Word
Estoy a punto de desmayarme porque hace mucho calor.
Meaning
I am about to faint because it is very hot.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Estoy a punto de desmayarme porque hace mucho calor.
de
from / of
mucho
many / a lot
estar
to be (location/state)
el calor
the heat
Questions & Answers about Estoy a punto de desmayarme porque hace mucho calor.
How does the phrase estar a punto de work in this sentence?
This phrase means "to be about to" do something. You conjugate estar for the subject (here, estoy for "I"), leave a punto de exactly as it is, and follow it with an infinitive (an unconjugated verb), which in this case is desmayarme.
Why is the me attached to the end of desmayar?
The verb for "to faint" is the reflexive verb desmayarse. Because the verb is in its infinitive form after a punto de, you attach the reflexive pronoun me directly to the end to match the "I" subject. You could also place it before the conjugated verb (Me estoy a punto de desmayar), but attaching it is a very natural choice here.
Why do we use hace instead of a word for "it is" like es or está for the weather?
If the translation says "very hot", why doesn't the sentence use muy?