ところだった ②Was just about to do something, Was in the middle of...

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  wrt7MameLZE33wlmpCAV

  I suppose I could see this being translated either way. Either, “despite finally (having been in the process of) getting used to it,” or, “despite having finally gotten used to it.” In fact, I think the first translation has the same flavor of being somewhat ambiguious. You could take it to mean I was used to it but still growing more so, or that I was fully and thoroughly accustomed to it, I think.

  The 馴れる spelling in reference to 仕事 here made me

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  779

  How does this compare to “そうになった”/“そうだった”?
  As in: 滑って転びそうになった
  滑って転ぶところだった
  Also, does もう少しで simply just add emphasis that something was very close? And can it be used with both?

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  Asher

  Good question! そうになった focuses on what something ‘seemed like’, while ところだった focuses on the actual reality of the situation. In the examples you presented, here’s how I see them -

  With 滑って転びそうになった, it would be more likely that someone would say this about someone that they saw almost fall, rather than themselves. If you almost fell yourself, you would have knowledge of if you were actually about to fall or not, so そうになる would be less natural.

  With 滑って転ぶところだった, it would be perfectly natural to say this one about almost falling yourself, as you’d have intimate knowledge of whether you were actually about to fall or not.