Il a aggravé le scandale à cause de sa déclaration.
He worsened the scandal because of his statement.
Breakdown of Il a aggravé le scandale à cause de sa déclaration.
il
he
avoir
to have
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
le scandale
the scandal
à cause de
because of
la déclaration
the statement
aggraver
to worsen
Questions & Answers about Il a aggravé le scandale à cause de sa déclaration.
Could I use grâce à instead of à cause de in this sentence?
Why is it à cause de sa déclaration and not parce que sa déclaration?
Does aggravé just mean 'annoyed' like 'aggravated' sometimes does in English?
In French, aggraver strictly means to make a situation worse or more serious. While 'aggravate' can mean 'annoy' in everyday English, French uses words like énerver or agacer when talking about annoying a person.
Why is it sa déclaration if the subject is Il (he)? Shouldn't it be masculine?
In French, possessive adjectives like sa match the gender of the thing being owned, not the person who owns it. Since the word déclaration is feminine, you must use sa, even though the statement belongs to a man (Il).
Why use the passé composé (a aggravé) here instead of the imparfait (aggravait)?
The passé composé is used here because the worsening of the scandal is treated as a specific, completed event triggered by a single action (his statement). The imparfait would imply an ongoing or habitual worsening over a period of time.
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