How do you say ''He almost fell'' in spanish?

Question

El casi caigo

Answer 1

Se dice "Él casi se cae"

:) - rac1, Jan 31, 2015

not that I would ever doubt a native speaker lol, but surely 'he almost fell' is past tense? So in Spanish this is said in the present tense? - billygoat, Jan 31, 2015

YESSSS!!! even though in English you use the past tense. - leumas11, Jan 31, 2015

thank you! - billygoat, Jan 31, 2015

He did not fall yesterday. In the past also. - 00551866, Jan 31, 2015

It's s great to have Spanish speakers such as yourself here to help Leumas - !sigue así' jeje :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 31, 2015

:-) - leumas11, Jan 31, 2015

¡Muchas gracias por todas tus contribucciones aquí, Leumas. ¡De verdad, ..apreciamos mucho toda la ayuda que nos das! ¡Nací en tu país! :) - FELIZ77, Feb 1, 2015

Gracias a todos por la ayuda saludos :) - ricanboysmooth621, Feb 1, 2015

Gracia, Leumas. - annierats, Feb 2, 2015

Answer 2

You wrote, The almost I fall.

Él casi se cae.

I had to understand why it was right so I spoke with a friend here.

It can be simply related to this.

Él casi se cae. He did not fall.

Él casi se cayó. He did not fell.

(Él) - chileno, Jan 31, 2015

'cae' is the present tense: 'He almost falls.' I'd go with Billygoat's answer here. ^^ - Suzanne_Romijnders, Jan 31, 2015

Andreknue is right. "(Él) casi se cae" is correct - leumas11, Jan 31, 2015

I knew Andreknue's answer was correct because the Spanish use the present indicative with casi = almost - FELIZ77, Jan 31, 2015

Well done, Andreknue, great answer :) - FELIZ77, Jan 31, 2015

Thanks, I get one now and then. - 00551866, Jan 31, 2015

Nice job Andre :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 31, 2015

Gracias a todos por la ayuda saludos :) - ricanboysmooth621, Jan 31, 2015

Answer 3

(Él) casi se cayó = He almost fell (preterite tense)

Hey Billy, surprisingly there is a fairly logical reason why the Preterite tense doesn't work in this situation - I've done my best to explain it below. - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 1, 2015

Nice explanation Kiwi! Yep, I see now :-) - billygoat, Feb 1, 2015

Sweet :) - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 1, 2015

Answer 4

I agree with 'casi se cae' for 'he/she nearly fell' and I'm not sure if this will help but the way I look at it is that the Preterite is used mainly for one off completed actions/events in the past where the time or moment that it happened (and ended) could be established.

As this particular action (falling) never was completed it wouldn't be gramatically correct to use the preterite tense to describe it. Instead the present tense keeps the door of time open - he nearly fell then and he didn't ever end up falling so that state continues right up to the present. Hopefully I haven't confused anyone more

Cool! This is soething I've never heard of - HackerKing, Feb 1, 2015

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 1, 2015

Daniela is correct with that "casi se cae" meaning the past. It happens in English too! - chileno, Feb 2, 2015

Nice explanation, Kiwi. - annierats, Feb 2, 2015

Answer 5

This is a little idiomatic, but in Mexico it´s also common to say, and in present tense meaning past tense: Por poco y se cae.

Hola JC, would u also hear ... Por poco 'no' se cae? with the same meaning. - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 31, 2015

MC, ".... no se cae" would mean "he almost didn´t fall" so it wouldn´t make much sense - 005faa61, Feb 1, 2015

sorry JC I meant to type 'no se cayò' - Kiwi-Girl, Feb 1, 2015

MC, this still will not work because "Por poco" indicates the negative action already, so with this idiom "no" cannot be used - 005faa61, Feb 2, 2015

Answer 6

Let me be a little different with this Spansh idiom.

"Por poco se cae."

Hola Daniela, Gracias me gusta esta foto saludos :) - ricanboysmooth621, Feb 1, 2015

Hola, "Smoothie" - Daniela2041, Feb 1, 2015

Answer 7

The fact that he almost fell happened in the past. So the tense should be past tense, not present tense. Chantaneeyip

It's not quite that simple :(. I hope that my explanation above might help u see why

Answer 8

Él casi se cayó.

Answer 9

I think "He almost fell" in Spañish is "Casi caigó"

The preterite of "caer" if you want it is "cayó. - Daniela2041, Feb 1, 2015

The fact that he almost fell happened in the past. So the tense should be past tense, not present tense. - chantaneeyip, Feb 1, 2015

Answer 10

He almost fell =

1. (él) casi se cayó.

2. (él) casi cayó

Context will dictate.

Anybody from the previous posters would like to give it a shot?