على وشك

Arabic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕa.laː waʃ.ki/, /ʕa.laː waʃk/

Preposition

عَلَى وَشْكِ • (ʕalā waški)

1. almost, nearly

   عَلَى وَشْكِ أَنْ يَسْقُطَ ― ʕalā waški ʔan yasquṭa ― He almost fell

2. about to, almost

   كَانَ عَلَى وَشْكِ الوُصُولِ إِلَى البَيْتِ

   kāna ʕalā waški al-wuṣūli ʔilā l-bayti

   He almost arrived at home

Usage notes

Either followed by أَنْ (ʔan) + subjunctive or a verbal noun (maṣdar) as the second term of ʾiḍāfa.

Synonyms

• كَادَ (kāda)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “وشك”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN