Common mistakes
J’ai failli tomber: French “almost” and four easy mix-ups
J’ai failli means “I almost”, not “I failed to”. Follow a near miss, compare the actual outcomes and check failli plus an infinitive in three questions.
- B1
- 4 corrections
- Examples and fixes
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
J’ai failli + infinitive means “I almost” or “I nearly”: J’ai failli tomber (I nearly fell). Use avoir for ai failli, then name the near-event with an infinitive.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
- J’ai failli tomber.I failed to fallI nearly fell.
J’ai failli tomber, mais je me suis rattrapé.I nearly fell, but I caught myself.
The fall nearly happened. To report an actual fall with a male speaker, say Je suis tombé. A female speaker says Je suis tombée.
- J’ai failli rater le train.I missed the trainI nearly missed the train.
J’ai failli rater le train, mais je suis monté juste à temps.I nearly missed the train, but I got on just in time.
The added outcome makes it clear that the speaker caught it. J’ai raté le train says the train was missed.
- J’ai failli oublier mon billet.I forgot my ticketI almost forgot my ticket.
J’ai failli oublier mon billet. Heureusement, Léa me l’a rappelé.I almost forgot my ticket. Luckily, Léa reminded me.
Oublier stays in the infinitive. For an actual forgotten ticket, say J’ai oublié mon billet.
- J’ai failli ouvrir le fichier.I failed to open the fileI almost opened the file.
J’ai failli ouvrir le mauvais fichier, mais j’ai vu son nom à temps.I almost opened the wrong file, but I saw its name in time.
For an unsuccessful attempt, say Je n’ai pas réussi à ouvrir le fichier. That reports failure to achieve the opening.
A hurried departure
- Léa
Tu as pris le train ?
Did you catch the train?
- Samir
Oui, mais j’ai failli le rater. Je cherchais mon portefeuille.
Yes, but I nearly missed it. I was looking for my wallet.
- Léa
Et ton billet ?
And your ticket?
- Samir
Il était dans ma poche. J’ai aussi failli partir sans ma valise !
It was in my pocket. I nearly left without my suitcase too!
- Léa
Heureusement que tu as tout retrouvé.
Luckily you found everything.
Four things from the departure
Find:
How do you say “almost” with avoir failli?
| Subject | Near-event | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j’ai failli oublier | I almost forgot |
| elle | elle a failli tomber | she nearly fell |
| nous | nous avons failli partir | we almost left |
| elles | elles ont failli rire | they nearly laughed |
Keep failli unchanged with these subjects. The following action is an infinitive: tomber, partir, rire. The spelling tombé belongs in a different construction, such as il est tombé.
J’ai failli ne pas te reconnaître, puis j’ai entendu ta voix.
I almost failed to recognise you, then I heard your voice.
The near-event is the whole phrase ne pas te reconnaître. Here the speaker eventually recognises the other person.