Questions & Answers about Hän myöhästyi taas.
Why is there no word for "was" in this sentence?
In English, "to be late" uses the verb "to be" and an adjective. In Finnish, myöhästyä is an action verb all on its own meaning "to arrive late." Because of this, myöhästyi alone means "was late" or "arrived late," and you don't need the verb olla (to be) here at all.
How is the past tense formed in myöhästyi?
The basic dictionary form is myöhästyä. To make the past tense, you take the stem myöhästy- and add the past tense marker i. For the third person singular ("he" or "she"), there is no extra personal ending added in the past tense, leaving us with exactly myöhästyi.
Could I use uudestaan instead of taas for "again"?
Not really. Taas is used when a situation simply repeats, like someone being late another time. Uudestaan (or uudelleen) means doing an action completely over again or anew, usually on purpose, like writing a letter again.
Would people say this exactly like this in everyday spoken Finnish?
In written or slightly formal Finnish, yes. But in casual spoken Finnish, people usually use the pronoun se (it) instead of hän to refer to people. So in everyday conversation, you will almost always hear: Se myöhästyi taas.
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