Breakdown of Olen nukahtamaisillani, kun peto iskee.
olla
to be
kun
when (conjunction)
nukahtaa
to fall asleep
peto
predator
Questions & Answers about Olen nukahtamaisillani, kun peto iskee.
How exactly is the word nukahtamaisillani built?
It uses the fifth infinitive, which expresses being just on the verge of doing something. You build it by taking the third infinitive stem (nukahtama-), adding the plural adessive case ending (-isilla-), and finally attaching a possessive suffix that matches the subject (-ni for the first person 'I').
Could I just say olen nukahtamaisilla without the -ni at the end?
No, standard Finnish requires a possessive suffix for the fifth infinitive. Since the subject is 'I' (shown by olen), you must attach the first-person singular suffix -ni. Leaving it off makes the sentence grammatically incomplete.
Why use nukahtaa instead of the basic verb nukkua (to sleep) here?
The fifth infinitive is almost always used with momentaneous verbs, which describe a sudden, brief action or a change of state. Nukkua means 'to sleep' (a continuous state), while nukahtaa means 'to fall asleep' (a sudden change). You can be on the brink of falling asleep (nukahtamaisillani), but being on the brink of sleeping sounds unnatural in this construction.
If I wanted to say 'I WAS about to fall asleep when the beast struck', how would this sentence change?