arriver in literary & formal French
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Occurrence in formal register.
Arriver in formal French
Formal French prefers survenir or se produire for events: « un incident est survenu ». Arriver in that sense reads as conversational, so official statements avoid it.
The phrase en arriver à means to reach the point of: « on en arrive à se demander si… ». It is a standard connector in argumentative writing.
💡 Focus at this level: Literary & formal
👨🏫 How to use « arriver » at this level
1. « Survenir » for formal events. Incidents, complications.
2. « En arriver à » builds an argument toward a conclusion.
3. Recognise « il arriva ». Past historic.
Un incident est survenu.An incident occurred.
On en arrive à se demander si c’est utile.One comes to wonder whether it’s useful.
Il arriva enfin au sommet.He finally reached the summit.
Le moment est arrivé.The moment has come.
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