-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다
(eu)l ppeonhada
Grammar · 1 sense
Almost, nearly
Examples
친구와 통화하다가 음식을 다 태울 뻔했어요.
I was talking with my friend on the phone and almost burned all my food.
네가 전화하지 않았더라면 약속을 잊어버릴 뻔했어요.
If you hadn't called me, I would have forgotten the appointment.
너무 추워서 죽을 뻔했어요.
It was so cold, I almost die.
When you'd hear it
This pattern is common in everyday conversation, including stories about accidents, mistakes, and narrowly avoided problems. It also appears in casual writing and subtitles, and can be made polite with 했어요 or formal with 했습니다.
What learners get wrong
Learners may confuse it with -(으)ㄹ 것 같다, which expresses a guess or expectation. -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다 describes something that nearly happened, usually but not actually did happen.
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