Question 1

Why is there no article before enclume? Shouldn't it be faute d'une enclume?

Accepted Answer

After the expression faute de (for lack of), we usually drop indefinite and partitive articles (un, une, du, de la, des). We just use de directly followed by the noun. Because enclume starts with a vowel, de contracts to d'.

Question 2

How does faute de compare to par manque de? Could I use that here?

Accepted Answer

Yes, par manque d'enclume would mean exactly the same thing. Faute de is slightly more formal and elegant, but both are excellent ways to express that the absence of something prevented an action.

Question 3

The lesson mentions faute de can be followed by an infinitive. How would that look in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

To use an infinitive here, you could say Faute d'avoir une enclume... (For lack of having an anvil...). Notice that when you add the verb avoir, the article (une) comes back because the noun is now the direct object of avoir, rather than directly attached to faute de.

Question 4

Why is the verb a dû in the passé composé instead of the imparfait (devait)?

Accepted Answer

The passé composé (a dû) is used here because abandoning the project was a specific, completed event as a result of not having the anvil: he was forced to abandon it, and he actually did. If we used the imparfait (devait abandonner), it would just describe an ongoing past obligation (he was supposed to abandon it) without confirming if the action was completed.

Faute d'enclume, le forgeron a dû abandonner son projet.

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