# I am surprised! You surprised me!



## Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A short question: How can I express "I am surprised!" and "You surprised me!" when I was, without being aware of it beforehand, being surprised by someone I knew. Like when they speak in a sudden higher voice when I am reading a book.

How about "Hämmästyin!" and "Sinä yllätit minua!" Are they good?


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## Grumpy Old Man

Both _Hämmästyin!_ and _Sinä yllätit minu*t*!_ are correct Finnish but in the situation you describe I would probably say: _Minä säikähdin! / Sinä säikäytit minut!_


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## akana

Looks like I've been using this incorrectly...with the partitive, that is. Does it mean anything else when I say, "ylätit minua," or does it just sound weird? Also, is it correct to say, for example, "minua ylätti, että...?"


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## Hakro

akana said:


> Looks like I've been using this incorrectly...with the partitive, that is. Does it mean anything else when I say, "yllätit minua," or does it just sound weird? For some unknown reason we always say "yllätit minut" but "hämmästytit minua", although there's not so much difference in the meanings of these two phrases.
> 
> Also, is it correct to say, for example, "minua yllätti, että...?" You can hear this every now and then but in my opinion it's not correct; I'd say either "minut yllätti (se), että..." or "Minua hämmästytti, että..."


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## Gavril

> For some unknown reason we always say "yllätit minut" but "hämmästytit minua", although there's not so much difference in the meanings of these two phrases.



Maybe this (from the NES dictionary, p.1534) sheds some light on why _yllättää _takes the accusative:



> Alun perin _yllättäminen _on merkinnyt saavuttamista, tavoittamista tai päälle käymistä. [...] Varsinaisesti sana on alkanut yleistyä mykymerkityksessään vasta 1800-luvun puolimaista lähtien.



"Originally, _yllättäminen _meant 'reaching', 'catching' or 'attacking'. [...] The word only started to become common in its current meaning around the middle of the 1800s."


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> "Originally, _yllättäminen _meant 'reaching', 'catching' or 'attacking'. [...] The word only started to become common in its current meaning around the middle of the 1800s."


Fantastic, Gavril! I've always appreciated highly your knowledge of the Finnish language but now I really have to take off my hat -- you know more about my mother tongue than I do!


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## Gavril

Hakro said:


> Fantastic, Gavril! I've always appreciated highly your knowledge of the Finnish language but now I really have to take off my hat -- you know more about my mother tongue than I do!



Kiitos, mutta ainakin 95 prosenttia tähänastisesta tiedostani tulee suoraan _Nykysuomen etymologisesta sanakirjasta_. Kiitos on annettava Kaisa Häkkiselle eikä minulle.


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## Hakro

Gavril said:


> Kiitos, mutta ainakin 95 prosenttia tähänastisesta tiedostani tulee suoraan _Nykysuomen etymologisesta sanakirjasta_. Kiitos on annettava Kaisa Häkkiselle eikä minulle.


Kiitos on annettava sille, joka on jaksanut opiskella vaikeaa vierasta kieltä niin syvällisesti kuin sinä!


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