Breakdown of J'ai failli avoir une crise cardiaque, mais quel soulagement !
je
I
une
a / an (feminine)
mais
but
avoir
to have
quel
which / what (adjective)
faillir
to almost (do)
la crise cardiaque
the heart attack
le soulagement
the relief
Questions & Answers about J'ai failli avoir une crise cardiaque, mais quel soulagement !
Why do we use the passé composé (j'ai failli) to mean "I almost had"?
In French, a near-miss is treated as a completed past event. The moment where you "narrowly missed" the action is over. To say you almost did something, you will almost always use the passé composé of faillir followed directly by an infinitive (here, avoir).
Could I just say j'ai presque eu instead of j'ai failli avoir?
Yes, j'ai presque eu is perfectly correct and means essentially the same thing. However, faillir + infinitive is an extremely common, natural idiom in French for near-misses, accidents, or strong reactions, and it often emphasizes the narrowness of the escape.
The English says "what a relief". Why is there no article like un after quel?
When making an exclamation with quel (what / what a), French does not use an indefinite article. You simply put the noun directly after the exclamatory word, so "what a relief!" becomes quel soulagement !.
Does the verb faillir only mean "to almost do" something?
When followed directly by an infinitive, yes. But if used with the preposition à, it means "to fail" or "to fall short." For example, faillir à ses responsabilités means "to fail in one's responsibilities."
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