Breakdown of Il a annoncé que le client a annulé le contrat.
il
he
avoir
to have
le client
the client / the customer
annuler
to cancel
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
annoncer
to announce
que
that (introducing a clause)
le contrat
the contract
Questions & Answers about Il a annoncé que le client a annulé le contrat.
In English, we could just say 'He announced the client canceled...'. Can I drop que in French?
No, you cannot. While English frequently drops the word 'that' when connecting two parts of a sentence, French strictly requires the conjunction que. You must always include it to link the clauses.
Does que ever change its spelling when linking sentences like this?
Both verbs are in the passé composé (a annoncé, a annulé). Why is that?
Both parts of the sentence describe distinct, completed actions in the past. Even though the canceling happened before the announcing, everyday French often just uses the passé composé for a series of completed past events to keep things straightforward.
Why is a annulé translated as 'canceled' rather than 'has canceled'?
The French passé composé does double duty: it translates to both the English simple past ('canceled') and the present perfect ('has canceled'). 'Canceled' is usually the best fit in English when telling a story about a specific, completed past event.
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