What does ます形 + そうになった mean?


While reading an article, I came across this sentence (the article is
describing people's reaction to a movie):

> 若い女性は「泣きそうになりました。すばらしかったです」と話していました。
>
> A young girl said, "I started crying. It was amazing."

I was under the impression that the ます形＋そう is used to **guess or describe
based on appearance** and is usually translated as "seems" or "looks". It
seems odd to me that someone would describe herself as having a "crying"
appearance rather than simply stating that she was crying. Is this a different
usage of そう that I am unfamiliar with? Is she perhaps stating that she
actually **did not** cry and only looked like she was about to?

Finally, just to solidify my understanding, would the meaning change
significantly if instead of 泣きそうになりました she said something like 泣きました or
泣いてしまいました?




> 「Verb in 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) + そうになる」

can _**only**_ mean " _ **to be about to (verb)**_ ", " _ **to come close to
(verb + ing)**_ ", etc. I would strongly suggest that one learn this as a set
phrase.

You were obviously thinking of the meaning of 「そう」 in general when it is
**not** followed by 「になる」.

Thus,

> 「泣{な}きそうになりました」

does _**not**_ really mean "I started crying." It means:

> "I was about to cry." or "I came close to crying."

**In other words, she did not really cry**.

> Finally, just to solidify my understanding, would the meaning change
> significantly if instead of 泣きそうになりました she said something like 泣きました or
> 泣いてしまいました?

Yes, of course. That would mean she actually cried.




> 「Verb in 連用形{れんようけい} (continuative form) + そうになる」

can _**only**_ mean " _ **to be about to (verb)**_ ", " _ **to come close to
(verb + ing)**_ ", etc. I would strongly suggest that one learn this as a set
phrase.

You were obviously thinking of the meaning of 「そう」 in general when it is
**not** followed by 「になる」.

Thus,

> 「泣{な}きそうになりました」

does _**not**_ really mean "I started crying." It means:

> "I was about to cry." or "I came close to crying."

**In other words, she did not really cry**.

> Finally, just to solidify my understanding, would the meaning change
> significantly if instead of 泣きそうになりました she said something like 泣きました or
> 泣いてしまいました?

Yes, of course. That would mean she actually cried.

