# EN: Reaching



## lozz39

Hello,
I am trying to say "reaching...."
My attempt is "en atteindrant" but apparantly this is incorrect?
How could I best say this?
Thank you very much.


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## mariev

_en atteignant_
ah, the joys of conjugating French verbs!


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## jann

We need more context before we can be sure that _en atteignant_ is an appropriate translation!!!  A complete sentence is essential.

What if this "reaching" is used as part of the present progressive, or as an adjective, or as a gerund?!


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## lozz39

Thank you mariev.
And the context is "le taux de chomage* avait*grimpé à son niveau le plus élevé depuis approximativement 20 années, en _atteignant_ 10,8%.


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## jann

And indeed we cannot use _en atteignant_ in that context... you need to omit the "en" there.


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## lozz39

Really? Thank you. Why does the "en" need to be ommited though?


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## jann

Because in this case, the grammatical function you need is adjectival: the present participle (-ing/-ant form) describes the unemployment rate.  

If you use the full form (_en atteignant_) this is verbal:  by reaching, while reaching, in reaching.


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## mariev

Since Lozz39 suggested "en atteindrant", I assumed he/she had already worked this out. But you are right, jann, absolutely right .. my answer could have been misguiding ...


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## Punky Zoé

Hi

IMHO, both "atteignant" and "en atteignant" may be used here.

"Atteignant 10,8%" is a present participle affixed to "niveau le plus élevé", whereas "en atteignant" is a gérund (en atteignant 10,8% le taux de chômage était le plus élevé depuis 20 ans).


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## lozz39

Thank you very much for all of your help.


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## Maître Capello

Punky Zoé said:


> IMHO, both "atteignant" and "en atteignant" may be used here.
> 
> "Atteignant 10,8%" is a present participle affixed to "niveau le plus élevé", whereas "en atteignant" is a gérund (en atteignant 10,8% le taux de chômage était le plus élevé depuis 20 ans).


Here I would not use the gerund with _être_ but possibly with some other verb such as _devenir_…

_Atteignant 10,8 %, le taux de chômage *est* le plus élevé de ces vingt dernières années.
__(*En*) atteignant 10,8 %, le taux de chômage *est devenu* le plus élevé de ces vingt dernières années._


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## quinoa

Je crois bien que placé en fin d'énoncé, je n'utiliserais que "atteignant ..." sans le "en".
C'est bizarre car placé en tête, je dirais aussi les deux.


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## Punky Zoé

Je suis d'accord pour dire qu'en fin de phrase c'est vraisemblablement le participe présent qui s'impose, mais le gérondif ne me parait pas impossible et je ne l'écarterais pas.


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## lozz39

I am very confused!!


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## Punky Zoé

There may be some reason for being confused 

What's your English sentence?


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