Choosing the next task | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Que devrions-nous faire maintenant ?

   What should we do now?

   Que

   what

   devrions-nous

   should we

   faire

   do

   maintenant

   now

   More detail

   Que means “what” here and asks about the thing to be done. In this pattern, it is placed at the beginning: Que faire ? = “What to do?” Example: Que veux-tu ? = “What do you want?” devrions-nous combines the verb devoir with the subject pronoun nous. devrions is the first-person plural conditional form of devoir; in this sentence, the conditional gives the recommendation meaning “should.” The inversion devrions-nous is a standard way to form a question. Compare Nous devrions partir. = “We should leave.” The form devons-nous instead uses the present tense and more directly asks whether we must or are to do something. faire is the infinitive “to do.” It remains in the infinitive after the conjugated form of devoir: Nous devrions faire... = “We should do...” Example: Que devrais-je choisir ? = “What should I choose?” maintenant means “now,” referring to the present time. It adds the time of the proposed action; it does not change the verb form. Example: Nous devons partir maintenant. = “We must leave now.” Together, Que asks for the action, devrions-nous expresses a suggestion involving “we,” faire supplies the action verb, and maintenant specifies the present time. The complete utterance therefore asks what course of action the speaker and the other person or people should take now.

2. Commençons par la liste courte.

   Let's start with the short list.

   Commençons

   Let's start

   liste

   list

   courte

   short

   More detail

   Commençons is the first-person plural imperative of commencer (“to start”). In this form, the speaker includes the addressee: “let’s start.” French uses the nous imperative for this shared-action meaning. Example: Commençons demain. — “Let’s start tomorrow.” liste means “list.” It is a feminine singular noun, so a feminine singular adjective describing it takes the corresponding form. Example: une liste — “a list.” courte means “short” here, describing liste. Its base form is court; courte is the feminine singular form. Compare un texte court (“a short text”) with une liste courte (“a short list”). The word par connects the action to what is chosen as the starting point: commencer par means “to start with” or “to begin with.” The article la identifies the specific list intended in this utterance, and courte specifies which list by describing its length. Together, Commençons par la liste courte. means “Let’s start with the short list.”

3. Devrait-on finir la liste avant de revoir le fichier ?

   Should we finish it before reviewing the file?

   Devrait-on

   should we…?

   finir

   finish

   liste

   list

   avant de

   before

   revoir

   review

   fichier

   file

   More detail

   Devrait-on combines devrait, the conditional form of devoir, with inverted on. Here on means “we,” as confirmed by the fixed translation. The conditional makes this a suggestion or question about what would be appropriate: “should we…?” Compare doit (“must/has to”) with devrait (“should”). finir is the infinitive “to finish.” After a modal verb such as devoir, French uses the infinitive: on devrait finir means “we should finish.” The useful form chain is finir → fini (past participle), as in la liste est finie (“the list is finished”). liste means “list” here. It is a feminine noun, shown by the article la; its plural is les listes. Example: une liste courte means “a short list.” avant de introduces an action that happens earlier than another action and is followed by an infinitive. In this sentence, the understood subject of revoir is the same on (“we”): avant de partir means “before leaving.” revoir is the infinitive used here for “review.” Although it can have other uses, including “see again,” the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning here. It is formed with the prefix re- and the verb voir, but its meaning in this sentence is the established verb “to review,” not simply a word-by-word prediction. Example: Je vais revoir le document means “I am going to review the document.” fichier means “file.” It is a masculine noun, so the corresponding singular definite article is le: le fichier; its plural is les fichiers. Example: Le fichier est prêt means “The file is ready.” Together, devrait-on finir la liste asks whether “we” should finish the list. avant de revoir le fichier places the review of the file afterward. The complete meaning is: “Should we finish it before reviewing the file?” Here, “it” in the fixed translation refers to la liste, while the French sentence explicitly repeats the noun.

4. On peut finir rapidement si on se partage le travail.

   We can get through it quickly if we split the work.

   On peut

   we can

   finir

   finish; get through

   rapidement

   quickly

   si

   if

   se partage

   share out among ourselves

   le travail

   the work

   More detail

   On peut means “we can” here. on is a subject pronoun that commonly refers to people in general, but in this sentence the fixed translation identifies the group as “we.” peut is the present-tense form of pouvoir for il/elle/on; pouvoir + infinitive expresses ability or possibility. For example, On peut commencer means “We can start.” finir is the infinitive “to finish.” After pouvoir, the second verb stays in the infinitive: On peut finir means “We can finish.” In this context, “finish” naturally means complete or get through the relevant task; it is not a claim that the work itself is a person. rapidement is an adverb meaning “quickly.” It describes how the finishing can happen. The related adjective is rapide (“quick” or “fast”): un travail rapide means “quick work,” while finir rapidement means “finish quickly.” si introduces a condition and means “if” here. The pattern si + clause gives the condition under which the main clause is possible: On peut partir si on finit means “We can leave if we finish.” se partage is the present-tense pronominal form of se partager, “to share out” or “to divide among the participants.” The se marks the sharing as organized among the people involved; with the subject on, se partage has the form used for on. This is different from simply partage (“shares” or “is sharing”), which does not itself express the same reciprocal or group-allocation idea. Here the group is dividing the work among its members. le travail means “the work.” travail is a masculine singular noun, so the definite article is le. The article identifies the work as a specific shared task in this context; it does not by itself mean “one piece of work.” Together, On peut finir rapidement says “We can get through it quickly.” The condition si on se partage le travail says this is possible if the group divides the work among its members. The whole utterance therefore means: “We can get through it quickly if we split the work.”

5. Alors, je prends la première partie.

   Then I'll take the first part.

