Finnish

Postposition

vaille (+ partitive)

1. (temporal) to, till:

   Kello on viisi minuuttia vaille kuusi.

   Kello on viittä vaille kuusi.

   It's five (minutes) 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, the postposition vaille takes the time left (five minutes) as its complement phrase, unlike the English preposition to that takes the moment in future (six) as its complement phrase.

Related terms

• vailla

French

Verb

vaille

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of valoir
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of valoir

Anagrams

• veilla, viella