kuin

See also: kuīn

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkui̯n/, [ˈkui̯n]
• Rhymes: -uin
• Syllabification^(key): kuin

Etymology 1

The plural instructive case of kuka.

Conjunction

kuin

1. (subordinating, + conditional) as if

   Hän oli kuin ei olisi huomannut mitään.

   He behaved as if he hadn't noticed anything.

2. In the structure niin ... kuin ...: ... as well as ...

   niin kesällä kuin talvella ― in the summer as well as winter

   niin kesällä, kuin myös talvella ― in the summer as well as winter

3. In the structure kuin ... myös ...: ... as well as ...

   kuin kesällä myös talvella ― in the summer as well as winter

Synonyms

• (as if): ikään kuin
• (as well as): kuten

Particle

kuin

1. (coordinating) as, like

   Se kävelee kuin ankka.

   It walks like a duck.

2. In the structure yhtä ... kuin: as ... as (equative, comparing/equating two things)

   Kissa on yhtä suuri kuin pieni koira.

   The cat is as big as a little dog.

   Risto oli puhunut Pekan kanssa yhtä usein kuin (mitä) päiväkirja antaa ymmärtää.

   Risto had been talking with Pekka as often as the diary lets one understand.

3. In the structure niin ... kuin: as ... as (in other senses, such as when the second "as" is followed by a verb or adjective)

   Syö niin paljon kuin haluat.

   Eat as much as you want.

   niin pian kuin mahdollista ― as soon as possible

4. (coordinating, with comparative) than

   Risto oli puhunut Pekan kanssa useammin kuin (mitä) päiväkirja antaa ymmärtää.

   Risto had been talking with Pekka more often than the diary lets one understand.

Usage notes

• (than, comparative): There are two comparative constructions in Finnish:
  1. the particle construction with kuin (fixed word order: [comparative] + kuin + [comparee in the nominative case])

     SUBJECT	COPULA	COMPARATIVE	PARTICLE	COMPAREE
     kissa	on	isompi	kuin	hiiri
     cat-NOM	COP	big-CMPR	than	mouse-NOM
     "the cat is bigger than a mouse"

  2. the locative construction in which the comparee takes the partitive case (word order not fixed, but unmarked is [comparee in the partitive case] + [comparative])

     SUBJECT	COPULA	COMPAREE	COMPARATIVE
     kissa	on	hiirtä	isompi
     cat-NOM	COP	mouse-PTV	big-CMPR
     "the cat is bigger than a mouse"

• When the comparee and the comparative are single words, both constructions are common, and the locative construction is probably slightly more so, especially when the comparee is a common word (such as a personal pronoun).
• As the comparee or the comparative gets longer, there is an increasing tendency to use the particle construction, which is the only option with relative clauses (like in the usage example above, directly under the definition).

Adverb

kuin (colloquial)

1. how?

   Synonym: kuinka

   Kuin vanha sä oot?

   How old are you?

Derived terms

• kuinkaan

 

compounds

• jotakuinkin
• kutakuinkin

 

Further reading

• “kuin”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

Etymology 2

Noun

kuin

1. instructive plural of kuu

Anagrams

• kinu, ukin

Ingrian

Alternative forms

• kui

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ku-. Akin to Finnish kuin and Estonian kui.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkui̯n/, [ˈkui̯n]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkui̯n/, [ˈkui̯n]
• Rhymes: -ui̯n
• Hyphenation: kuin

Adverb

kuin

1. how?
2. how
   • 1936, N. A. Iljin and V. I. Junus, Bukvari iƶoroin șkouluja vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 25:

     Kuin ono sooja vesi.

     How warm the water is.

   • 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 3:

     Töö saatta tiitä kuin suur ono maa, millaist hää ono formaa ja mitä ono hänen pääl.

     You will be able to know how the earth is big, what kind of shape it is and what is on top of it.

3. like

Synonyms

• (how?): miten
• (how): miten

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 213

Anagrams

• niku

Middle English

Noun

kuin

1. Alternative form of kyne

Volapük

Noun

kuin (nominative plural kuins)

1. quintal (one hundred kilograms)

Declension

declension of kuin

	singular	plural
nominative	kuin	kuins
genitive	kuina	kuinas
dative	kuine	kuines
accusative	kuini	kuinis
vocative 1	o kuin!	o kuins!
predicative 2	kuinu	kuinus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only