Breakdown of Le dieu eut besoin de toute sa puissance.
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
tout
all, everything
avoir besoin de
to need
le dieu
the god
Questions & Answers about Le dieu eut besoin de toute sa puissance.
What tense is eut in this sentence?
Why does the story use eut besoin here instead of the imperfect tense avait besoin?
The imperfect (avait besoin) would describe an ongoing state or background information. By using the passé simple (eut besoin), the writer shows this as a sudden, specific event in the storyline: at that exact moment, the god suddenly required his power to act.
If the god (le dieu) is masculine, why does the sentence say sa puissance instead of son puissance?
In French, possessive adjectives always match the gender of the noun being owned, not the owner. Because puissance (power) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine word sa, regardless of who possesses it.