Πήγα να πέσω στο πεζοδρόμιο, γιατί περπατούσα γρήγορα και δεν κοίταγα κάτω.

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Breakdown of Πήγα να πέσω στο πεζοδρόμιο, γιατί περπατούσα γρήγορα και δεν κοίταγα κάτω.

• δεν: not
• γιατί: because
• γρήγορα: fast

Questions & Answers about Πήγα να πέσω στο πεζοδρόμιο, γιατί περπατούσα γρήγορα και δεν κοίταγα κάτω.

Why does πήγα να πέσω mean I almost fell? It looks like I went to fall.

This is a very common Greek pattern:

πάω / πήγα + να + verb

It often does not mean literal movement. In many everyday sentences, it means that something was about to happen, often unexpectedly.

So:

• Πήγα να πέσω = I almost fell
• literally, word-for-word, it looks like I went to fall
• but idiomatically it means I came close to falling

You can think of it as similar to:

• I nearly fell
• I was about to fall

This is a fixed and very useful expression in spoken Greek.

Examples:

• Πήγα να γελάσω. = I almost laughed.
• Πήγε να κλάψει. = She almost cried.
• Πήγα να τρελαθώ. = I almost went crazy.

So in this sentence, πήγα να πέσω is best learned as a chunk meaning I almost fell.

Why is it πέσω and not πέφτω after να?