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Il a pris conscience de son erreur.

Il a pris conscience de son erreur.
He became aware of his mistake.
From Lesson 275:Same-subject infinitives (de + infinitive)·French

Questions & Answers about Il a pris conscience de son erreur.

Why does French use the verb "prendre" (to take) here?
The phrase "to become aware of" or "to realize" is translated using the fixed expression prendre conscience de, which literally means "to take consciousness of".
How does this expression relate to avoiding the subjunctive if we want to use a verb instead of a noun?
If you wanted to say "He became aware that he made a mistake", you have the same subject ("he") for both actions. Instead of using qu'il and a subjunctive verb, you apply the same-subject rule: keep the preposition de from the expression and follow it directly with an infinitive. For example: Il a pris conscience d'avoir fait une erreur.
The word erreur is feminine. Why does the sentence use the masculine son instead of sa?
This is because erreur starts with a vowel sound. To avoid the awkward pause of saying sa erreur, French requires you to use the masculine possessive adjectives (mon, ton, son) before any feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or a mute H.
Could we use the imparfait tense (prenait) here instead of the passé composé (a pris)?
It is much less likely. Becoming aware of something is typically a sudden, completed realization or a "lightbulb moment," which makes the passé composé the natural choice. The imparfait would mean he was in the continuous, unfinished process of becoming aware.

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