Imminent Actions with "være lige ved at"
When you need to describe an action that almost happened—like a near-miss or narrowly avoiding a disaster—you can use the phrase være lige ved at followed by the infinitive form of a verb.
This translates to "to be just about to" do something, or "almost" doing something.
| I was about to knock over the vase because I am so clumsy. | Jeg var lige ved at vælte vasen fordi jeg er så klodset. |
| The computer was about to fall over while we moved the table. | Computeren var lige ved at vælte mens vi flyttede bordet. |
Close Calls and Clumsiness
This construction is incredibly useful for telling stories about clumsy moments. To do this, you will often use action verbs like snuble (to trip), glide (to slip), or træde (to step) alongside household hazards like ledningen (the cord).
Notice how the near-miss is placed in the past tense (var lige ved at) to show that the action was imminent but ultimately did not happen.
| My brother tripped over the cord and was about to fall. | Min bror snublede over ledningen og var lige ved at falde. |
| I had lost my balance and was about to slip. | Jeg havde mistet balancen og var lige ved at glide. |
Saving the Day
Often, a story about a close call will end with how the disaster was avoided. You can join the imminent action with the resolution using conjunctions like men (but).
A very common verb to use in these situations is gribe (to catch), which explains how the person or object was stopped from falling at the last second.
| She was about to trip, but he caught her. | Hun var lige ved at snuble, men han greb hende. |
| The man tripped and was just about to drop the vase, but the woman caught it. | Manden snublede og var lige ved at tabe vasen, men kvinden greb den. |
