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Où est-ce que cet événement vient de se passer ?

Où est-ce que cet événement vient de se passer ?
Where did this event just happen?
From Lesson 70:The recent past (venir de + infinitive)·French

Questions & Answers about Où est-ce que cet événement vient de se passer ?

How does vient de se passer mean "just happened"?
In French, you talk about the recent past by using the conjugated verb venir (to come) + de + an infinitive verb. Here, vient matches the subject cet événement (it). So, vient de plus the infinitive se passer (to happen) translates to "just happened".
Why is there a se in front of passer?
The verb passer usually means "to pass" or "to spend (time)". But when you add se to make it the reflexive verb se passer, the meaning changes entirely to "to happen" or "to take place". It stays in the infinitive (dictionary) form here because it comes right after vient de.
Why is the word for "this" cet and not ce or cette?
The word événement is a masculine noun, so normally we would use ce for "this". However, because événement starts with a vowel, French adds a "t" to make it cet so it flows smoothly when spoken. The word cette is reserved for feminine nouns.
Why do we use est-ce que here?
Putting est-ce que after a question word like Où (where) is a very common way to ask a question in French. It acts like a question marker that lets you keep the rest of the sentence in its normal, easy order: subject (cet événement) plus verb (vient).

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