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

Sentence explanations

1. Nos invités vont bientôt arriver.

   Our guests are coming soon.

   Nos

   our

   invités

   guests

   vont

   are going

   bientôt

   soon

   arriver

   arrive

   More detail

   Nos is the French possessive determiner meaning “our” here. It is used before a plural noun; the singular-noun form is notre. Nos does not show whether there is one possessor or several, and it does not distinguish the gender of the noun. invités means “guests” here. It is the plural of invité; the plural ending -s marks more than one guest. French uses invitées for a specifically feminine plural group, while invités is the masculine or mixed-group form. Example: Les invités arrivent. — “The guests are arriving.” vont is the present-tense, third-person plural form of aller (“to go”). In the pattern aller + infinitive, it forms the near future: vont arriver means “are going to arrive” and is naturally translated here as “are coming.” The plural subject Nos invités requires vont; with a singular subject, the corresponding form is va, as in L’invité va arriver. — “The guest is going to arrive.” bientôt means “soon.” It places the arrival in the near future. Example: Je reviens bientôt. — “I’ll be back soon.” arriver is the infinitive “to arrive.” After the conjugated form vont, it remains in the infinitive rather than changing for person or number. The reusable pattern is subject + aller + infinitive, for example Nous allons partir. — “We are going to leave.” Together, Nos invités is the subject, vont arriver expresses a near-future arrival, and bientôt says that it will happen soon. Thus the complete utterance means “Our guests are coming soon.”

2. Alors, il faut ranger le salon avant leur arrivée.

   Then we should clear the living room before they arrive.

   Alors

   then

   il faut

   it is necessary; one needs to

   ranger

   tidy up; put away

   le salon

   the living room

   avant

   before

   leur

   their

   arrivée

   arrival

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here and connects this statement to what has just been said. It can also introduce a consequence or transition in everyday French. il faut is the impersonal expression “it is necessary” or “one needs to.” faut is the present form of falloir, a verb normally used in this impersonal construction rather than with an ordinary personal subject. A useful pattern is il faut + infinitive: Il faut partir. — “We/one must leave.” The following infinitive identifies what is necessary. ranger means to tidy, clear, or put things away. It is the infinitive after il faut; the fixed translation presents the necessary action as something “we should” do. In another use, ranger can mean putting an item in its proper place: Je vais ranger les livres. — “I’m going to put the books away.” le salon means “the living room.” salon is a masculine singular noun, which is why the definite article is le. The article is part of the noun phrase; un salon means “a living room” when an indefinite reference is intended. avant means “before” and introduces the time point or event that follows the necessary action. With a noun phrase, as here, it forms avant + noun phrase: avant le départ — “before the departure.” With a clause, French commonly uses avant que followed by the subjunctive: avant qu’il parte — “before he leaves.” leur means “their” here. It is a possessive determiner, and its form agrees in number with the possessed noun, not with the number of possessors. Thus leur arrivée has leur because arrivée is singular, while leurs valises uses leurs because valises is plural. The fixed translation and context identify the possessors here as the guests who are going to arrive; leur itself does not encode whether there is one possessor or more than one. arrivée means “arrival.” It is a feminine singular noun for the event of arriving. The possessive determiner leur does not show this gender. French has the related verb arriver: Ils vont arriver. — “They are going to arrive.” Together, il faut ranger le salon expresses the need to tidy or clear the living room. avant leur arrivée places that necessary action earlier than the guests’ arrival. The whole utterance therefore means: “Then we should clear the living room before they arrive.”

3. Je vais remettre les livres sur l'étagère.

   I'll put the books back on the shelf.

   Je vais

   I’m going to

   remettre

   put back

   livres

   books

   sur

   on

   étagère

   shelf

   More detail

   Je vais expresses “I am going to …” here. vais is the first-person singular present form of aller; with an infinitive, the pattern aller + infinitive describes a planned or imminent action (the near future). Example: Je vais ranger la pièce. — “I’m going to tidy the room.” remettre means “to put back” or “to return something to its place” in this sentence. It is an infinitive, required after vais. It is distinct from mettre, “to put”: remettre emphasizes putting something back or restoring its position. Example: Je remets le livre sur la table. — “I put the book back on the table.” livres means “books.” It is the plural of livre; the plural form is marked by -s, although that final letter is normally not pronounced. The complete noun phrase les livres means “the books,” with les marking the plural definite noun phrase. sur is the preposition “on” here. It introduces the surface or place where something is put. Example: Le livre est sur la table. — “The book is on the table.” étagère means “shelf.” It is a feminine singular noun. In the complete phrase l'étagère, the definite article la becomes l' before the vowel sound at the start of étagère; this is elision. The article and noun together mean “the shelf.” Together, Je vais remettre les livres sur l'étagère means “I’ll put the books back on the shelf.” The near-future construction identifies the speaker as the person who will act; remettre supplies the action of returning the books to their place; and sur l'étagère gives their destination.

4. Je vais remettre les coussins du canapé en place.

   I'll straighten the cushions on the sofa.

