J'ai su que tu étais venu me voir? I found out that you had come to see me.
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JenniferKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
J'ai su que tu étais venu me voir? I found out that you had come to see me.
Is this a usual way to say I found out. Why is the verb trouver or perhaps découvrir not used?
This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate voir/devoir/pouvoir/boire/croire/savoir/lire/plaire/taire (+ avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)"
Asked 7 years ago
Bonjour Jennifer !
Here we used a bit of translation licence, as the literal meaning is "I've known that...". But in French, using Le Passé Composé "J'ai su" implies that the knowledge is a punctual action here, so it actually refers more to the moment I acquired that knowledge, hence "found out" being a better translation in English.
The most colloquial verb to say "to find out *something*" is "apprendre *quelque chose*":
"J'ai appris que tu étais venu me voir."
You would never use "trouver", and "découvrir" carries an extra sense of mystery and secret there.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Here we used a bit of translation licence, as the literal meaning is "I've known that...". But in French, using Le Passé Composé "J'ai su" implies that the knowledge is a punctual action here, so it actually refers more to the moment I acquired that knowledge, hence "found out" being a better translation in English.
The most colloquial verb to say "to find out *something*" is "apprendre *quelque chose*":
"J'ai appris que tu étais venu me voir."
You would never use "trouver", and "découvrir" carries an extra sense of mystery and secret there.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
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