Elle va bientôt y passer

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Permalink Reply by Frank on September 28, 2009 at 8:37pm

Hi Pam,

Yes, it usually means that she's about to kick the bucket or that something really bad is bound to happen.

It's not very offensive, but definitely not formal either.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on September 28, 2009 at 8:39pm

Frank, thank you! Could it mean, she's so old she's falling apart, or she's so old she is about to be replaced by a younger person as well? Pam

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Permalink Reply by Frank on September 28, 2009 at 8:42pm

Yes, it can mean both.

Oh this is also something we could say in the waiting room at the dentist's, when the name of a patient is called :)

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on September 28, 2009 at 11:57pm

Hilarious!! Poor old girl!

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Permalink Reply by Une on September 29, 2009 at 6:21pm

So what does the "y" there mean, Frank?

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Permalink Reply by Frank on September 29, 2009 at 6:33pm

Hi Une,

Here's a recent topic about this little word: http://frenchlanguage.ning.com/forum/topics/what-does-the-word-y-re...

In this specific expression, I'm utterly clueless about what the "y" can refer to.

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