beinah
almost
Expresses that something nearly, but not quite, happened. Synonymous with 'fast' (almost).
EXAMPLE
Ich habe den letzten Bus beinah verpasst.
I almost missed the last bus.
beinah
almost
Checking...
Loading your saved state.
Meanings
Usage tips
Word formation
The word is made up of 'bei' (by/near) and 'nah' (near). So it literally describes that an event was 'nah dabei' (close to) happening, but in the end did not happen.
EXAMPLE
Pass auf, du wärst beinah vom Stuhl gefallen!
Watch out, you almost fell off the chair!
Word order
'Beinah' (almost) can stand at the beginning of a sentence in position 1, in which case the verb follows directly. But like most adverbs, it can also stand inside the sentence.
EXAMPLE
Beinah hätte ich meinen Schlüssel vergessen.
I almost forgot my key.
Register
'Beinah' (almost) is used more in written language or in a somewhat more elevated style. In everyday colloquial speech, it is heard less often.
EXAMPLE
Der Unfall führte beinah zu einer Katastrophe.
The accident almost led to a catastrophe.
Compare with
beinah vs knapp
scarce / just under / close
Beinah explicitly shows that the expected outcome did not occur. Knapp, by contrast, describes a very small margin and can be used with the verb to name the actual outcome. With knapp, the entire sentence therefore determines the meaning, while beinah establishes that the outcome did not occur.
beinah
Lea hätte den Zug beinahe verpasst, erreichte ihn aber noch rechtzeitig.
Lea almost missed the train, but she still caught it in time.
knapp
Lea verpasste den Zug knapp und musste auf den nächsten warten.
Lea narrowly missed the train and had to wait for the next one.
In real life
Loading video examples...