Breakdown of L'homme a hurlé de douleur à la clinique pour avoir gardé le tartre sous son plombage.
l'homme
the man (m)
sous
under
pour
for
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
à
at / to / in (general locations) / about (what one thinks about / reacts to)
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
garder
to keep
hurler
to scream
la douleur
the pain
le tartre
the tartar
la clinique
the clinic
le plombage
the filling
Questions & Answers about L'homme a hurlé de douleur à la clinique pour avoir gardé le tartre sous son plombage.
Why is it pour avoir gardé and not just pour garder?
The structure pour plus a past infinitive (like avoir gardé) is used to express the cause of an action that is already completed. Because he kept the tartar under his filling before he screamed, we must use the past infinitive avoir gardé (for having kept) rather than the present infinitive garder (to keep).
Why do we say hurlé de douleur instead of using a preposition like en or avec?
In French, the preposition de is used after verbs of physical or emotional reaction to show the cause or manner. Just like trembler de froid (to shiver from cold) or pleurer de joie (to cry with joy), hurler de douleur is a standard expression where English uses 'in' or 'from'.
If I wanted to use a verb that takes être as its auxiliary, how would the pour structure change?
You would simply use être in the infinitive instead of avoir. The rule for choosing the auxiliary remains exactly the same as in the passé composé. For example, if the cause was 'for having arrived late' (using the verb arriver), you would say pour être arrivé en retard.
Why does the sentence use the definite article for le tartre but a possessive adjective for son plombage?
French prefers definite articles (le, la, les) for body parts and natural bodily substances when the owner is obvious. Tartar fits this category. A filling (un plombage), however, is an artificial object placed by a dentist, so using the possessive son feels much more natural to specify that it is his particular filling.
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