Tidy the living room before guests arrive | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: At home, two adults tidy the living room, put things away, and prepare before guests arrive..

EN → FR / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use Tidy the living room before guests arrive to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Nos invités vont bientôt arriver.

noh-zan-vee-TAY vohn byan-TOH ah-ree-VAY Our guests are coming soon.
B

Alors, il faut ranger le salon avant leur arrivée.

ah-LOR eel FOH rahn-ZHAY luh sah-LOHN ah-VAHN luhr ah-ree-VAY Then we should clear the living room before they arrive.
A

Je vais remettre les livres sur l'étagère.

zhuh vay ruh-METR lay LEEVR syur lay-tah-ZHAIR I'll put the books back on the shelf.
B

Je vais remettre les coussins du canapé en place.

zhuh vay ruh-METR lay koo-SAN dyu kah-nah-PAY ahn PLAHS I'll straighten the cushions on the sofa.
A

Est-ce qu'on devrait aussi passer l'aspirateur sur le tapis ?

ess-KOHN duh-VRAY oh-SEE pah-SAY lah-spee-rah-TUR syur luh tah-PEE Should we vacuum the rug as well?
B

Passer l'aspirateur aiderait, surtout près de la porte.

pah-SAY lah-spee-rah-TUR ay-DREH, syur-TOO pray duh lah PORT Vacuuming would help, especially near the doorway.
A

La pièce semble déjà plus confortable.

lah PYES sahmbl day-ZHAH ploo kohn-for-TAHBL The room already feels more comfortable.
B

Faisons du thé quand tout sera prêt.

fuh-ZOHN dyu TAY kahn TOO suh-RAH PRAY Let's make tea once everything is ready.

