Matka sujui hyvin, vaikka oli siella llikenneonnettomuuskin lähellä.
English translation: see explanation
| 13:50 Sep 27, 2005 |
| Finnish to English translations [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Melina Kajander Finland | ||||||
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Answers
20 mins confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1| Matka sujui hyvin, vaikka oli siella llikenneonnettomuuskin lähellä. The trip went well, nearly had us an accident, though. Explanation: This is an interesting phrase. It showcases the ability of the Finnish language to introduce small nuances and style through the use of small words and agglutinative endings that, taken by themselves, don't necessarily mean much. (In this case it's "siellä" and "-kin".) The answer to your first question, "Was there an accident?", is no. From this phrase, every Finn understands that there was some (undisclosed) situation where a traffic accident nearly happened. The answer to your second question, "What does 'siellä' mean in this sentence?" is a bit tricky. Of course, literally, it means nothing more than "there", but it conveys a sort of colloquial, casual style. Another thing that conveys casual style in conjunction with "siellä" is the word order "oli siellä", if reversed to "siellä oli" this sentence becomes much more matter-of-fact, and loses some of its narrative nature. So, in a way, the answer to your question is that the word "siellä" is part of a structure that conveys a narrative style. It's also important to note that in Finnish this sentence is using the passive, which means that it isn't 100% sure that the accident (nearly) happened to the speaker. But in most cases, this passive form will be a way of ambiguating, or "distancing" the speaker from this (potentially) negative event. I'd say in most cases the speaker means "It almost happened to me/us." The translation I offer is a way of saying the same sentence in colloquial American English, in which I have tried to capture this casual, narrative style through the use of "had us", which is a grammatical construct you will often find especially in the laid-back speech of the Southern United States. Other dialects will find other interesting ways to say something along the same lines, this is my offering. Of course this translation loses the intended "ambiguity" of the Finnish passive, but.. you can't win 'em all. ;) Of course a straight, no-nonsense, direct translation of this sentence is nothign more than "The trip went well, although a traffic accident wasn't far off". |
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21 mins confidence:
| Matka sujui hyvin, vaikka oli siella llikenneonnettomuuskin lähellä. The trip went well, even if we narrowly avoided an accident. Explanation: Oliko onnetomuus vai eikö? Ei ollut. "Siellä" ei ole määrätty - jossain matkan varralla. |
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13 mins confidence:
| Matka sujui hyvin, vaikka oli siella llikenneonnettomuuskin lähellä. see explanation Explanation: Onnettomuutta ei tapahtunut, vaan se oli lähellä tapahtua, eli oltiin ilmeisesti vähällä joutua onnettomuuteen, jolta kuitenkin vältyttiin. "Siellä" tarkoittaa todennäköisesti matkan kohdetta (ja siis paikkaa, jossa onnettomuus oli vähällä tapahtua). Toivottavasti tästä oli apua! :) -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 32 mins (2005-09-27 14:22:46 GMT) Post-grading -------------------------------------------------- Lisäys: ei, sanaa 'siella' ei ole suomen kielessä, eli ilmeisesti kirjoitusvirhe! (En ymmärtänyt tarjota ensimmäisenä vastaajana tähän suoraa käännöstä, koska ymmärsin ongelmien olevan vain kysymyksessä mainitut kaksi pointtia, ja merkityksen muuten olevan selvä.) |
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