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There is a little difference between accidents that almost happened in English and Spanish, in English we use past tense, in Spanish we use the present tense.
| (almost, nearly) + accident verb in the past | (casi, por poco) + accident verb in the present |
|---|---|
| I almost fell | casi me caigo (caer) |
| I almost hit myself | casi me golpeo (golpearse) |
| I almost died | por poco me muero |
| his shirt almost got stained | (a él) por poco se le mancha la camisa (mancharse) |
| the plates almost fell on you | por poco se te caen los platos |
| my glasses nearly broke | casi se me rompen los lentes |
| you almost broke your leg | casi te rompes la pierna |
| you almost burned your hand | por poco te quemas la mano |
| I nearly fell asleep | casi me quedo dormido |
Por poco (by little, nearly), and casi (almost) are used in most countries, but in Mexico, people also use ya mero. Ya mero me caigo is the same as casi me caigo.
I found this meme, it means I almost screwed.
¡por poco!
Por Poco…. pic.twitter.com/DIDOsvqU9r
— El Chiki (@Elchiki_hn) April 25, 2021
¡Ya mero!
One close shave: This van stopped just a few inches away from a toddler. pic.twitter.com/sbr40m5qxG
— SCMP News (@SCMPNews) May 6, 2021
Remember that many accident verbs are reflexive. romperse, to break (on you), quemarse to burn onself, electrocutarse to electrocute oneself!
Originally posted on 20100702. Latest update 20210426 (spanishNY.com) top
