Sending a report before a meeting | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Le rapport est-il prêt ?

   Is the report ready?

   rapport

   report

   est-il

   is it

   prêt

   ready

   More detail

   rapport means “report” here. Its base form is the masculine noun un rapport; with the definite article, it appears as le rapport (“the report”). The plural is les rapports. In this sentence, rapport is the thing whose state is being asked about. est-il is the inverted question pattern est + il: “is it/he?” Here, the translation identifies il as referring to the report, so the pattern asks about that report. est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”). In a statement, French normally places the subject before the verb: Il est prêt. (“It is ready.”) In this question, the subject pronoun follows the verb: Est-il prêt ? (“Is it ready?”). This inversion is a common way to form a neutral or somewhat formal yes/no question. prêt means “ready” here. It is an adjective agreeing with the masculine singular noun rapport, so the feminine singular form is prête, and the masculine and feminine plural forms are prêts and prêtes. For example, La valise est prête. means “The suitcase is ready”; valise is feminine, so the adjective is prête. Together, Le rapport identifies the thing being discussed, est-il forms the inverted yes/no question, and prêt describes its state. The whole utterance therefore means “Is the report ready?”`

2. Il est presque prêt.

   It is almost ready.

   Il est

   It is

   presque

   almost

   prêt

   ready

   More detail

   Il est combines the subject pronoun il with the present-tense form est of être (“to be”). Il is a third-person singular masculine-form pronoun. In this utterance, the translation supports “it,” but the fixed sentence does not by itself identify exactly what “it” refers to. The form est is used with a singular third-person subject; compare ils sont (“they are”) for a plural subject. Example: Il est prêt. — “It is ready.” presque means “almost” and modifies the expression that follows it here. It marks that the state is close to being true but is not presented as fully reached. It is an adverb and does not change form. Example: Le travail est presque fini. — “The work is almost finished.” prêt is the masculine singular form of the adjective meaning “ready.” It agrees with the singular masculine-form subject understood with il. The feminine singular form is prête, and a plural masculine or mixed form is prêts; the feminine plural is prêtes. Example: Elle est prête. — “She is ready.” Together, Il est + presque + prêt produces “It is almost ready”: the singular subject is described as being close to the state of readiness, without saying that it has fully reached that state. In the supplied context, this wording can fit the readiness question and the later instruction, while the utterance itself leaves the exact referent of il unspecified.

3. Envoyez-moi le fichier quand il est prêt, s’il vous plaît.

   Please send me the file when it is ready.

   Envoyez-moi

   send me

   le fichier

   the file

   quand

   when

   prêt

   ready

   s’il vous plaît

   please

   More detail

   Envoyez-moi comes from envoyer, “to send.” Envoyez is the imperative form used with vous, so it can address one person formally or more than one person. Moi means “me” and is attached after the imperative with a hyphen. A reusable pattern is Envoyez-moi + noun: “Send me + noun.” For example: Envoyez-moi la photo. — “Send me the photo.” Le fichier means “the file.” Fichier is a masculine singular noun, which is why the definite article here is le. The plural is les fichiers. In this sentence, the noun is the thing being sent. Quand introduces a time clause and means “when.” It connects the sending request with the time condition that follows. For example: Appelez-moi quand vous arrivez. — “Call me when you arrive.” Il est prêt means “it is ready.” Here, il refers to the file identified in the fixed translation and context. Est is the third-person singular present form of être, “to be.” Prêt is an adjective meaning “ready”; its masculine singular form agrees with the masculine singular noun represented by il. The feminine singular form is prête, as in La page est prête. — “The page is ready.” S’il vous plaît is the fixed polite expression “please.” It literally contains si (“if”), il (“it/he”), and vous plaît (“pleases you”), but it functions here as a conventional polite request formula. The contraction s’il results from si before il. Together, Envoyez-moi le fichier makes the request “send me the file.” Quand il est prêt adds the condition “when it is ready,” and s’il vous plaît makes the request polite. The complete meaning is: “Please send me the file when it is ready.”

4. Je viens de finir la dernière page.

   I just finished the last page.

   Je viens de

   I have just…

   finir

   to finish

   dernière

   last

   page

   page

   More detail

   Je viens de is a reusable French pattern for an action that has happened very recently: venir in the present tense + de + an infinitive. Here, viens is the first-person singular form of venir, matching Je; de introduces the action that has just occurred. For example: Je viens de manger. — “I have just eaten.” This pattern is different from simply using the present tense of the main verb: Je finis means “I am finishing” or “I finish,” not specifically “I have just finished.” finir is the infinitive “to finish.” With Je viens de, it remains in the infinitive rather than being conjugated: Je viens de finir — “I have just finished.” Its present-tense first-person form is je finis, as in Je finis le travail. — “I am finishing the work.” dernière means “last” here and describes page. It is the feminine singular form of dernier; the masculine singular form is dernier, as in le dernier chapitre — “the last chapter.” The adjective agrees with the noun it describes, so dernière matches feminine singular page. page is the noun “page.” It is feminine in French, as shown by the form la page; its plural is les pages. In this utterance, it is the direct object of finir: the thing that was finished. Together, Je viens de finir expresses that the speaker has completed an action very recently, and la dernière page identifies what was completed. The whole utterance means “I just finished the last page.”

5. J’en ai besoin avant le début de la réunion.

   I need it before the meeting starts.

