kauaa

Finnish

Etymology

Partitive of kauka- (see kauko-); compare kauan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑu̯ɑː/, [ˈkɑ̝u̯ɑ̝ː]
• Rhymes: -ɑuɑː
• Syllabification^(key): kau‧aa

Adverb

kauaa

1. (chiefly in the negative) for a long time, for long

   En aio olla kauaa täällä.

   I'm not planning to be here for long.

Usage notes

polarity pair	positive	kauan
	negative	kauan, kauaa

Used as the negative form of kauan, although kauan can also be used in negative sentences, in which the two are synonymous. kauan is more common in literary or formal text, while kauaa is more common in informal text and was once considered nonstandard.

Both forms can also be seen in questions, in which case there is a difference in nuance:

Aiotko olla kauan täällä?

Are you going to be here for a long time? (neutral)

Aiotko olla kauaa täällä?

Are you going to be here for a long time? (implying expectation or wish for the answer to be negative)

Compare also:

Aiotko olla pitkään täällä?

Are you going to be here for a long time? (neutral, somewhat more common than "kauan" in questions)

Inflection

Declension of kauko- noun case singular plural adverbial form singular plural nominative kauko- – superessive – – genitive – – delative – – partitive kaukaa kauaa – sublative – – accusative – – lative kauas – inessive – – temporal – – elative – – causative – – illative – – multiplicative – – adessive – – distributive – – ablative – – temp. dist. – – allative – – prolative – – essive kaukana – situative – – translative kauaksi – oppositive – – abessive – – instructive kauan – comitative – –

Further reading

• “kauaa”, 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 2023-07-02