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To talk about a close call—something that almost happened but was narrowly averted—Turkish uses the words **az kalsın** or **neredeyse** (almost / nearly).

### Using the Past Continuous Tense

When using these words to describe a past averted action, the verb must be conjugated in the **Past Continuous** tense. Even though English uses the simple past ("I almost fell"), Turkish conceptually treats it as "I almost *was falling*."

To build this, add the continuous suffix **-yor** and the past tense suffix **-du** to the verb stem, followed by your personal suffix. Because **-yor** always ends in a rounded vowel, the past suffix will always be **-du**.

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### Az Kalsın and Neredeyse are Interchangeable

Both **az kalsın** and **neredeyse** serve the exact same function. You can swap them freely, placing them right before the verb or earlier in the clause.

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### Close Calls with Injuries and Nature

This structure is very common when recounting accidents, minor injuries, or dangerous encounters in nature. Just remember to always use the past continuous tense for the averted action.

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Almost doing something (az kalsın / neredeyse)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

postposition

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstrative pronouns (bu, şu, o)

Basic question words (kim, ne)

Plural nouns (-lar, -ler)

I am and you are (-(y)ım, -sın)

We, you, and they are (-(y)ız, -sınız)

Negative statements (değil)

Yes and no questions (mı, mi, mu, mü)

Questions with 'to be' (mısın, mıyım)

Numbers 1 to 10 (bir, iki, üç)

Numbers 11 to 20 (on bir, on iki)

Numbers by tens to 100 (otuz, kırk...)

Counting objects (tane)

The locative case (-da, -de)

Consonant assimilation (-ta, -te)

Asking where (nerede)

There is / there are (var)

There is not / there are not (yok)

Asking how many (kaç)

Infinitive verbs (-mak, -mek)

Informal commands (git, gel)

Negative commands (-ma, -me)

Polite and plural commands (-In, -InIz)

Basic word order

Present continuous for consonant roots (-iyor)

Present continuous for vowel roots (-iyor)

Present continuous personal suffixes (-iyorum)

Negative present continuous (-miyor)

Present continuous questions (-iyor mu)

Future plans with present continuous

The dative case (-(y)a, -(y)e)

Consonant mutation (k, t, p, ç to ğ, d, b, c)

From or out of (-dan / -den)

Directional question words (nereye, nereden)

First and second person possessives (-(i)m, -(i)n)

Third person possessive (-(s)i)

Plural possessives (-imiz, -iniz, -leri)

The genitive case (-(n)in)

Definite noun compounds (-nin ... -si)

Indefinite noun compounds (bare noun + -(s)i)

Possessive buffer letter (n)

Spatial postpositions (içinde, üstünde)

The definite direct object (-(y)ı, -(y)i)

Object question words (kimi, neyi)

Adjectives modifying nouns

Manner and choice questions (nasıl, hangi)

Basic degree modifiers (çok, biraz)

Comparisons (daha, en)

Days of the week

Months of the year

The time question word (ne zaman)

Telling time (saat, buçuk)

Asking the time (saat kaç, saat kaçta)

Basic conjunctions (ve, ama, veya)

Causality conjunction (çünkü)

Means and accompaniment (ile, -(y)lA)

Purpose and beneficiaries (için)

Expressing desire (-mak istemek)

The past copula (-(y)DI)

The direct past tense (-DI)

Past tense personal suffixes (-DIm, -DIn)

Past tense negative (-mAdI)

Past tense questions (-DI mI)

Ordinal numbers (-(I)ncI)

Greetings and politeness

Saying 'too' (de, da)

Conversation fillers (şey, yani, hadi)

Conversational essentials

Reflexive pronouns (kendim, kendin)

Reciprocal pronouns (birbiri)

Indefinite pronouns for people (herkes, kimse)

Indefinite pronouns for things and places (her şey, hiçbir şey)

Conjunctions of consequence (bu yüzden, bu nedenle)

Correlative conjunctions (hem... hem, ne... ne)

Verbs taking the dative case (-e / -a)

Verbs taking the ablative case (-den / -dan)

Time origin (beri)

Time duration (-DIr)

Comparisons of similarity (gibi)

Comparisons of equality (kadar)

Perspectives (göre)

Verbal nouns (-mA / -mE)

Verbal nouns as objects (-mAyI / -mEyI)

Verbal nouns with the dative (-mAyA / -mEyA)

General necessity (lazım / gerek)

Personal necessity (-mAm lazım)

Third-person commands (-sIn / -sInlAr)

First person singular optative (-(y)AyIm)

Question	Answer
cliff / rocky area (rocky terrain)	kayalık
almost / nearly	az kalsın
We were walking towards the cliff, I almost fell.	Kayalığa doğru yürüyorduk, az kalsın düşüyordum.
We almost rolled off the cliff.	Neredeyse kayalıktan yuvarlanıyorduk.
railing / guardrail	korkuluk
Good thing the railing was there, he almost fell into the valley.	İyi ki korkuluk vardı, az kalsın vadiye düşüyordu.
They almost broke the wooden railing.	Neredeyse tahta korkuluğu kırıyorlardı.
to be hurt / to be injured	incinmek
You almost sprained your ankle yesterday, are you hurt anywhere?	Dün az kalsın bileğini burkuyordun, bir yerin incindi mi?
My shoulder got hurt, but I almost broke my arm.	Omzum incindi ama neredeyse kolumu kırıyordum.
cramp	kramp
I was swimming in the lake, I almost got a cramp in my leg.	Gölde yüzüyordum, az kalsın bacağıma kramp giriyordu.
Good thing we took a break, I almost got a cramp.	İyi ki mola verdik, neredeyse kramp giriyordu.
to bleed	kanamak
My knee was bleeding a lot, I almost fainted.	Dizim çok kanıyordu, az kalsın bayılıyordum.
His hand was bleeding, we almost called an ambulance.	Eli kanıyordu, neredeyse ambulans çağırıyorduk.
band-aid / plaster	yara bandı
There was no band-aid in the bag, my wound almost got worse.	Çantada yara bandı yoktu, yaram az kalsın kötüleşiyordu.
I almost cut my finger, do you have a band-aid?	Az kalsın parmağımı kesiyordum, sende yara bandı var mı?
avalanche	çığ
We were climbing the mountain, an avalanche almost occurred.	Dağa tırmanıyorduk, az kalsın çığ düşüyordu.
Good thing we returned from the facility early, we almost got caught under an avalanche.	İyi ki tesisten erken döndük, neredeyse çığ altında kalıyorduk.
landslide	heyelan
It rained a lot in the forest, there was almost a landslide.	Ormanda çok yağmur yağdı, az kalsın heyelan meydana geliyordu.
The road was closed because of the landslide, we almost had an accident.	Heyelan yüzünden yol kapalıydı, az kalsın kaza yapıyorduk.
bandage	sargı
The nurse almost wrapped the bandage on the wrong leg.	Hemşire az kalsın sargıyı yanlış bacağa sarıyordu.
There was nothing wrong with me, but the doctor almost put a bandage on.	Hiçbir şeyim yoktu ama doktor neredeyse sargı sarıyordu.
suddenly, all at once	birden
The weather suddenly got cold.	Hava birden soğudu.
It suddenly came to my mind.	Birden aklıma geldi.

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