Breakdown of Il a descendu le câblage faute d'ensoleillement.
il
he
avoir
to have
faute de
for lack of
le câblage
the wiring
descendre
to take/bring down (something)
l'ensoleillement
the sunlight (m)
Questions & Answers about Il a descendu le câblage faute d'ensoleillement.
Why is the auxiliary a (avoir) used here instead of est (être) for the verb descendre?
The verb descendre is usually a verb of motion that takes être in the passé composé (for example, il est descendu meaning he went down). However, when it is used transitively - meaning it has a direct object like le câblage receiving the action - it switches to taking avoir. Here, he is not going down himself; he is taking something else down.
What exactly does faute de mean here?
Why isn't there an article before ensoleillement (like faute de l'ensoleillement)?
The expression faute de is typically followed directly by a bare noun, without any definite or indefinite article. Because ensoleillement starts with a vowel, the de simply contracts to d', giving us faute d'ensoleillement.
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