Breakdown of Elle a une infection pour avoir gardé cette dent cassée.
une
a / an (feminine)
elle
she
pour
for
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about Elle a une infection pour avoir gardé cette dent cassée.
Why do we use pour avoir gardé here instead of pour garder?
We use pour followed by the past infinitive (avoir or être plus a past participle) to express the cause of something when the action is already completed. If we used pour garder, it would express a goal or purpose (in order to keep). Here, having kept the tooth is the reason she has an infection.
Could I say parce qu'elle a gardé instead?
Yes, parce qu'elle a gardé cette dent cassée is completely correct and means the same thing. Using pour plus the past infinitive is just a more concise and slightly more formal way to link a cause to the subject. Remember that to use this structure, the subject of the main verb (Elle) must be the same person doing the action in the infinitive.
Why doesn't the past participle gardé agree with the feminine noun cette dent and become gardée?
Because the direct object (cette dent cassée) comes after the verb. When using the auxiliary verb avoir (even in an infinitive form like avoir gardé), the past participle only agrees if the direct object comes before the verb.
Why does cassée have an extra -e at the end?