Word by Word

Nos Nos means “our” here and identifies the guests as belonging to or connected with the speakers. It is used before the plural noun invités. Reuse it before a plural noun when showing possession.
invités Invités means “guests,” the people who are expected to come. The citation form is invité; invités is the plural form used here. It can be used for people visiting someone at home or attending an event.
vont Vont contributes the meaning “are going to” in vont bientôt arriver. The citation form is aller, and vont is its third-person plural present form. Reuse aller with an infinitive to describe an action that is about to happen.
bientôt Bientôt means “soon,” indicating that the guests will arrive in a short time. It adds a time reference to the action arriver. Reuse it when an event is expected shortly.
arriver Arriver means “to arrive” here, after vont in the near-future construction. It is the infinitive form and names the action that the guests are going to do. Reuse it after a form of aller when talking about someone’s upcoming arrival.
Alors Alors means “then” here and introduces the consequence of the guests coming soon. It connects that situation with the decision to tidy the room. Reuse it to move from a situation to a resulting suggestion or action.
il Il is the impersonal subject in il faut; it does not refer to a particular person here. Together with faut, it introduces a necessity. Reuse this impersonal construction before an infinitive when saying that something must be done.
faut Faut expresses necessity in il faut ranger: “it is necessary” or “we must.” The citation form is falloir, and faut is the form used in this impersonal construction. Reuse il faut + infinitive for a necessary action.
ranger Ranger means “to tidy” or “to put away” here, referring to clearing the living room. It is an infinitive after faut. Reuse it with an object or place when describing putting things in order.
le Le means “the” before salon. It is the singular definite article used with this noun. Reuse it before a singular noun when referring to a specific thing or place.
salon Salon means “living room” in this dialogue, the room that needs to be cleared. It is used after the article le. Reuse it when naming the living room in a home.
avant Avant means “before” and places the tidying before their arrival. Here it introduces the time reference l'arrivée. Reuse avant before a noun or time expression to order two events.
leur Leur means “their” here and identifies the people whose arrival is being discussed. It comes before the singular noun l'arrivée. Reuse it before a noun when several people possess or are connected with one thing.
l'arrivée L'arrivée means “the arrival” here, referring to the guests coming. The noun is arrivée, preceded by l', the shortened form of the article before a vowel sound. Reuse it when naming someone’s arrival as an event.
Je Je means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person who will put the books back. It is the subject of vais. Reuse it before a verb when talking about your own action.
vais Vais contributes “am going to” in Je vais remettre. The citation form is aller, and vais is its first-person singular present form. Reuse je vais + infinitive to announce an action you intend to do soon.
remettre Remettre means “to put back” or “to put in place” here, referring to returning the books to the shelf. It is an infinitive after vais. Reuse it when an object is being returned to its proper location.
les Les means “the” before livres. It is the plural definite article used for the specific books. Reuse it before a plural noun when referring to particular things.
livres Livres means “books,” the objects being put back on the shelf. The citation form is livre; livres is the plural form used here. It can be used when talking about books as objects to arrange or store.
sur Sur means “on” and shows that the shelf is the surface where the books will be placed. It introduces l'étagère as the destination or location. Reuse sur before a surface or location when saying that something is on it or placed there.
l'étagère L'étagère means “the shelf,” the place where the books will be put back. The noun is étagère, preceded by l', the shortened article before a vowel sound. Reuse it when referring to a shelf in a room or storage area.
coussins Coussins means “cushions,” the objects that will be put back in position on the sofa. The citation form is coussin; coussins is the plural form used here. Reuse it when talking about several cushions in a seating area.
du Du means “of the” in coussins du canapé and links the cushions to the sofa. It is the contraction of de and le in this context. Reuse du before a singular noun when expressing “of the” or a similar relationship.
canapé Canapé means “sofa,” the piece of furniture associated with the cushions. It follows du in coussins du canapé. Reuse it when naming a sofa in a room or describing something belonging to it.
en En helps form en place, meaning that something is in its proper position. Here it contributes the idea of being positioned or arranged correctly. Reuse en place when describing something that is where it should be.
place Place means “place” in en place, referring to the correct position of the cushions. The expression en place describes something as properly positioned. Reuse place in expressions about where something is located or arranged.
Est-ce Est-ce begins the yes-or-no question Est-ce qu'on devrait aussi passer l'aspirateur. It signals that the speaker is asking rather than making a statement. Reuse Est-ce que at the start of a question.
qu'on Qu'on links the question marker to on, which means “we” in this dialogue. It is the contracted form of que and on. Reuse qu'on before a verb when connecting a question structure to an action involving “we.”
devrait Devrait means “should” here and presents vacuuming as a possible recommendation. The citation form is devoir, and devrait is the form used with on in the question. Reuse on devrait + infinitive to make a suggestion about what should be done.
aussi Aussi means “also” or “as well,” adding vacuuming to the other cleaning actions. It shows that this is an additional task. Reuse it when adding another action or item to something already mentioned.
passer Passer contributes the action in passer l'aspirateur, the expression used for vacuuming. Here it does not simply mean moving past; together with l'aspirateur, it describes using a vacuum cleaner. Reuse passer with l'aspirateur when talking about vacuuming.
l'aspirateur L'aspirateur means “the vacuum cleaner” and is the object associated with passer. The noun is aspirateur, preceded by l', the shortened article before a vowel sound. Reuse it in the expression passer l'aspirateur for the household task of vacuuming.
tapis Tapis means “rug,” the surface being vacuumed. It follows sur to identify where the vacuuming takes place. Reuse it when referring to a rug in a room.
aiderait Aiderait means “would help” and presents vacuuming as an action that would improve the situation. The citation form is aider, and aiderait is the form used for this conditional possibility. Reuse it when politely describing a suggested action as useful.
surtout Surtout means “especially” and focuses attention on the area near the doorway. It marks that this location is particularly important. Reuse it before a place or detail that deserves special attention.
près Près means “near” and indicates the location of the rug that needs attention. Here it is used with de in près de la porte. Reuse près de before a place or object to show proximity.
de De completes the location expression près de la porte by introducing the reference point for “near.” It connects près with la porte. Reuse de after près when naming what something is near.
la La means “the” before porte. It is the singular definite article used with this noun. Reuse it before a singular noun when referring to a specific thing or place.
porte Porte means “doorway” here, the reference point for the area being vacuumed. It follows près de to identify the location. Reuse it when naming a doorway or door as a place in a home.
pièce Pièce means “room,” referring to the living room as a space. It is the subject of semble in this sentence. Reuse it when talking about a room without specifying a particular type.
semble Semble means “seems” here and presents the room’s improved comfort as an impression. The citation form is sembler, and semble is the form used with the singular subject pièce. Reuse a subject + semble + adjective to describe how something appears.
déjà Déjà means “already,” showing that the room feels more comfortable at this point in the tidying. It indicates that the change has happened by now. Reuse it when describing a state or result that is true sooner than expected or by the present moment.
plus Plus contributes the comparative meaning “more” in plus confortable. It shows an increase in comfort compared with before. Reuse plus before an adjective when describing a higher degree of a quality.
confortable Confortable means “comfortable” and describes the room after some tidying has been done. It follows plus to express a higher degree of comfort. Reuse it after a verb such as semble when describing how a place or object feels.
Faisons Faisons means “let's make” and proposes making tea together once the preparation is finished. The citation form is faire, and Faisons is the first-person plural imperative form used for this proposal. Reuse faisons + noun when suggesting a shared activity.
thé Thé means “tea,” the drink the speakers propose making. It follows faisons as the thing to be made. Reuse it when talking about preparing or drinking tea.
quand Quand means “when” and introduces the time condition for making tea. It connects that activity with the moment everything is ready. Reuse quand to introduce a clause that states when something happens.
tout Tout means “everything” here and refers to all the tidying and preparation. It is the subject of sera. Reuse it when referring to the whole set of relevant things or tasks as one unit.
sera Sera means “will be” in quand tout sera prêt, placing the state of readiness in the future. The citation form is être, and sera is the third-person singular future form used with tout. Reuse it with an adjective to describe a future state.
prêt Prêt means “ready” and describes everything as ready before the speakers make tea. It completes the state expressed by sera. Reuse être prêt when saying that a person, object, or situation is ready.

Grammar Points

Il faut + infinitif

Il faut ranger le salon.

eel FOH rahn-ZHAY luh sah-LOHN

We should tidy the living room.

« Il faut » expresses necessity or advice and is followed by the infinitive, without naming a specific person.

French Vocabulary

alors adv
ah-LOR then
arrivée noun
ah-ree-VAY arrival
arriver verb
ah-ree-VAY to arrive
bientôt adv
byan-TOH soon
coussins noun
koo-SAN cushions
étagère noun
ay-tah-ZHAIR shelf
il faut phrase
eel FOH we should; it is necessary

Alors, il faut ranger le salon

invités noun
an-vee-TAY guests

Nos invités

livres noun
LEEVR books
ranger verb
rahn-ZHAY to tidy; to put away
remettre verb
ruh-METR to put back; to put in place
salon noun
sah-LOHN living room

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Our guests are coming soon.

Show AnswerNos invités vont bientôt arriver.

The room already feels more comfortable.

Show AnswerLa pièce semble déjà plus confortable.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to arrive

Show Answerarriver

living room

Show Answersalon

then

Show Answeralors

arrival

Show Answerarrivée