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### Expressing Cause with Past Infinitives

To explain the cause of a state or completed action, you can use **pour** followed by a **past infinitive**. In English, this translates to "for having [done something]".

The past infinitive is formed using the infinitive of the auxiliary verb (**avoir** or **être**) and the **past participle** of the main verb. Most verbs use **avoir**.

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This structure is very common when talking about the consequences of past actions, such as neglecting a cavity (*une carie*).

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### Past Infinitives with Être

Just like in the *passé composé*, verbs of motion and reflexive verbs use **être** as their auxiliary (**pour être** or **pour s'être**). The past participle follows standard agreement rules.

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### Worsening Consequences

This grammar pattern is highly effective for discussing how a situation deteriorated due to a specific past choice or habit.

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Cause with past infinitives (pour + être / avoir)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the cavity	la carie
He is in pain today for having ignored this cavity.	Il a mal aujourd'hui pour avoir ignoré cette carie.
to pull out	arracher
She had to have a tooth pulled out for having hidden her cavity.	Elle a dû se faire arracher une dent pour avoir caché sa carie.
the infection (f)	l'infection
She has an infection for having kept this broken tooth.	Elle a une infection pour avoir gardé cette dent cassée.
He is the one who has a severe infection for having waited several months.	C'est lui qui a une grave infection pour avoir attendu plusieurs mois.
You have a toothache for having missed your appointment, right?	Tu as mal aux dents pour avoir raté ton rendez-vous, n'est-ce pas ?
He lost his tooth for having refused to go to the dentist.	Il a perdu sa dent pour avoir refusé d'aller chez le dentiste.
the gum	la gencive
She has sore gums for having brushed her teeth too fast.	Elle a mal aux gencives pour s'être brossé les dents trop vite.
He has this infection for having ignored several cavities.	Il a cette infection pour avoir ignoré plusieurs caries.
He had to get treated for having broken his tooth.	Il a dû se faire soigner pour avoir cassé sa dent.
to worsen	empirer
You made the problem worsen for having avoided the dentist.	Tu as fait empirer le problème pour avoir évité le dentiste.
She lost a tooth for having fallen on the street.	Elle a perdu une dent pour être tombée dans la rue.
They made their cavities worsen for having eaten too many candies.	Ils ont fait empirer leurs caries pour avoir mangé trop de bonbons.
the pain	la douleur
dental	dentaire
the tartar	le tartre
He has a dental pain and a lot of tartar on the gum for having ignored the problem.	Il a une douleur dentaire et beaucoup de tartre sur la gencive pour avoir ignoré le problème.
the clinic	la clinique
the filling	le plombage
The boy cried at the dental clinic for having pulled out his filling.	Le garçon a pleuré à la clinique dentaire pour avoir arraché son plombage.
The man screamed in pain at the clinic for having kept the tartar under his filling.	L'homme a hurlé de douleur à la clinique pour avoir gardé le tartre sous son plombage.