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I almost quit my job (It implies that I didn't). Ho quasi lasciato il mio lavoro.

Does it mean exactly the same thing, implying that I still have my job?

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5 Answers 5

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"Quasi" is fine, but to be more clear (and emphatic) I would have used

Per poco non lasciavo il lavoro

which conveys clearly both the fact that in the end I opted to keep it, but that I almost got there.

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I'm Italian and I prefer Vic's version:

Ho quasi lasciato il mio lavoro (perché mi trattano male).

I almost quit my job (because they treat me badly).

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  • 1
    perché , not perchè : please fix that accent.
    – magma
    Mar 26, 2014 at 11:19
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Yes, but I'd prefer using imperfetto and omitting the possessive

Quasi lasciavo il lavoro

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    Why do you prefer using imperfetto?
    – Vic
    Mar 25, 2014 at 11:57
  • @Vic I find it more colloquial; probably the grammar would prescribe quasi lasciai il lavoro.
    – egreg
    Mar 25, 2014 at 11:59
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    consider also regional variations; as a native Italian speaker, I find @egreg's form slightly awkward, while I find yours perfect, despite him being a native Italian speaker from a nearby region.
    – magma
    Mar 25, 2014 at 12:46
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    The use of the imperfetto confused me, but from what I have studied , "Quasi lasciai il lavoro", could be seen in a book, or heard in Sicily and other southern regions, isn't that right?
    – Vic
    Mar 25, 2014 at 13:00
  • @Vic Probably yes. In the North passato remoto is used really sparingly; mostly when you want to refer to something that happened a long ago. Although it would be more grammatically correct in most circumstances. By the way: I agree with egreg that imperfetto sounds more colloquial and would sound strange only in formal contexts. I think it sounds as if the speaker is somehow "passionate" about the statement (I'd imagine the speaker gesticulating when saying that), while ho quasi lasciato sounds a bit detached from the fact.
    – Bakuriu
    Mar 26, 2014 at 9:51
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In your example the two sentences do have the same meaning (compare the definitions: almost, quasi) but, generally speaking, "almost" and "quasi" are not always equivalent, as "quasi" has one more meaning that "almost" has not.

In fact "quasi" can also mean "as if":

Come, come se fosse ...: [...] Frequente con un part. pass.: avanzava veloce, q. portato dal vento. In funzione di cong. subordinativa (col senso di «come se»), col verbo al congiuntivo: insisteva, q. avesse ragione lui;

Source: http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/quasi/

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Still another possibility:

Stavo quasi per lasciare il mio lavoro

which is not a past continuous :-)

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