Breakdown of Nous découvrirons le nouveau taux de natalité quand ils auront fini le recensement.
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
ils
they (masculine/mixed)
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
quand
when
nouveau
new
finir
to finish
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
découvrir
to discover
le taux
the rate
le recensement
the census
la natalité
the birth rate
Questions & Answers about Nous découvrirons le nouveau taux de natalité quand ils auront fini le recensement.
Why does the French use the future tense auront fini when the English translation says "have finished"?
In English, we usually use the present or present perfect tense after "when" for future events. However, French is very logical here: since the whole situation takes place in the future, the verb after quand must also reflect the future. Because finishing the census must happen before discovering the rate, French uses the futur antérieur (future perfect): ils auront fini (literally, "they will have finished").
Does this rule apply to other words besides quand?
Yes! When you are talking about a sequence of events in the future, you must use the futur antérieur for the first, completed action after time conjunctions like quand (when), lorsque (when), dès que (as soon as), and aussitôt que (as soon as).
Is découvrirons formed regularly in the future tense?
Yes. Even though découvrir (to discover) is irregular in the present tense, its future tense is perfectly regular. You just take the full infinitive (découvrir) and add the standard future ending for nous, which is -ons.
How does taux de natalité literally translate?
Un taux means a rate, level, or ratio. La natalité refers to births (think of the English word "natal"). French connects nouns with de, so le taux de natalité literally means "the rate of birth". You will see this same structure in other common statistics, like le taux de chômage (the unemployment rate).
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