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South Korea flagYoonseok Yang
The meaning of "at the point" Hello, I want to know the meaning of "at the point" in the following sentence : I'm in a high risk category. Are we at the point that we should all self quarantine, stop seeing family, stop grocery shopping? I don't think this means "at a time just before ~", because it does not make sense. Thank you in advance.

Answers · 4

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It's basically a more concise way of saying: "Have we reached the point in time where..." Hope that helps!
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All the replies below were very helpful. Thank you.
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in this sentence means that you are in a delicate situation. For example, you could rewrite this for "Are we already in this situation that we should all self quarantine, stop seeing family, stop grocery shopping?" In general "at the point" is referred to highlight a situation/ time, etc.
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When you say "at the point" you are describing a very small moment in time. We usually think of time as a continuous line which spans many days, months or years. But when someone says "are we at the point that..." they mean "are we at the precise moment in time that we should self quarantine, stop seeing family, stop grocery shopping?". Other examples... "We are at the halfway point" - This means you are exactly halfway along your journey. "We reached the point of no return" - This means you have reached the moment in time where you cannot go back, you can only go forward. "I'm at the breaking point" - This means that you have reached the moment in time where you can't take the stress anymore. "At some point this virus will begin to fade away" - This means that there will be a moment in time when we no longer see new cases of the virus, and after that, things will get better and better. By the way, I really admire South Korea's response to this virus. You are doing an excellent job. There have been many stories on our Canadian news about the things you are doing. You are providing an excellent example for other countries to follow!

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