Learn About the French Verb Faillir

Faillir is a very interesting and useful French verb. It is irregular in conjugation and does not have an English equivalent; the simplest translation is to almost do something.​ Faillir is usually followed by an infinitive and can be translated by to almost do something, to all but do something, to very nearly do something, or to narrowly miss doing something. Faillir is most commonly used in the past: Jai failli tomber. - I almost fell.Nous avons failli rater le train. - We very nearly missed the train.Il a failli dire  « non  » avant dy rà ©flà ©chir.  - He almost said no before thinking about it. Faillir à   Faillir à   is followed by a noun and means to fail in/at or to fail to keep: Jai failli à   ma mission. - I failed in my mission.Il a failli à   sa parole. - He failed to keep his word. Expressions with Faillir faillir à   la tradition - to break with traditionne pas faillir à   sa parole - to keep / be true to ones wordne pas faillir à   sa rà ©putation - to live up to ones reputationrà ©sister jusquau bout sans faillir - to resist unflinchingly to the end Conjugations Though this verb has conjugations in all the tenses, faillir is used almost exclusively in the past (passà © composà ©, passà © simple, and plus-que-parfait), so the past participle failli is the most important form for you to know. To talk about nearly doing something in another tense, manquer de is preferable (though the meaning is subtly different). Note that il faut is the third person singular present tense of both faillir and the impersonal verb falloir.