Easy Korean - Level 6, Unit 21: Almost did... (-(으)ㄹ 뻔하다)

When you narrowly escape a situation or almost do something (but you ultimately didn't), you use the structure -(으)ㄹ 뻔하다.

Because this grammar point describes something that almost happened in the past, the final verb '하다' is almost always conjugated in the past tense: -(으)ㄹ 뻔했어요.

How to Conjugate

Just like other future-tense style modifiers:

1. Vowel stem: Add -ㄹ 뻔했어요 * 가다 -> 갈 뻔했어요 (I almost went) * 사다 -> 살 뻔했어요 (I almost bought it)

2. Consonant stem: Add -을 뻔했어요 * 먹다 -> 먹을 뻔했어요 (I almost ate it) * 늦다 -> 늦을 뻔했어요 (I was almost late) * 죽다 -> 죽을 뻔했어요 (I almost died - very common exaggeration!)

3. ㄹ stem: Add -뻔했어요 * 울다 -> 울 뻔했어요 (I almost cried) * 떨어지다 -> 떨어질 뻔했어요 (I almost fell)

Using 하마터면 for emphasis

Koreans often use the adverb 하마터면 (ha-ma-teo-myeon) at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize the "almost" or the narrow escape. It translates loosely to "by a hair's breadth" or "narrowly."

• 하마터면 늦을 뻔했어요. (I narrowly missed being late. / I was so close to being late.)

Common Phrases

• 큰일날 뻔했어요! (It was almost a huge disaster! / That was close!)
• 잊어버릴 뻔했어요! (I almost forgot!)

Example Sentences

1. 버스를 놓칠 뻔했어요. (I almost missed the bus.)
2. 하마터면 영화를 못 볼 뻔했어요. (We almost didn't get to watch the movie.)
3. 길이 미끄러워서 넘어질 뻔했어요. (The road was slippery, so I almost fell over.)
4. 너무 무서워서 울 뻔했어요. (I was so scared I almost cried.)