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Le développeur a failli redémarrer sans la sauvegarde.

Le développeur a failli redémarrer sans la sauvegarde.
The developer almost restarted without the backup.
From Lesson 371:Near misses (faillir)·French

Questions & Answers about Le développeur a failli redémarrer sans la sauvegarde.

Doesn't faillir normally mean 'to fail'? How does a failli redémarrer mean 'almost restarted'?
While faillir can mean 'to fail' in formal contexts, when it is used in the passé composé directly followed by an infinitive (like redémarrer), it forms a special structure meaning 'almost did' or 'narrowly missed doing' something. It implies the action was on the verge of happening but ultimately didn't.
Could I just say Le développeur a presque redémarré instead?
Yes, you could. However, a failli redémarrer carries a slightly stronger emotional weight of a near miss or narrowly avoiding a disaster, which fits perfectly with almost losing data by restarting without a backup. A presque redémarré is more of a neutral statement of fact.
Why isn't there a preposition like de or à between a failli and redémarrer?
Faillir is a verb that takes a direct infinitive. Just like with vouloir or pouvoir, you don't need à or de to connect it to the action that almost happened. The structure is always simply faillir plus the infinitive.
I recognize sauve (save) and garde (keep) in sauvegarde. Is that how this word is formed?
Exactly! It combines the concepts of saving (sauve) and keeping or guarding (garde). In modern tech vocabulary, la sauvegarde is the standard noun for a computer backup, and the verb to back up is sauvegarder.

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