   J’en ai besoin

   I need it

   avant

   before

   début

   start; beginning

   réunion

   meeting

   More detail

   J’en ai besoin means “I need it” here. The reusable pattern is avoir besoin de + something, literally “to have need of.” In this sentence, ai is the first-person singular present form of avoir, and j’ is the shortened form of je before a vowel. en replaces the omitted de-phrase: J’ai besoin de ce document → J’en ai besoin (“I need it”). The fixed translation identifies the omitted item as it, without specifying its gender. avant means “before” and introduces the time relation. A useful pattern is avant + a noun phrase: avant le départ means “before the departure.” It can also introduce a clause with avant que, but that is a different construction. début means “beginning” or “start.” It is a masculine noun, so this phrase uses le début. The form début is the singular noun; its plural is débuts. In le début de la réunion, it names the beginning of the meeting rather than an action performed by a person. réunion means “meeting.” It is a feminine noun, shown here by la réunion after de. The phrase le début de la réunion means “the beginning of the meeting.” de la is the combination used before a feminine singular noun; before a masculine singular noun, the corresponding form is du, as in le début du cours (“the beginning of the class”). Putting the parts together, J’en ai besoin states the speaker’s need for the previously understood item, and avant le début de la réunion places that need before the meeting begins. The whole utterance means: “I need it before the meeting starts.”

6. Je joins le nouveau fichier maintenant.

   I am attaching the new file now.

   joins

   attach

   nouveau

   new

   fichier

   file

   maintenant

   now

   More detail

   joins is the first-person singular present form of joindre, meaning “to attach” here. The subject Je supplies the “I”; the French present tense can describe an action happening now, so Je joins corresponds to “I am attaching.” Useful forms include je joins (“I attach”), tu joins (“you attach”), and the infinitive joindre. The final s is part of this written present-tense form; it is not an English-style plural marker. nouveau means “new” here and describes fichier. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective; with a feminine singular noun, the usual form is nouvelle, as in une nouvelle version (“a new version”). The adjective agrees with the noun it describes, so nouveau fichier is “new file.” fichier is a masculine noun meaning “file.” Its plural is fichiers, as in deux fichiers (“two files”). The article le marks the noun phrase as masculine singular and definite: le nouveau fichier means “the new file.” maintenant is the adverb “now.” It places the attaching action at the current time. It can be reused in a sentence such as Je commence maintenant. — “I am starting now.” Together, Je joins + le nouveau fichier + maintenant gives “I am attaching the new file now.” The subject is the speaker, the verb expresses the speaker’s present attaching action, the noun phrase identifies what is being attached, and maintenant specifies when it happens.

7. Je vais le vérifier tout de suite.

   I will check it right away.

   Je vais

   I will

   vérifier

   check; verify

   le

   it

   tout de suite

   right away

   More detail

   Je vais: vais is the first-person singular present form of aller. With an infinitive, the pattern je vais + infinitive expresses the near future: “I am going to …” or “I will …”. Here, the infinitive follows in vérifier, so Je vais does not mean “I go” by itself in this sentence. vérifier: This infinitive means “to check” or “to verify”. Its form stays an infinitive after vais; it is not marked for the subject. Example: Je vais vérifier le document. — “I am going to check the document.” le: This is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun, meaning “it” here. It refers to the item being checked, supported by the preceding context about the new file. In the pattern aller + pronoun + infinitive, the object pronoun comes before the infinitive: Je vais le vérifier. tout de suite: This fixed expression means “right away” or “immediately”. It modifies the timing of the checking action. Example: Je réponds tout de suite. — “I’ll reply right away.” Together, Je vais + le + vérifier forms “I will check it”, and tout de suite adds “right away”. The complete utterance therefore means “I will check it right away.”

8. Il devrait être dans votre boîte de réception maintenant.

   It should be in your inbox now.

   devrait

   should

   être

   be

   dans

   in

   votre

   your

   boîte de réception

   inbox

   maintenant

   now

   More detail

   devrait is the conditional form of devoir for il/elle/on. Here it expresses an expectation: “should,” rather than a guaranteed fact. The useful chain is devoir → il doit (“he/it must” or “is supposed to”) → il devrait (“he/it should”). Example: Le colis devrait arriver demain. — “The package should arrive tomorrow.” être is the infinitive “to be.” It follows devrait because the conditional form of devoir is used with an infinitive to express what is expected to happen or be true. Example: Il devrait être prêt. — “He/It should be ready.” dans means “in” when something is located inside a place or container. Example: Le livre est dans le sac. — “The book is in the bag.” votre is the possessive determiner “your.” It agrees with the following noun, not with the owner: before the singular noun boîte, the form is votre. It can refer to one owner addressed as vous or to multiple owners. Compare votre boîte (“your box”) with vos boîtes (“your boxes”); the plural form changes because boîtes is plural. boîte de réception is the French compound expression for “inbox,” literally a “reception box.” boîte is a feminine noun, and de réception specifies its function. Example: Ouvrez votre boîte de réception. — “Open your inbox.” maintenant means “now,” referring to the present time. Example: Je suis disponible maintenant. — “I am available now.” Together, Il devrait être says that something is expected to be in a particular state or location, dans votre boîte de réception gives the location, and maintenant places that expectation at the present time. The complete meaning is: “It should be in your inbox now.”