vos ne-

Almost with Vos Ne-

Level 5

Vos + a verb with ne- means almost: something nearly happened, but it did not. Vos nenukritau. (I almost fell.) The speaker did not fall.

How It Works

How it works

  • Vos nepavėlavome į traukinį. (We almost missed the train.)
  • Vaikas vos nepaskendo. (The child nearly drowned.)

In both sentences the event did not happen. It only came very close.

Vos ne- or vos?
Without ne-, vos means barely: Vos spėjau į traukinį. (I barely caught the train.) This time the action did happen, but only just. So Vos nepavėlavau (I was almost late) and Vos spėjau (I only just made it) describe the same close call from two sides. See Barely and As Soon As With Vos.

Objects go into the genitive
The verb has ne-, so a direct object takes the genitive, following the usual genitive-of-negation pattern: Vos nepamečiau piniginės. (I almost lost my wallet.) See Genitive After Negation.

Spelling
In this almost construction, ne- is joined to the verb: vos nenukritau. Before a word that is not a verb, vos ne is written as two words and simply means almost: atrodė pajaunėjusi vos ne dešimčia metų (she looked almost ten years younger). The set phrase vos ne vos means with great difficulty.

Beveik
Beveik also means almost, and it is the usual choice with amounts and descriptions: beveik visi (almost everyone), beveik baigta (almost finished). For a single event that nearly happened, Lithuanian very often uses vos ne-.

Examples (6)

  1. Vos nenukritau nuo laiptų.

    I almost fell down the stairs.

    Word by Word: Barely not-fell from stairs.

  2. Vos nepavėlavome į traukinį.

    We almost missed the train.

    Word by Word: Barely not-were-late to train.

  3. Vos nepamiršau tau pasakyti.

    I almost forgot to tell you.

    Word by Word: Barely not-forgot to-you to-tell.

  4. Vos nepamečiau piniginės.

    I almost lost my wallet.

    Word by Word: Barely not-lost of-wallet.

    The verb has ne-, so the object piniginė goes into the genitive: piniginės.

  5. Žiūrėdamas filmą vos neužmigau.

    I almost fell asleep watching the film.

    Word by Word: Watching film barely not-fell-asleep.

  6. Vaikas vos nepaskendo ežere.

    The child almost drowned in the lake.

    Word by Word: Child barely not-drowned in-lake.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing ne apart from the verb.

    Vos ne nukritau nuo laiptų.
    Vos nenukritau nuo laiptų.

    In this construction, ne- is written together with the verb. Vos ne is two words only before a word that is not a verb.

  • Leaving out ne- when you mean almost.

    Vos pamiršau tau pasakyti.
    Vos nepamiršau tau pasakyti.

    The speaker means that they nearly forgot but did not. Without ne-, vos means barely or only just, so the sentence no longer says almost forgot.

  • Keeping the accusative object after vos ne-.

    Vos nepamečiau piniginę.
    Vos nepamečiau piniginės.

    The verb carries ne-, so the object goes into the genitive, following the usual pattern for a negated accusative object.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

vos ne-Level 5Almost with Vos Ne-

Learn This First

Vos ne- describes a close call, despite the negative form of the verb.

Words in This Pattern