# erilainen, monenlainen, monipuolinen



## Etcetera

What difference is there between these three adjectives - erilainen, monenlainen, monipuolinen? Can they be used interchangeably?
Thanks in advance.


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## DrWatson

*Erilainen *and *monenlainen* can sometimes be used interchangeably. *Monipuolinen* is also interchangeable, but more rarely.
*
Erilainen *is usually translated "different", but other translations are also possible. E.g: 
*Hän on erilainen kuin me.* = He's different from us. (lit. different than)
*Puutarhassa on erilaisia kasveja. = *There are various kinds of plants in the garden.

In the first example sentence above, *monenlainen* can't be used. In the second sentence it is, however, interchangeable with *erilainen. *In general, *erilainen *and *monenlainen *can both be used to express variety, i.e. that there are many kinds of something. When wanting to express that something differs from something else, only *erilainen* is possible.

*Monipuolinen *means "versatile", "many-sided". It denotes that something has many different qualities. For example:
*Sveitsin armeijan linkkuveitsi on hyvin monipuolinen. = *The Swiss army knife is very versatile.
*Syön monipuolista ruokaa. = *I eatdiversified food.

In the first sentence, *erilainen *or *monenlainen *is not an option. However, in the second one, *monenlainen* is possible, but *erilainen* is not.

Wow, now that I got to pondering these, I see even I'm confused . I don't think there are ways to accurately define the differences; in some cases the meanings overlap, in others they don't. Hopefully another Finn will also give his/her opinion. And feel free to ask more information on this or the other two Finnish questions I answered!


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## Ilmo

I thinkt that Dr. Watson's answer is quite comprehensive.
I would like to point out the difference between *erilainen* and *monenlainen*.
Of couse you can say "Maanviljelijä käyttää erilaisia työkaluja työssään" and the translation would be "A farmer uses different tools in his work", but when you say "Maanviljelijä käyttää monenlaisia työkaluja työssään",
it means "A farmer uses many kinds of tools in his work". The difference may be quite subtle but a person who knows the language perfectly most probably notices the difference.


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## Etcetera

Ilmo said:


> The difference may be quite subtle but a person who knows the language perfectly most probably notices the difference.


Why, the difference is pretty clear to me. In Russian, we have two adjectives - разные and многие - which could be used to translate both sentences pretty accurately.
Thank you both for your explanations, you have really helped me!


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## Lugubert

What looks like a similarity seldom is, but I have to ask: is there any linguistic connection between those mon- and the word _monta_?


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## Ilmo

Lugubert said:


> What looks like a similarity seldom is, but I have to ask: is there any linguistic connection between those mon- and the word _monta_?



Yes, of course.
The nominative of the word is "moni". There is not much use for it as a separate word, except in the phrase "moni kakku päältä kaunis..."
But it is used in several compound words, like "monipuolinen" ("multi-use" or something like that).

"Monta" is a partitive of the word "moni". It is used especially in connection with the word "kuinka". "Kuinka monta = How many".

"There are many men disturbing me" = "Monta miestä on minua kiusaamassa"

"Monen" is the genitive of the word "moni" - that's the reason to say "monenlainen" - literally "of many kinds".

If you are not satisfied with this explication,. please ask for more.
Sincerely yours, though a bit tipsy
Ilmo


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