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Breakdown of Je commence à apprendre de nouvelles choses tous les jours.
je
I
tous
every
le jour
the day
à
to
commencer
to start
nouveau
new
apprendre
to learn
la chose
the thing
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“How does grammatical gender work in French?”
Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with it. "Le" is used with masculine nouns and "la" with feminine ones. Adjectives also change form to match — for example, "petit" (masc.) becomes "petite" (fem.).
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Questions & Answers about Je commence à apprendre de nouvelles choses tous les jours.
Why do we use à before the infinitive apprendre after commencer?
In French, many verbs that are followed by an infinitive require a specific preposition. With commencer, the standard construction is commencer à + infinitive—hence, “Je commence à apprendre” is grammatically correct.
Why is it "de nouvelles choses" instead of "des nouvelles choses"?
When a plural indefinite article precedes an adjective that comes before the noun, French grammar replaces des with de. Since nouvelles comes before choses, we say "de nouvelles choses".
Why is the adjective in its form nouvelles and not nouveaux?
It’s because choses is a feminine plural noun. In French, adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in both gender and number. Thus, nouveau becomes nouvelles when describing feminine plural nouns.
Why is nouvelles placed before choses in this sentence?
Certain adjectives in French—such as nouveau/nouvelle—are conventionally placed before the noun when they describe an inherent or qualitative characteristic. Placing nouvelles before choses emphasizes that these are new or previously unencountered things.
What’s the difference in nuance between "Je commence à apprendre de nouvelles choses..." and "J'apprends de nouvelles choses..."?
Using "Je commence à apprendre" highlights the beginning of a learning process—it signals that you’re just getting started. On the other hand, "J'apprends" would indicate that the learning is already in progress. The nuance lies in initiating an activity versus actively doing it.
Where does the adverbial phrase "tous les jours" fit into the sentence, and what does its placement indicate?
The phrase "tous les jours" appears at the end of the sentence, which is common in French for expressions of time. Its placement emphasizes that the action (beginning to learn) is a habitual one that occurs daily.