sur le point de

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French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /syʁ lə pwɛ̃ də/
  • (file)

Preposition

sur le point de

  1. on the brink of; on the verge of, about to, on the point of
    Synonym: en passe de
    Il était sur le point de pleurer.He was about to cry.
    • 1957, Georges Simenon, Maigret s'amuse, CMI Publishing, published 2020, →ISBN, page 110:
      Il attendit patiemment qu’elle eût fait la vaisselle et il fut même sur le point de l’aider.
      He waited patiently for her to wash the dishes and was even about to help her.
    • 1969, Le putto dans l'art romain [The putto in Roman art], Brussels: éd. Latomus, page 17:
      Notons qu’il existe, entre les deux races, quelques exemples d’un type mixte : voici un putto couronné de lierre dont la tête fait penser à celle d’un satyreau, ou, mieux encore, un putto sur le point de se métamorphoser en satyreau, []
      Let us note that there are some examples of a mixed type between the two races; here a putto crowned with ivy whose head is reminiscent of a young satyr, or, better yet, a putto on the verge of transforming into a young satyr