Breakdown of Il n'avait pas réparé l'enclume, faute d'outils.
il
he
avoir
to have
ne
not (used before the verb)
pas
not (used after the verb)
réparer
to repair
l'outil
the tool (m)
faute de
for lack of
l'enclume
the anvil (f)
Questions & Answers about Il n'avait pas réparé l'enclume, faute d'outils.
Why is it faute d'outils instead of faute des outils?
After faute de (for lack of), the partitive or indefinite article (un, une, des) is dropped. Because we are talking about tools in general, we just use de + noun, which becomes d'outils before the vowel. You would only use des (the contraction of de + les) if referring to specific tools, like faute des outils de son père (for lack of his father's tools).
Could I use an infinitive verb after faute de here?
Yes! The expression faute de can be followed by a noun or an infinitive. If you wanted to phrase this with a verb, you could say faute d'avoir des outils (for lack of having tools).
Why does the sentence use avait réparé instead of the passé composé (a réparé)?
This uses the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense, meaning "had repaired." It is used to describe a background action or state that was already completed (or not completed, in this case) before another past event took place.
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