Breakdown of El niño está a punto de ahogarse con la carne.
de
from / of
el niño
the boy
estar
to be (location/state)
con
with
a
to
la carne
meat
el punto
dot / point
ahogarse
to drown, to choke
Questions & Answers about El niño está a punto de ahogarse con la carne.
How do we use estar a punto de in this sentence?
This phrase translates to "to be about to." To use it, you conjugate the verb estar (here, está for "he is") and follow it with a punto de plus an infinitive verb (here, ahogarse). It is used to describe an action that is on the verge of happening.
Why is ahogarse used here instead of just ahogar?
Why does the sentence use con instead of a literal translation for "on"?
Prepositions often do not translate word-for-word between English and Spanish. While in English you choke "on" something, in Spanish you use ahogarse con (literally, to suffocate "with" something).
Can I move the pronoun se to a different part of the sentence?
Yes! When you have a conjugated verb phrase followed by an infinitive, you can either attach the pronoun to the end of the infinitive (as seen here: ahogarse) or place it right before the conjugated verb (estar). So, you could also say: El niño se está a punto de ahogar con la carne. Both are completely correct.
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