B1 (Intermediate)
The French word of the day is: avoir failli, which means “to almost”. Keep reading for a quick explanation and example sentences.
avoir failli – IPA pronunciation [avwar faji]
to almost
French Word of the Day: Learn “Avoir Failli” (to Almost
Word origin
The Modern French verb faillir comes from fallere (to fail, to be mistaken) in Classic Latin.
Grammatical explanation
In French, the verb faillir on its own means “to fail”. However, when used in the passé composé and followed by an infinitive, avoir failli means “to almost”. Here, the verb avoir (to have) is the auxiliary verb. For example, J’ai failli parler (I almost spoke).
Avoir failli example sentences
J’ai failli tomber dans la rue.
I almost fell in the street.
Elle a failli oublier ses clés.
She almost forgot her keys.
C’est dommage. Claude a failli à sa promesse.
What a shame. Claude failed to keep his promise.
For this last sentence, faillir à + noun means “to fail to keep”.
Continue learning French!
Following this lesson on avoir failli, it would be a great idea to check out this lesson covering the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense.
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