Breakdown of Il vient d'annoncer cet événement à la radio.
il
he
ce
this (before a noun)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
venir
to come
la radio
the radio
l'événement
the event (m)
annoncer
to announce
Questions & Answers about Il vient d'annoncer cet événement à la radio.
How does vient d'annoncer mean "just announced"? Literally, it looks like "comes to announce".
In French, to say that you "just" did something, you use the present tense of venir (to come) followed by de and the infinitive (the dictionary form) of the action verb. Here, il vient (he comes) + de + annoncer (to announce) creates the "recent past" meaning: "he just announced".
Why is it d'annoncer instead of de annoncer?
Why do we use cet événement? Shouldn't "this" be ce for a masculine word?
Why is it à la radio instead of sur la radio? In English, we say "on the radio".
Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word! In French, you hear or announce things "at the" radio (à la radio) or "at the" television (à la télé). If you used sur (sur la radio), it would sound like he physically stood on top of the radio box to make his announcement.
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