In Spanish, to express that something nearly/almost happened we often use:
We use the present tense in the indicative even though it refers to an action in the past. Sometimes it refers to actions that have almost just happened.
Let's see some examples:
Anoche, cuando subía las escaleras, por poco me caigo.Last night, when I was going upstairs, I almost fell over.
Notice how in Spanish we use El Presente, not the past tense when using por poco, casi and un poco más y. They are all invariable expressions.
More examples:
Por poco se me escapa el secreto y se lo digo a mamá.I almost gave away the secret and [almost] told mum
En el concierto del sábado casi nos desmayamos al ver a Ariana Grande.At the concert on Saturday we nearly fainted when we saw Ariana Grande.
Un poco más y nos detienen por beber alcohol en un lugar público.We nearly got arrested for drinking alcohol in a public space.
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