about to | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic,withinfinitiveverb)Indicates something that will happen verysoon; indicates action that isimminent; ready to;went toHe's standing at the edge, and I think he'sabout tojump.She seemedabout tosay something.1769,King James Bible, Oxford Standard text,Acts of the Apostles, xviii, 14And when Paul was nowaboutto open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:1897December (indicated as1898),Winston Churchill, chapter I, inThe Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.:The Macmillan Company; London:Macmillan & Co., Ltd.,→OCLC:I wasaboutto say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.1955April, W. J. Alcock, “Unforgettable Moments”, inRailway Magazine, page271:I had travelled one morning down toAylesbury, and had left my train, and wasabout tocross the footbridge, when I heard the imperious whistle of a "B1." I paused, and round the bend came the "Master Cutler" with its engine working absolutely flat out.; (as negative 'not about to',informal,originallyUS,Canada)Indicates that one has no intention of doing the stated thing at any time in the future.I'm notabout tolet the lockdown stop me from going to the beach every day.I'm notabout towander around at night to find it.; (obsoletein affirmative)Indicates that one is preparing or planning to do the stated thing at some time in the future, not necessarily imminently.[from ca. 1150—1350 to late 18th c.[1]]

Examples:

EN: Just as they are about to explore, an explosion throws the unfortunate men violently in all directions.
ES: Justo cuando están por explorar, una explosión arroja a los desafortunados hombres violentamente en todas direcciones.
EN: A prodigious fact has just occurred this morning in the office of the Clerk of the Court of the prison of Jante, at the time when the hangman was about to prepare the murderer Gurn sentenced to death, that is some minutes before key execution.
ES: Un hecho inaudito acaba de producirse esta mañana en las oficinas de la prisión de la Santé. En el momento en que el verdugo iba a proceder al aseo del asesino Gurn, y pocos minutos antes de la ejecución capital, se constató que no era el hombre a ser decapitado.
EN: At the news of what is about to happen to his beloved,
ES: Ante la noticia de lo que va a hacer su amada,
EN: This world is about to change.
ES: Este mundo va a cambiar.
EN: The Wedding ceremony is about to begin
ES: La ceremia nupcial está a punto de empezar.
EN: "What I am about to say, will heavily affect you."
ES: Lo que tengo que decirte, te va a hacer enfadar. La catástrofe.
EN: "Well, I'm just about to make three, maybe four million dollars."
ES: "Pues estoy a punto de ganar tres, tal vez cuatro millones de dólares."
EN: "Forgive me, please, but my mother is about to arrive from St. Petersburg.
ES: - - Perdonadme, pero mi madre está a punto de llegar de San Petersburgo.
EN: 6 February 1830 I am about to start work on a great symphony or my infernal panics will take over.
ES: 6 de Febrero de 1830 Estoy a punto de comenzar una gran sinfonía o mi infernal dolor aparecerá.
EN: Exclusive: The puzzle of factories Herne about to be solved!
ES: El enigma de la central Herne a punto de ser resuelto.
EN: - It was as if her mind came back when she was about to die.
ES: - - Era como si su mente regresase cuando estaba a punto de morir.
EN: They are about to surrender the maid to the officers of the King."
ES: Están a punto de entregar a la doncella a los soldados del Rey."
EN: "I was about to strike his head off when I saw his wife..."
ES: "Iba a cortarle la cabeza, cuando vi a su esposa..."
EN: But you are about to be arrested!
ES: ¡Pero usted está a punto de ser detenido!
EN: I think Veronica's cheating on me. - Or she's about to. - She has already...
ES: Creo que con Verónica cornudo si no lo ha hecho, esté listo lo habría hecho ya .....

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).