Breakdown of Avant de fuir, le voleur a fouillé le sac de la victime.
le sac
the bag
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
le voleur
the thief
Questions & Answers about Avant de fuir, le voleur a fouillé le sac de la victime.
The current lesson is about using après with the past infinitive. Why do we use avant de with the present infinitive (fuir) here instead?
In French, avant (before) and après (after) follow different grammatical rules when a verb comes next. You must use avant de + [present infinitive], like avant de fuir (before fleeing). But for 'after', you use après + [past infinitive], which would be après avoir fui (after fleeing / after having fled).
Why is 'searched' translated as a fouillé instead of a cherché?
If I wanted to rewrite this sentence to say 'After fleeing, the thief...', how would I form the past infinitive of fuir?
The past participle of the irregular verb fuir (to flee) is fui. Because it takes avoir as its auxiliary verb, you would apply the rule from this lesson to make après avoir fui (after fleeing).
As a quick refresher on possession, why can't we say la victime's sac?