Learn Hardcore Greek: Παραλίγο να πατήσω ένα καρφί στο μπαλκόνι, αλλά το είδα νωρίς και το μάζεψα. - I almost stepped on a nail on the balcony, but I saw it early and picked it up.

Breakdown of Παραλίγο να πατήσω ένα καρφί στο μπαλκόνι, αλλά το είδα νωρίς και το μάζεψα.

What does παραλίγο να mean?

Παραλίγο να means almost in the sense of something nearly happened, but didn’t.

So Παραλίγο να πατήσω ένα καρφί means that the speaker came close to stepping on a nail, but in the end did not.

This is a very common Greek pattern:

The important idea is that the action was close to happening but was avoided.

Why is it πατήσω after να, not πάτησα?

Because after να, Greek normally uses a subjunctive-type form, not the ordinary past tense form.

Here:

So in Παραλίγο να πατήσω, the verb is in the form required by να.

A useful way to think about it is:

With παραλίγο να, Greek often uses the aorist subjunctive because it refers to a single whole action that almost happened.

Is πατήσω from πατάω?