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Old May 4th, 2009, 01:23 am
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Default Re: on the verge of vs to be about to

No problem:

"About to," just means that something is the next thing I'm going to do: "I'm about to go into town, do you want me to bring you anything?" "I'm about to eat dinner, can I call you back later."

If you use 'about to' with a context, it doesn't have to mean the next thing YOU are going to do. If you work Monday to Friday, but talk to a friend on Saturday, you can say "At work, we're about to start a new project." Obviously, that won't mean that the next thing you do is start the project (it's Saturday, you won't even be at work the next day) but it means it's the next thing you'll do at work.

And, of course, since Americans like to exaggerate, we use 'about to' for things that we'll do soon. . . but not as the very next thing. "He's about to get married," for a person who's getting married next month, for example. Or, "I think John's about to lose his job," meaning he could lose his job in the near future.

Hope that helps. If I'm not clear, please say so!
-Toby
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