I'm unterested in phrases that begin with "por poco"

Question

Hey kids, que tal,

i've been running across an interesting construction in my readings. Phrases that begin with "por poco" mean, i think, "I almost" did this or that thing.

Unas cuantes ejemplos: Por poco me caigo(I almost fell) Is this right?

otro ej. Cayó la ley, y por poco nos agarre (The law decended upon us and they almost grabbed us) This is my humble translation, but I think its about right.

notice that the present tense is used even though it happens in the past.

I'd like to try out some on my own. Quien pueda decirme si voy bien.

Por poco me muero de risa. (I almost died from laughter) Por poco me deja cayerlo (I almost dropped it) Por poco me pierdo (I almost got lost)

Estaría agradicido si algien pueda corregirme.

Very good question :) - ian-hill, Oct 8, 2012

Answer 1

After some online research I found this...

I have noticed that most hispanoparlantes use the present tense with casi and por poco when refering to something that almost happened. I have noticed it so often that I try not to use pretérito perfecto simple.

and I found....

It´s present tense. In Spanish, you use the present with casi and por poco when it´s something that has just happened. You can say Casi me caí when you are referring to something that happened yesterday or last year.

and finally, this....

Special Uses of the Present Tense: The expression por poco is used with a verb in the present tense to express what almost happened. Note that in English the past tense rather than the present tense is used to convey this idea.

Can anyone comment on this (Franco are you out there)?

I've been using the preterit and nobody has corrected me so far (sad face), but it seems pretty clear that we should be using the present tense.

:) - ian-hill, Oct 8, 2012

thanks for the reasearch marianna. you have confirmed what what i thought i was seeing also - JoseFresco, Oct 8, 2012

Answer 2

You've got the right idea, Jose, but you need to conjugate the verbs as if the action had occurred.

• Por poco me caí. (I almost fell)

• Cayó la ley, y por poco nos agarraron. (The law descended upon us and they almost grabbed us)

• Por poco me morí de risa. (I almost died from laughter)

• Por poco se me cayó. (I almost dropped it)

• Por poco me perdí (I almost got lost)

:) - ian-hill, Oct 8, 2012

no mariana, i think you may be wrong here. ive seen this construction written several times and it is ALWAYS in the present tense eveh if it occured in the past. - JoseFresco, Oct 8, 2012

Answer 3

Mariana, I found this: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=75198

Looks like it is preferable to most to use present tense, although a few people say past tense sounds normal to them. I would stick with present tense.