Breakdown of Il a dit que sa petite-fille aimait ce film.
il
he
avoir
to have
aimer
to like, to love
ce
this (before a noun)
le film
the movie / the film
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
dire
to say, to tell
que
that (introducing a clause)
la petite-fille
the granddaughter
Questions & Answers about Il a dit que sa petite-fille aimait ce film.
Why is aimait in the imparfait instead of the passé composé?
This is the rule for reported speech (concordance des temps). In direct speech, he probably said, "My granddaughter loves this movie" (using the present tense aime). Because the reporting verb is in the past (Il a dit), the present tense from his original quote shifts back into the past, becoming the imparfait (aimait).
Since the subject "he" is a man, why do we use the feminine sa for "his"?
In French, possessive adjectives like son, sa, and ses agree with the noun being owned, not the owner. Because petite-fille is a feminine noun, you must use sa, even though the person who has the granddaughter is male.
Can I leave out que and just say Il a dit sa petite-fille...?
No. In English, we frequently drop the word "that" and simply say "He said his granddaughter loved this movie." In French, the conjunction que is absolutely required to connect the two clauses and cannot be skipped.
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