Learn French: Nous pensons que la nouvelle est choquante.

Nous pensons que la nouvelle est choquante.

We think that the news is shocking.

Breakdown of Nous pensons que la nouvelle est choquante.

être

to be

nous

we / us (object pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Nous pensons que la nouvelle est choquante.

In English, we can just say "We think the news is shocking" and skip the word "that". Can we drop que in French too?

No, you can never drop que in French. When you link a main clause and a secondary clause together, the connecting word que is absolutely mandatory. You must always include it, even if you wouldn't translate it into English.

Why is la nouvelle singular here? Isn't "news" plural?

In English, "news" is a tricky word that looks plural but is uncountable. In French, une nouvelle is a regular countable noun meaning "a piece of news". Since this sentence refers to a single piece of news, it uses the singular la nouvelle. To talk about the daily news on TV or news in general, you would use the plural les nouvelles.

Why does choquante have an "e" at the end?

It is agreeing with the noun it describes. Because la nouvelle is a feminine singular noun, the adjective choquant (shocking) needs an extra e at the end to become choquante.