Breakdown of Le marquis a parlé de la maison comme s'il avait perdu sa propre fortune.
il
he
la maison
the house
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
parler
to speak
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
perdre
to lose
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
propre
own
comme si
as if
le marquis
the marquis
la fortune
the fortune
Questions & Answers about Le marquis a parlé de la maison comme s'il avait perdu sa propre fortune.
Why do we use the plus-que-parfait (avait perdu) after comme si here?
In French, comme si (as if) is followed by the plus-que-parfait to describe an unreal or hypothetical situation in the past. Since the marquis speaking is already a past action (a parlé), the hypothetical loss of his fortune happens before or alongside it, requiring the plus-que-parfait (avait perdu). If the hypothetical situation were in the present, we would use the imparfait instead.
Why does si become s' before il in comme s'il?
Does placing propre before the noun change its meaning?
Why is it a parlé de la maison instead of using sur for "about"?
To say "to talk about" or "to speak of" a subject, French uses the verb parler followed by the preposition de. Even though English uses "about" (which might make you want to use sur), parler de is the required fixed structure here.
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