Breakdown of Qui aurait déterré l'artéfact ?
qui
who
avoir
to have
déterrer
to unearth
l'artéfact
the artifact (m)
Questions & Answers about Qui aurait déterré l'artéfact ?
Why use the conditional past (aurait déterré) here instead of the passé composé (a déterré)?
This uses the journalistic conditional to report unverified information. By using aurait déterré instead of the factual a déterré, the speaker implies 'Who supposedly unearthed the artifact?' rather than stating it as a known fact.
How do we know which conjugation to use after qui?
When qui is the subject of a question, it always takes the third-person singular conjugation, exactly like il or elle. That is why the auxiliary verb is aurait.
Is there a logic behind the vocabulary word déterrer?
Why does artéfact have an accent in French?
You will see it spelled both as artefact (traditional) and artéfact (modern). The 1990 French spelling reform added the accent so the written word accurately reflects the spoken é sound.
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