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Le conducteur a expliqué qu'il avait percuté la portière.

Le conducteur a expliqué qu'il avait percuté la portière.
The driver explained that he had struck the door.
From Lesson 182:Reported speech: past to pluperfect·French

Questions & Answers about Le conducteur a expliqué qu'il avait percuté la portière.

Why do we use avait percuté instead of the passé composé here?
This is the plus-que-parfait (past perfect), which translates to "had struck". Because the reporting verb (a expliqué) is already in the past, the action he is explaining happened even further back in time. In reported speech, this forces the original tense to shift one step backward.
What were the exact words the driver originally said?
He would have used the passé composé: "J'ai percuté la portière" (I struck the door). When changing this direct quote into reported speech after a past-tense verb (a expliqué), that passé composé is forced to shift back into the plus-que-parfait (avait percuté).
Why does the sentence use la portière instead of la porte?
While la porte means "door" in general (like a house door), la portière specifically refers to the door of a vehicle, like a car or a train. Since the subject is a conducteur (driver), portière is the precise and natural word to use.
I know que means "that", but is it mandatory to contract it to qu'il?
Yes, it is strictly required. The word que must always drop its e and use an apostrophe when followed by a word starting with a vowel or a silent h. You will never write que il or que elle in French.

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