Almost Doing Something
To express that something almost happened, use olla vähällä (literally "to be at a little").
To build this structure:
- Conjugate the verb olla (to be) to match the subject and tense (usually the past tense for close calls).
- Add the word vähällä.
- Add the main action verb in the 1st infinitive (the standard dictionary form).
| I almost dropped my wallet. | Olin vähällä pudottaa lompakkoni. |
| The safety bar almost came loose. | Turvakaari oli vähällä irrota. |
| We almost forgot our bags on the bench. | Olimme vähällä unohtaa laukkumme penkille. |
Causing Sensations
When talking about involuntary physical sensations, Finnish often uses verbs that cause the feeling rather than verbs for experiencing it.
For verbs like pyörryttää (to make dizzy) and oksettaa (to make nauseous), the person feeling the sensation is the object, taking the partitive case (e.g., minua, häntä). The source of the sensation can be the subject, or the sentence can have no subject at all.
| The fast-paced rollercoaster whirled, and it made me dizzy. | Vauhdikas vuoristorata kieppui, ja minua pyörrytti. |
Combine sensation verbs and the near-miss structure to tell a dramatic story:
| It made me nauseous, and I almost fainted. | Minua oksetti, ja olin vähällä pyörtyä. |
Holding On
The verb tarrautua (to cling) requires the thing you are holding onto to be in the illative case (into/onto).
For example, turvakaari (safety bar) becomes turvakaareen.
| The ride scared me, and I had to cling to the safety bar. | Laite pelästytti minut, ja minun täytyi tarrautua turvakaareen. |
| I clung to the safety bar because I almost fell. | Tarrauduin turvakaareen, koska olin vähällä pudota. |