Breakdown of Il construisait la clôture depuis trois jours quand il a vu qu'elle empiétait sur le jardin.
il
he
elle
she
voir
to see
quand
when
trois
three
le jardin
the garden (faire le jardin = to garden)
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
la
her, it (feminine direct object pronoun)
que
that (introducing a clause)
construire
to build
depuis
since/for
le jour
the day
la clôture
the fence
empiéter sur
to encroach on
Questions & Answers about Il construisait la clôture depuis trois jours quand il a vu qu'elle empiétait sur le jardin.
Why use the imperfect construisait instead of a past perfect tense for "had been building"?
Why do we switch to the passé composé for a vu?
The passé composé is used for sudden, completed events that interrupt an ongoing background action. He was in the middle of building (construisait, imperfect) when the sudden realization happened (a vu, passé composé). The word quand (when) is a classic trigger for this interruption.
Why does elle mean "it" here instead of "she"?
Why is empiétait (was encroaching) in the imperfect rather than the passé composé like a vu?
Because the encroaching wasn't a sudden, completed event. It was an ongoing background state—the fence was simply sitting there, crossing the boundary—at the exact moment he noticed it.
Does the verb empiéter always need the preposition sur?
Yes, when you want to state what is being encroached upon or infringed upon, empiéter requires the preposition sur. You can think of it literally as stepping on someone else's territory.
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