# just in case



## Gavril

I know that _varalta _means "in case of", but is it used for positive as well as negative possibilities? For example, how would you say

_I'm calling him, just in case he can provide us with some help_.

_I checked the bedroom, just in case I had left the car keys there.

_Kiitos


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## Duracell

In my opinion it (_siltä varalta) _can be used for positive and for negative possibilities.

My translations would be

_I'm calling him, just in case he can provide us with some help_.
> _Soitan hänelle siltä/sen varalta, että hän pystyisi auttamaan/ voisi auttaa meitä.

_
_I checked the bedroom, just in case I had left the car keys there.
> Tarkistin makuuhuoneen siltä/sen varalta, että olisin jättänyt auton avaimet sinne.

_Although I'm not sure why I want to use the conditional form and not just _pystyy/voi_ and _olen jättänyt._ Perhaps because it's something that we don't know for sure (I've seen that the subjunctive of romance languages in cases like this is quite often translated as a conditional).

To my ear it sounds like _siltä varalta _is more used in oral language and _sen varalta _in written language, but this is just a hunch and it's not based on any grammatical facts. 

Perhaps the other Finns here can help us out.


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## Grumpy Old Man

I agree with Duracell on most counts. However, I don't find _siltä varalta_ at all colloquial or informal and I never use _sen varalta_ myself. 

Since no changes are/were made to the room being checked, I would prefer _tark*a*stin huoneen._ Another option would be to say: _Tarkastin makuuhuoneen *ihan vain nähdäkseni* olinko jättänyt auton avaimet sinne.

_GOM


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## Duracell

Oops - thank you very much GOM for pointing that out. I thought I knew the difference between _tarkastaa _and _tarkistaa _but it seems that I didn't! I've just checked the definitions for these verbs in Kielitoimiston sanakirja and now I get it.


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