# enimillään



## 盲人瞎馬

Asutus oli keskittynyt pääasiassa Niilin varteen ja *sen enimmillään* muutaman kilometrin levyisille hedelmällisille rannoille.

The bold part needs clarification. What's enimmillään for?


----------



## kirahvi

"...and *its at most* a couple of kilometers wide..."


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

_sen enimmillään_ is terrible Finnish to my ear! I would say: Asutus oli keskittynyt Niilin varteen ja oli enimmilläänkin vain muutaman kilometrin levyinen sen hedelmällisillä rannoilla.


----------



## 盲人瞎馬

Grumpy Old Man said:


> _sen enimmillään_ is terrible Finnish to my ear! I would say: Asutus oli keskittynyt Niilin varteen ja oli enimmilläänkin vain muutaman kilometrin levyinen sen hedelmällisillä rannoilla.



How different would the sentence sound if one were to use korkeintaan instead of enimmillään?


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

Vitalore said:


> How different would the sentence sound if one were to use korkeintaan instead of enimmillään?


It's not that. It'_s "sen" before "enimmillään".  This reminds me of Jari Hedman, who used to be a Finnish tennis commentator for_ Eurosport. This was one of his favourite sentences: "Ottelu lähestyy *sen* loppuaan."  In Finnish: _Ottelu päättyy pian _or _Ottelun loppu lähestyy_ if you insist on using the verb "lähestyä".

(There's a bug in the editor. I can't get rid of the italics in the first line.)


----------



## 盲人瞎馬

Grumpy Old Man said:


> It's not that. It'_s "sen" before "enimmillään".  This reminds me of Jari Hedman, who used to be a Finnish tennis commentator for_ Eurosport. This was one of his favourite sentences: "Ottelu lähestyy *sen* loppuaan."  In Finnish: _Ottelu päättyy pian _or _Ottelun loppu lähestyy_ if you insist on using the verb "lähestyä".
> 
> (There's a bug in the editor. I can't get rid of the italics in the first line.)



You don't get it. What if you were to use korkeintaan instead of enimmillään? Korkeintaan is an adverb with a similar meaning.


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

Vitalore said:


> You don't get it.


You don't get it, either. "Sen korkeintaan" is something a Finn would never say. "Sen" cannot be used before "korkeintaan" unless it refers to something previous in the text.  For example:

_Hän juo hyvin vähän olutta. Ehkä yhden pullon kerrallaan, ja sen korkeintaan kerran kuussa._


----------



## kirahvi

I don't see anything wrong with using _sen_ the original sentence. I understand why _sen_ in GOM's tennis example is wrong, and I think it's horrible use of language as well, but in the OP's example _sen_ is definitely needed and I don't find it odd in the least. What I find weird about the original sentence is that it's a bit repetitive when it states that settlements are along the river and on the banks. I'd assume along the river and on the banks of the river are pretty much the same thing.

And nothing would change in the meaning, if _enimmillään_ in the original sentence was subsituted by _korkeintaan_.


----------



## Grumpy Old Man

kirahvi said:


> I don't see anything wrong with using _sen_ the original sentence.


You're right. I must have dozed off. I didn't associate "sen" with "Niilin" at first. Somehow I tried to connect it with "enimmillään". My apologies.


----------

