Word
Ceux qui aiment la grotte sont sur le point de l'explorer.
Meaning
Those who love the cave are about to explore it.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ceux qui aiment la grotte sont sur le point de l'explorer.
qui
who
aimer
to like, to love
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
explorer
to explore
Questions & Answers about Ceux qui aiment la grotte sont sur le point de l'explorer.
Why use Ceux here instead of Ces?
Ceux is a demonstrative pronoun meaning 'those' (referring to people in general here). You use ceux (or its variants like celui, celle, celles) when it stands alone as a pronoun, often followed by a relative pronoun like qui. Ces is an adjective that must be followed directly by a noun, like ces personnes (these people).
What does the expression sur le point de mean here?
Être sur le point de is a common expression meaning 'to be about to' or 'to be on the verge of' doing something. Much like the lesson's focus on à moins de, this expression ends in the preposition de and is used to introduce an action.
Why is explorer in the infinitive form instead of conjugated?
In French, prepositions like de (as well as à, pour, sans, and phrases ending in them like sur le point de or à moins de) are always followed by the infinitive form of a verb. You cannot place a conjugated verb directly after these prepositions.
Why is the pronoun l' placed right before explorer rather than before the conjugated verb sont?