Breakdown of Le technicien a sorti les fixations de l'échafaudage.
avoir
to have
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
sortir
to take out
le technicien
the technician
l'échafaudage
the scaffolding (m)
la fixation
the mount
Questions & Answers about Le technicien a sorti les fixations de l'échafaudage.
Why does this sentence use a sorti instead of est sorti?
The verb sortir usually takes être in the passé composé. However, when it is used transitively—meaning it acts on a direct object—the auxiliary verb switches to avoir. Here, the technician isn't going out himself; he is taking something else out (les fixations).
How does the meaning of sortir change when it takes a direct object?
Since les fixations is feminine plural, why isn't the past participle spelled sorties?
Because this sentence uses the auxiliary avoir. With avoir, the past participle only agrees with the direct object if that object is placed before the verb. Since les fixations comes after a sorti, there is no agreement. If we replaced the noun with a pronoun, it would agree: Il les a sorties (He took them out).
Why do we use de (de l'échafaudage) to mean "out of" here?
In French, sortir quelque chose de quelque part is the standard construction for taking something out of a place. The preposition de indicates the origin or extraction point, so you don't need a heavier, literal phrase like hors de (outside of).
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