   Alors

   Then

   prends

   take

   première

   first

   partie

   part

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here, linking this decision to the preceding idea of dividing the work. It can also introduce a conclusion or transition in other contexts, but here it simply moves to the speaker’s choice. je prends is the first-person singular present form of prendre, “to take.” The form is je prends; the final s is part of this conjugated form, while il/elle prend has no s. In this utterance, French present tense expresses a current decision or an arranged action, so the fixed translation naturally uses “I’ll take.” Example: Je prends le train. — “I’m taking the train.” première means “first” and is the feminine singular form of premier. It agrees with the feminine singular noun partie: la première partie. The masculine counterpart is premier, as in le premier chapitre. This is an ordinal adjective, so it identifies position in an order rather than describing size or quantity. partie is the feminine noun meaning “part” or “section” here. In this work-sharing context, it refers to one section of the work. Example: Je fais cette partie. — “I’m doing this part.” The noun partie should be learned separately from the verb prendre; it is not a form of that verb. Together, Alors, je prends la première partie. means “Then I’ll take the first part.” Alors marks the decision, je prends states what the speaker will take, and la première partie identifies that section as first in the relevant order.

6. Je m'occupe du reste.

   I'll handle the rest.

   m'occupe … du

   take care of

   reste

   what remains; the rest

   More detail

   m'occupe is the first-person singular present form of the reflexive verb s'occuper. In the construction s'occuper de, it means “to take care of” or “to deal with.” Here, m' is the elided form of me before the vowel of occupe; it matches the first-person singular subject je. The present form is naturally translated with “I’ll handle” in this sentence. du is the contraction of de and le. In du reste, it supplies the de required by s'occuper de and the definite article before the noun: de + le reste becomes du reste. reste is a singular noun here, meaning “what remains” or “the remainder.” The useful phrase le reste means “the rest.” This noun should not be confused with a form of the verb rester; in this utterance, it is the noun in the phrase du reste. Example: Je m'occupe de ce dossier. — “I’ll take care of this file.” Together, Je m'occupe du reste means “I’ll handle the rest.” The subject je is the speaker, and du reste identifies what the speaker will take care of.

7. Après ça, on peut revoir ce qui n'est pas clair.

   After that, we can review anything unclear.

   Après ça

   after that

   on peut

   we can

   revoir

   review; look over again

   ce qui

   what; that which

   n'est pas

   is not

   clair

   clear

   More detail

   Après ça means “after that”: après introduces a later time, and ça is the demonstrative pronoun “that.” It refers back to an already established event or task without specifying it again. Example: Après ça, on part. — “After that, we’re leaving.” on peut expresses ability or possibility here: peut is the third-person singular present form of pouvoir, “can/be able to.” French on is grammatically singular, so the verb is singular even when on means “we” in this sentence. Example: On peut commencer. — “We can start.” revoir is the infinitive “to review” or “to look over again.” It follows peut: on peut revoir is the reusable pattern “we can review.” The prefix re- contributes the idea of doing something again, but revoir is a complete verb; it is not formed here by treating voir as a separate verb after peut. Example: Je peux revoir le document. — “I can review the document.” ce qui means “what” or “that which” when it is the subject of the following clause. Here it introduces the material being reviewed, without naming a particular item. Compare ce que, used when the “what” is the object of the following verb: Je vois ce qui change. — “I see what is changing”; Je comprends ce que tu dis. — “I understand what you are saying.” n'est pas is the negative form of est, “is”: ne contracts to n' before the vowel of est, and pas completes the standard written negation. The pattern ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated verb. Example: Ce n'est pas urgent. — “It is not urgent.” clair means “clear” in the sense of easy to understand. It is an adjective in the masculine singular form. Its feminine singular form is claire, and the plural forms are clairs or claires according to the agreement required by the noun or expression described. In this relative expression, clair describes the unspecified content introduced by ce qui. Example: La consigne est claire. — “The instruction is clear.” Together, Après ça sets the time, on peut revoir says that the speaker and others are able or permitted to review something, and ce qui n'est pas clair identifies that something as whatever is not clear. The whole utterance therefore means: “After that, we can review anything unclear.”

8. J'ouvrirai le fichier quand la liste sera terminée.

   I'll open the file when the list is done.

   J'ouvrirai

   I’ll open

   le fichier

   the file

   quand

   when

   la liste

   the list

   sera terminée

   will be finished

   More detail

   J'ouvrirai means “I will open” here. It is the first-person singular future form of ouvrir (“to open”): j'ouvre is present, while j'ouvrirai places the action in the future. The apostrophe joins je to a following vowel-initial form. Example: J'ouvrirai la porte demain. — “I will open the door tomorrow.” le fichier means “the file.” fichier is a masculine singular noun, so it takes the masculine singular definite article le. The article identifies a specific file in this utterance; it does not itself say how many files exist. Example: Je ferme le fichier. — “I am closing the file.” quand introduces a time clause meaning “when.” It connects the opening to the time at which the list reaches the stated condition. Example: Je partirai quand tu seras prêt. — “I will leave when you are ready.” In French, a future event can use the future tense after quand; English commonly uses the present in the corresponding time clause. la liste means “the list.” liste is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la. This noun is the subject of the following condition: the list is the thing that becomes finished. Example: La liste est longue. — “The list is long.” sera terminée means “will be finished.” sera is the third-person singular future form of être (“to be”). terminée is the feminine singular form of terminé, the past participle of terminer (“to finish”), used here with être to express the list’s finished state. It agrees with feminine singular la liste, including the final -e. Example: La tâche sera terminée ce soir. — “The task will be finished this evening.” Together, J'ouvrirai le fichier gives the future action, and quand la liste sera terminée gives the time condition for it. The whole utterance therefore means: “I’ll open the file when the list is done.”