Breakdown of En raison du surmenage, elle sombre dans l'épuisement au point d'abandonner.
elle
she
dans
in, inside
abandonner
to abandon, to give up
en raison de
due to
au point de
to the point of
le surmenage
the overwork
sombrer
to sink
l'épuisement
the exhaustion (m)
Questions & Answers about En raison du surmenage, elle sombre dans l'épuisement au point d'abandonner.
Why does this sentence use the infinitive abandonner instead of a conjugated verb?
The phrase au point de (to the point of) must be followed by an infinitive. We use this structure because the person sinking into exhaustion (elle) is the exact same person who is giving up. If the person giving up were someone else, you would have to use au point que followed by a conjugated verb.
Could I use à cause de instead of en raison de to say "because of"?
Yes! Both mean "because of" or "due to". However, en raison de is slightly more formal and often states an objective fact or reason. À cause de is more common in everyday spoken French and often points the finger at a negative cause. Given the negative context of overwork, à cause du surmenage would also work perfectly here.
Why do we say du surmenage rather than just de surmenage?
The expression is en raison de + noun. Because surmenage (overwork) is a masculine noun being talked about in a general sense, it takes the definite article le. In French, the preposition de and the article le always contract to form du.
Is sombrer the usual word for a ship sinking, or is it only used for feelings?
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