Pelastuin

Pelastuin is the first-person singular past tense form of the Finnish verb pelastua, meaning to be saved or to survive from danger. Pelastua is an intransitive verb that describes the state of having escaped harm, often in relation to accidents, disasters, or perilous situations. Its transitive counterpart pelastaa means to save someone.

Conjugation and forms: In present tense, the forms are pelastun, pelastut, pelastuu, pelastumme, pelastutte, pelastuvat. In past tense, the first-person singular is pelastuin; other persons form as pelastuit (you survived), pelastui (they survived), pelastuimme (we survived), pelastuitte (you survived), pelastuivat (they survived). The past participle of pelastua is pelastunut, used with the auxiliary olla to form perfect tenses, for example Hän on pelastunut.

Usage notes: Pelastuin is common in autobiographical narratives, testimonies, and news reporting about dangerous events. It emphasizes the speaker’s experience of having survived rather than the act of another person saving them. It is often contrasted with pelastaa, which denotes the act of saving someone else. In contexts stressing survival, pelastua can appear with prepositions like ulos, irti, or from peril, e.g., Pelastuin onnettomuudesta; Pelastuin hengenvaarallisesta tilanteesta.

Related terms: Pelastus refers to rescue or salvation, pelastaja to a rescuer, and pelastaminen to the act of saving. Etymologically, pelastua is closely linked to pelastaa and pelastus, sharing a semantic field around rescue and survival.

Overall, pelastuin functions as a concise, personal report of having endured danger, and is a standard form in Finnish for expressing survival in the past.