Breakdown of Il m'a expliqué qu'elle avait endommagé le pare-chocs.
il
he
elle
she
avoir
to have
expliquer
to explain
me
me, myself (object pronoun)
que
that (introducing a clause)
endommager
to damage (e.g., property, structures)
le pare-chocs
the bumper
Questions & Answers about Il m'a expliqué qu'elle avait endommagé le pare-chocs.
Why do we use the plus-que-parfait (avait endommagé) here instead of the passé composé (a endommagé)?
Because this is reported speech introduced by a past tense verb (a expliqué). When reporting an action that was originally stated in the passé composé (e.g., "Elle a endommagé le pare-chocs"), it shifts one step further back in time to the plus-que-parfait (avait endommagé).
How do we know the original quote wasn't in the present tense?
If he were reporting a present tense statement (like "She is damaging the bumper"), the verb would only shift back to the imparfait: Il m'a expliqué qu'elle endommageait le pare-chocs. The plus-que-parfait tells us the damage was already completed before he explained it.
Why does pare-chocs end with an "s" when we are only talking about one bumper?
Just as a refresher, why is the pronoun m' placed before the auxiliary verb a?
In compound tenses like the passé composé, object pronouns must go immediately before the conjugated auxiliary verb, not the past participle. So we say Il m'a expliqué rather than putting the pronoun after the verb.
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