Question 1

Why does this sentence use the verb to come (venir) to mean they "just did" something?

Accepted Answer

In French, the recent past (saying you just did something) is formed using the present tense of venir (to come) + de + an infinitive verb. So literally, Ils viennent d'apprendre means "They come from learning," but it translates to "They just learned."

Question 2

Why is it d'apprendre instead of de apprendre?

Accepted Answer

When short words like de are followed by a word starting with a vowel (like apprendre), the e is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This is called elision, and it makes the phrase flow better when speaking.

Question 3

Why is viennent spelled with two 'n's?

Accepted Answer

Venir is an irregular verb. While some forms have one 'n' (like nous venons), the ils and elles (they) form doubles the consonant before adding the silent -ent ending, making it viennent.

Question 4

Since apprendre is the infinitive ("to learn"), why does the English translation say "learned" in the past tense?

Accepted Answer

That is just how the venir de structure works! French uses the basic, unconjugated dictionary form of the verb (apprendre) to show what action just happened. English expresses this same idea by using the past tense ("learned") along with the word "just".

Question 5

"News" ends with an 's' in English. Why is it la nouvelle (singular) in French?

Accepted Answer

In English, "news" is an uncountable noun that always looks plural. In French, une nouvelle is a regular countable noun meaning a single piece of news. If they had learned multiple pieces of news at once, it would be plural: les nouvelles.

Ils viennent d'apprendre la nouvelle.

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