scale |
| 1 | L-muotoinen | shaped like an L |
| 3 | neliön muotoinen | square-shaped |
| 5 | sydämenmuotoinen | heart-shaped |
| aikainen – time | ||
| 1 | lyhytaikainen | short-term, brief, fleeting |
| 4 | koko elämän aikainen | life-long |
| 5 | sodanaikainen* | wartime (eg. rations) |
| 5 | lapsuudenaikainen | childhood (eg. friend) |
| mukainen – according to | ||
| 4 | teknisen sopimuksen mukainen | according to the technical contract |
| 5 | tavanmukainen | according to our customs, normal |
| 5 | tarpeenmukainen | according to need, as necessary |
| tyyppinen – type | ||
| 1 | tietyntyyppinen* | of a certain type |
| 2 | vastaavan tyyppinen* | of a simlar type |
| 3 | betonin tyyppinen | of a concrete type |
| värinen – colored | ||
| 1 | hopeanvärinen | silver-colored |
| 2 | kauniin värinen* | beautifully colored |
| 3 | kastanjan värinen | chestnut colored |
| 4 | keväisen koivikon värinen | the color of a spring birch |
| 5 | ihonvärinen | skin-colored |
Below, you can find some compound adjectives that can’t be used to make as many new words as the ones above. They are more fossilized, and may only have a couple of options, if even that.
