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Le chef a promis que la révision du planning aurait été sa priorité.

Le chef a promis que la révision du planning aurait été sa priorité.
The boss promised that the schedule revision would have been his priority.
From Lesson 315:Backshifting the future perfect·French

Questions & Answers about Le chef a promis que la révision du planning aurait été sa priorité.

Why do we use the conditional past (aurait été) in this sentence?
This is a classic example of backshifting in reported speech. Because the main reporting verb is in the past (a promis), any future tenses in the original statement must shift backward. The boss originally used the futur antérieur (future perfect), which shifts to the conditionnel passé (conditional past) here.
What would the boss's exact words have been in direct speech?
He most likely said: La révision du planning aura été ma priorité (The schedule revision will have been my priority). Notice how aura été shifts to aurait été, and the possessive ma changes to sa to match the new third-person perspective.
Is planning used exactly the same way in French as it is in English?
It is an Anglicism, but its meaning in French is slightly more specific. While the English word is usually an action, un planning in French is a noun meaning a schedule, roster, or timeline.
Why does the sentence use sa priorité instead of son priorité if the boss (le chef) is masculine?
In French, possessive adjectives agree with the gender of the thing being possessed, not the owner. Since priorité is a feminine noun, it must be sa priorité, regardless of whether the boss is male or female.

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