This is the 117th most frequent Norwegian word.
nesten
Almost.
Here, 'nesten' is used to indicate that the action of being finished was very close to being completed, but not entirely reached.
Jeg var nesten ferdig med prosjektet.
I was almost finished with the project.
In this example, 'nesten' expresses that the action of falling off the chair was about to happen, but was ultimately avoided.
Hun falt nesten av stolen da hun hørte nyheten.
She almost fell off the chair when she heard the news.
Here, 'nesten' conveys a near occurrence of missing the bus, but in reality, they managed to catch it every time.