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Questions & Answers about Minä olen melkein valmis.
What does melkein mean in this sentence?
Melkein is an adverb meaning almost or nearly. Here it modifies the adjective valmis, so “melkein valmis” = “almost ready.”
Why is Minä included? Can I leave it out?
In Finnish the verb ending -n in olen already tells you it’s first-person singular (“I am”). The subject pronoun minä is therefore optional, used mainly for emphasis or clarity. You can simply say Olen melkein valmis.
Why is valmis in the nominative case and not another case?
When you use the verb olla (to be) with a predicative adjective, that adjective stays in the nominative. So you say Minä olen valmis (“I am ready”). If you wanted the essive case (valmiina), it usually appears with a following phrase: Olen valmiina lähtöön (“I’m ready for departure”).
Can I change the word order, for example say Melkein olen valmis or Olen valmis melkein?
Finnish word order is quite flexible for emphasis, but the most natural patterns are:
- Olen melkein valmis (default S-V-Adj with adverb before Adj)
- Melkein olen valmis (puts focus on almost)
Saying Olen valmis melkein is unusual because adverbs normally precede what they modify.
What’s the difference between melkein and lähes?
Both mean almost/nearly, but:
- melkein is more colloquial and very common in speech
- lähes is slightly more formal or literary
You can use either in most contexts with no major change in meaning.
Could Minä olen melkein valmis ever mean “I’m almost finished” instead of “ready”?
Yes. Valmis can also carry the sense finished/done, especially when talking about tasks:
Työ on valmis = “The work is done.”
So Olen melkein valmis can imply “I’ve almost finished (what I’m doing).”
What about melko valmis instead of melkein valmis?
They’re not interchangeable:
- melkein valmis = almost ready
- melko valmis = quite/pretty ready (a milder, positive meaning)
So melko means rather/somewhat, whereas melkein means almost/not quite.
How do I pronounce Minä olen melkein valmis?
Finnish stress is always on the first syllable of each word. A rough phonetic:
/ˈminæ ˈolen ˈmelkein ˈʋɑlmis/
Or in English‐style syllables: MEE-næ OH-len MEL-kain VAL-mis.