Elle a eu un frisson en entrant dans la grotte humide.

she

Breakdown of Elle a eu un frisson en entrant dans la grotte humide.

• avoir: to have
• dans: in
• entrer: to enter

Questions & Answers about Elle a eu un frisson en entrant dans la grotte humide.

What tense is a eu, and why is that tense used here?

A eu is the passé composé of avoir.

It is used here because the sentence describes a single completed event: she suddenly felt a shiver at that moment. French often uses the passé composé for this kind of one-time action or reaction.

If you used avait, that would be the imparfait, which would suggest more of an ongoing state or background description, not a sudden reaction.

Why is it eu and not eue, since the subject is elle?

Because the verb uses avoir as its auxiliary, the past participle usually does not agree with the subject.

So:

• elle a eu
• il a eu

Both use eu.

Agreement with a past participle after avoir only happens when there is a direct object before the verb, which is not the case here.

What does avoir un frisson mean? Is it a common expression?