J'ai su que tu étais venu me voir? I found out that you had come to see me.

Jennifer C.C1Kwiziq 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?
Asked 7 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer
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 !
Eleanor W.B1Kwiziq community member

I think it says I knew that you had come to see me.

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?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Let me take a look at that...