parvenir

manage to, succeed in reaching

verb par-vuh-NEER Less Common

Origin: Latin pervenire

Also means

arrive at

Usage Note

Parvenir is followed by à + infinitive to mean 'to manage to do something' — il est parvenu à ouvrir la porte means 'he managed to open the door.' It also means physically reaching a place: parvenir à destination. The noun form is parvenu, meaning an upstart.

Examples

"Elle est parvenue à résoudre le problème."

Natural Translation

She managed to solve the problem.

Literal Translation

She arrived at solving the problem.

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