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ところだった details

write + very nearly

kaku tokoro datta

very nearly; came within an inch of — and it did not happen

meaning: came within an inch of writing

階段かいだんで足あしを滑すべらせて、危あぶなく転ぶころぶところだった。

kaidan de ashi o suberasete, abunaku korobu tokoro datta.

I slipped on the stairs and came within an inch of falling. neutral

あぶな！財布さいふ忘わすれるとこだった。

abuna! saifu wasureru toko datta.

Phew — I nearly left my wallet behind. casual

  • contraction
  • polite

Examples

very nearly — the event came one step from happening and was avoided, usually with 危[あぶ]なく or もう少[すこ]しで

階段かいだんで足あしを滑すべらせて、危あぶなく転ころぶところだった。

kaidan de ashi o suberasete, abunaku korobutokorodatta.

I slipped on the stairs and came within an inch of falling. neutral

あぶな！財布さいふ忘わすれるとこだった。

abuna! saifu wasureru toko datta.

Phew — I nearly left my wallet behind. casual

危あやうくお客様きゃくさまに誤あやまったご案内あんないをするところでした。

ayauku okyakusama ni ayamatta go annai o suru tokoro deshita.

I very nearly gave the customer the wrong information. formal

Formation

Variant notes

Notes

The dictionary form is what makes it a near miss. Put た in front and the
frame flips to the plain past of ところだ: 着ついたところだった is "had
just arrived", not "almost arrived".

Related patterns

Similar

  • 〜かける

    〜かける needs real progress already made toward the event, finished or not (死しにかけて助たすかった); 〜るところだった needs only that the situation stood one step away, with no progress at all — which is why the near-miss adverbs pick it and not かける (もう少すこしで死しぬところだった, ×もう少しで死しにかけた).

Lookalikes

  • ところだ

    ところだ's dictionary-form row goes past exactly here, and the shift adds a claim the present tense never made — 落おちるところだった says nobody fell. Its た row's past says the opposite, 着ついたところだった being an arrival that happened; the same ending, two incompatible verdicts, decided by the form in front of it.

  • ところに

    ところだった is the sentence's own predicate and its whole point is that the event stopped short (遅刻ちこくするところだった — nobody was late); ところに is only a time frame for whatever cuts in and makes no claim either way about the framed event — 出でかけるところに客きゃくが来きた leaves it open whether the speaker ever got out the door.