Expression : did you ever hear from

Question

The correct response gives is ‘ est-ce-que cela t’arrive d’avoir des nouvelles de’ but would it be equally correct to say ‘est-ce -que tu a recu aucune nouvelles de’

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Ian,
The expression -
'ça + pronoun + arrive de + infinitive'
is a useful one to learn as it is very much used in French, it is constructed in a similar way to the verb plaire.
e.g.
Ça vous arrive de perdre vos clés de maison? = Have you ever lost your house keys?
Ça t'arrive de mentir? = Do you ever happen to lie?
Ça nous arrive de nous perdre en allant chez elle = We often get lost on our way to her house
This meaning of 'arriver' here is to happen.
Ça peut arriver! = It can happen!
Hope this helps!

Chris Wirt · Answer

The first version is the more "French" one, I would say.

Est-ce que tu n'as reçu aucunes nouvelles de lui. -- Have you not heard from him at all? (Have you not received any news at all from him?)

It is grammatically correct (you had a few typos), but means something slightly different. In general, though, there are many ways to express one thing. Not all of them can be checked for by a computer. That's why sometimes you'll get marked "wrong" even though the answer would be acceptable.