Breakdown of Ils sont sur le point de changer les pneus parce qu'il conduit le plus dangereusement.
il
he
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
parce que
because
changer
to change
plus
more
conduire
to drive
dangereusement
dangerously
être sur le point de
to be about to
le pneu
the tire
Questions & Answers about Ils sont sur le point de changer les pneus parce qu'il conduit le plus dangereusement.
Why is it le plus dangereusement instead of matching a gender or number?
Because dangereusement is an adverb (it describes how he drives, not a noun). Adverbs are invariable in French, meaning they never change form to match gender or quantity. Because of this, when you want to say "the most [adverb]", you must always use the fixed phrase le plus, even if the subject doing the action is feminine or plural.
How is the adverb dangereusement formed?
What does the phrase sur le point de mean?
The expression être sur le point de followed by an infinitive verb is a very common idiom that means "to be about to" do something. In this sentence, Ils sont sur le point de changer translates directly to "They are about to change".
Why isn't the verb changer conjugated?
Because it directly follows the preposition de (as part of the phrase sur le point de). In French, whenever a verb immediately follows a preposition like de, à, or pour, it must stay in its unconjugated dictionary form (the infinitive).
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