vaille

See also: väille

Finnish

Etymology

Originally the allative form of the root vai-, vaja- of vajaa.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑi̯lːeˣ/, [ˈʋɑ̝i̯lːe̞(ʔ)]
Rhymes: -ɑilːe
Syllabification^(key): vail‧le

Postposition

vaille (+ partitive)

(temporal) to, till
Antonym: yli

Kello on viisi minuuttia vaille kuusi.
It's five minutes to six.

Kello on viittä vaille kuusi.
It's five to six.

Onko kello jo kolme? -Ei, se on viittä vaille.
Is it already three o'clock? -No, it's five to.

Usage notes

Note that grammatically speaking, the postposition vaille takes the time left (five minutes) as its complement phrase, unlike the English preposition to, which takes the moment in future (six) as its complement phrase.

Related terms

vailla

Further reading

“vaille”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

French

Pronunciation

Audio (CAN) (file)
Rhymes: -aj

Verb

vaille

first/third-person singular present subjunctive of valoir

Anagrams

veilla, viella

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