Question 1

Why is avait déchiré used here instead of the passé composé (a déchiré)?

Accepted Answer

This sentence uses the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) to show that one action happened before another action in the past. The tearing (avait déchiré) happened before the crying (pleurait). You can think of it as the past of the past.

Question 2

Why is the first verb pleurait in the imparfait?

Accepted Answer

The imparfait is used here to describe an ongoing state or background action in the past ('was crying'). If we used the passé composé (elle a pleuré), it would sound like a single, completed event ('she cried') rather than a continuous situation.

Question 3

If she were crying right now in the present, how would the second half of the sentence change?

Accepted Answer

If the first verb shifts to the present tense (Elle pleure), you can no longer use the plus-que-parfait. You would need the passé composé: parce qu'elle a déchiré sa robe (because she tore her dress). The plus-que-parfait is only used to look backward from a starting point that is already in the past.

Question 4

Does the possessive sa tell us that the person who owns the dress is female?

Accepted Answer

No, it does not. In French, possessive adjectives agree with the object being owned, not the owner. We use sa simply because robe is a feminine noun. Even if a man tore his dress, it would still be sa robe.

Elle pleurait parce qu'elle avait déchiré sa robe.

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