Por poco / Casi

Question

Hallo, I have some trouble with these two adverbs and although I have searched previous posts, I have not found an answer to my questions.

In my grammar book I see that "por poco" and "casi" are used with the Present Simple tense as in Casi lo consigo and Por poco lo consigo (meaning that I tried it and I almost achieved it -but I didn't in the end).

Also I see this case: Lo conseguí por poco and Por poco no lo consigo (meaning that I tried it and I was really close to not achieve it -but I achieved it in the end).

My questions are:

Can por poco and casi be used with tenses other than the Present Simple?

Does the order of por poco and casi in the sentence (before or after the verb) influence the use of the tense?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, they can be used in other tenses:

Aquella noche casi no dormí.

But Present simple with a historical present connotation is the common usage.

Word order depends on how you build the sentence, but casi rather goes before the main verb and por poco seems more flexible.

Answer 2

hi maria,

ive been intere3sted also in the construction "por poco". aperantly it is always expressed in the present even tho its describing events in the past.

heres some that i have seen:

por poco me caigo(this one is pretty common) por poco nos aggare( it almost caught us)