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Après avoir visité le château, la déesse fit une promesse sacrée.

Après avoir visité le château, la déesse fit une promesse sacrée.
After having visited the castle, the goddess made a sacred promise.
From Lesson 175:Irregular verbs in the literary past tense (il fut, il vit)·French

Questions & Answers about Après avoir visité le château, la déesse fit une promesse sacrée.

I don't recognize the word fit. Which verb is this?
It is the verb faire (to make / to do) in the passé simple (historic past) tense. In everyday spoken French, you would use the passé composé and say la déesse a fait (the goddess made). You will mostly see this tense in written texts like literature, history books, or fairy tales.
Why does it say Après avoir visité instead of using a word like visitant for 'visiting'?
In French, the preposition après must always be followed by the past infinitive (the infinitive of the helper verb, like avoir or être, plus the past participle). While English says 'After visiting', French literally says 'After to have visited' (Après avoir visité).
Is déesse the feminine version of dieu (god)?
Yes! Déesse is the feminine form for a goddess. It is one of those irregular nouns that changes its spelling and pronunciation significantly, rather than just adding an 'e' to the masculine form.
Why does the adjective sacrée come after the noun promesse?
Most adjectives in French go after the noun they describe. While you might remember the BANGS rule (Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size) for short, common adjectives that go before the noun, sacrée (sacred) does not fit those categories, so it follows the standard rule and is placed after.

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