～かける
halfway / about to
～かける attaches to the ます-stem of a verb and means the action started but was not finished, or was just about to happen: 食べかける “start eating (and stop)”, 死にかける “nearly die”.
It is the mirror image of ～切る (do completely): ～かける stops the action partway, or even right before it begins. The noun form ～かけ, as in 食べかけのパン “a half-eaten piece of bread”, describes things left in that unfinished state.
1. On the verge of happening
With verbs like 死ぬ, ～かける means the event very nearly happened but did not.
彼はおぼれて死にかけた。
“He nearly drowned.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- おぼれて = drowning (て-form)
- 死にかけた（しにかけた）= nearly died
2. Started but left unfinished
With everyday actions, ～かける（or the noun form ～かけの + noun） means the action began and then stopped partway.
テーブルの上に食べかけのパンが置いてある。
“There is a half-eaten piece of bread on the table.”
- テーブル = table
- の上に（のうえに）= on top of
- 食べかけ（たべかけ）= half-eaten
- の = noun-linking particle
- パン = bread
- が = subject marker
- 置いてある（おいてある）= has been left there
How to form it
Verb ます-stem + かける（noun form: ます-stem + かけ）
- 食べる（たべる）= to eat → 食べかける（たべかける）= start eating and stop
- 死ぬ（しぬ）= to die → 死にかける（しにかける）= nearly die
- 読む（よむ）= to read → 読みかけの本（よみかけのほん）= a book one has started but not finished
Key idea
～かける freezes an action partway: it got going, or was a hair's breadth from happening, but never reached the end.
Other N2 grammar
Updated .