Breakdown of İyi ki korkuluk vardı, az kalsın vadiye düşüyordu.
var
there is / existent
düşmek
to fall
vadi
valley
iyi ki
fortunately / it is a good thing that
Questions & Answers about İyi ki korkuluk vardı, az kalsın vadiye düşüyordu.
Why use the past continuous düşüyordu instead of the simple past düştü for "almost fell"?
When talking about an averted action—something that almost happened but didn't—Turkish pairs words like az kalsın or neredeyse with the past continuous tense (-yordu). While English uses the simple past ("he almost fell"), Turkish conceptually treats it as "he was in the process of falling (but it was stopped)." Saying az kalsın düştü would sound unnatural.
Could I use neredeyse instead of az kalsın in this sentence?
Absolutely. When expressing that a past action was narrowly avoided, az kalsın and neredeyse are completely interchangeable. Neredeyse vadiye düşüyordu means exactly the same thing.
Why is the dative case used for vadiye (into the valley) instead of the locative vadide (in the valley)?
The verb düşmek (to fall) requires the dative case (-e/-a) because it implies motion towards a destination. Even though he didn't actually hit the valley floor, the direction of the averted fall was into the valley (vadi + buffer y + e).
Can iyi ki be placed at the end of the clause instead of the beginning?