Questions & Answers about نزدیک بود که در آن اتاق پر از دود خفه بشویم.
Why is خفه بشویم in the present subjunctive when the English translation is in the past tense ("almost choked")?
This is exactly how نزدیک بود که (it was close that) works! The phrase establishes the past context, but the action itself hasn't happened yet from that past perspective. Because it's a potential or impending action rather than a completed one, Farsi requires the present subjunctive (خفه بشویم).
Is there an ezafe linking اتاق (room) and پر از دود (full of smoke)?
Yes. Even though it's not written out, it is pronounced otāq-e por az dud. The phrase پر از دود functions as a descriptive adjective phrase modifying اتاق, so you need the ezafe vowel to connect them.
Could I drop the که after نزدیک بود in everyday conversation?
Absolutely. In spoken and informal written Farsi, it is very common to drop the که and just say نزدیک بود در آن اتاق.... The subjunctive verb at the end still makes the grammatical structure perfectly clear.
The verb here is خفه شدن (to choke/suffocate). How would I say "to choke someone else"?
خفه شدن literally means "to become choked" (it is something that happens to you). To describe the active action of choking someone or putting out a fire, you would switch the auxiliary verb to کردن and use خفه کردن.