   Je vais

   I’ll / I’m going to

   remettre

   put back; restore

   coussins

   cushions

   canapé

   sofa

   en place

   in place

   More detail

   Je vais is a reusable future construction: the present-tense form vais of aller plus an infinitive expresses the near future, roughly “I am going to …” or “I’ll …”. The subject je is the speaker, and vais agrees with that subject. For example, Je vais ranger la chambre. means “I’m going to tidy the room.” remettre is an infinitive meaning “to put back” or “to restore to its proper place” here. It is formed with the prefix re- plus mettre, but learn remettre as its own irregular verb: je remets in the present, j’ai remis in the past participle. Compare mettre (“to put”) with remettre (“to put back”); the latter highlights returning something to a previous or appropriate position. Example: Je remets les livres sur l’étagère. — “I’m putting the books back on the shelf.” coussins is the plural of the noun coussin, “cushion.” The plural ending is written -s: un coussin / des coussins. In this sentence, it refers to the cushions being put back, not to an action performed by them. Example: Les coussins sont sur le canapé. — “The cushions are on the sofa.” canapé is the noun “sofa” or “couch.” In du canapé, du is the contraction of de le, meaning “of the sofa” here. Thus les coussins du canapé means “the sofa’s cushions” or “the cushions of the sofa.” The noun itself is singular in this phrase, even though coussins is plural. en place is a reusable expression meaning “in place,” “in its proper position,” or “properly arranged.” With remettre, it completes the idea of returning the cushions to where they belong. Example: Mets les chaises en place. — “Put the chairs in place.” Together, Je vais remettre les coussins du canapé en place. means “I’ll straighten the cushions on the sofa.” More literally, it says that the speaker is going to put the sofa’s cushions back in their proper places. The near-future construction presents this as an intended or imminent action.

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

   Should we vacuum the rug as well?

   Est-ce qu'on devrait

   Should we

   aussi

   also; as well

   passer l'aspirateur

   vacuum

   tapis

   rug; carpet

   More detail

   Est-ce qu'on devrait begins a yes/no question. Est-ce que is a reusable French question frame; here on means “we” in the fixed translation and takes a third-person singular verb form. devrait is the conditional form of devoir for on (base form devoir). In this sentence, the conditional presents a suggestion gently: “Should we…?” Compare On doit…, which more directly expresses “We must…” or “We have to…”. Example: Est-ce qu'on devrait partir ? — “Should we leave?” aussi means “also” or “as well.” It adds this action to the other cleaning action under discussion. Its position here, after devrait, leaves the suggested action as passer l'aspirateur; it does not change the question into a different tense or mood. Example: Je prendrai aussi un café. — “I’ll have a coffee as well.” passer l'aspirateur is the common French expression for “to vacuum.” The verb is the infinitive passer, and l'aspirateur is part of this established expression; the phrase is not best understood by translating passer alone as “to pass.” The same infinitive can be used after other verbs: Je vais passer l'aspirateur. — “I’m going to vacuum.” tapis is the noun meaning “rug” or “carpet” here. In le tapis, it is singular and masculine; its plural uses les tapis, with the same written noun form. The preposition sur makes the location explicit: sur le tapis means “on the rug.” Example: Le tapis est sur le sol. — “The rug is on the floor.” Together, Est-ce qu'on devrait aussi asks whether “we” ought to add an action, and passer l'aspirateur sur le tapis specifies that the action is vacuuming on the rug. The complete utterance therefore means: “Should we vacuum the rug as well?”

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

   Vacuuming would help, especially near the doorway.

   Passer l'aspirateur

   to vacuum; vacuuming

   aiderait

   would help

   surtout

   especially

   près de

   near

   porte

   doorway

   More detail

   Passer l'aspirateur is the fixed expression for “to vacuum.” The infinitive phrase acts as the subject here, so the sentence presents vacuuming as the thing that would help. Example: Je vais passer l'aspirateur. — “I am going to vacuum.” aiderait means “would help” here. It is the third-person singular conditional form of aider (“to help”): aider → aiderait. The conditional presents the help as a possible or hypothetical result. Example: Cela aiderait beaucoup. — “That would help a lot.” surtout means “especially” and highlights one part of the situation. It does not mean that the action would help only in that place; it gives that place extra emphasis. Example: J'aime surtout cette pièce. — “I especially like this room.” près de is the reusable prepositional pattern “near” or “close to,” followed by the relevant noun. Example: Le chat est près de la fenêtre. — “The cat is near the window.” porte is the noun “door.” In the utterance, it appears in la porte, “the door”; porte is feminine, which is why the definite article is la. Example: La porte est ouverte. — “The door is open.” Together, Passer l'aspirateur aiderait means “Vacuuming would help.” surtout près de la porte adds the especially relevant location, “especially near the doorway.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Vacuuming would help, especially near the doorway.”

7. La pièce semble déjà plus confortable.

   The room already feels more comfortable.

   pièce

   room

   semble

   seems

   déjà

   already

   plus confortable

   more comfortable

   More detail

   pièce means “room” here. Its base form is the feminine singular noun pièce; the article la marks that grammatical gender and number. In other contexts, pièce can mean a piece or a room, but the fixed translation supports “room” here. Example: La pièce est grande. — “The room is large.” semble means “seems” in this sentence. It is the third-person singular present form of sembler, agreeing with la pièce. A useful pattern is sembler + adjective: La chaise semble confortable. — “The chair seems comfortable.” déjà means “already” and indicates that the change or state applies by the relevant time. Example: Il est déjà prêt. — “He is already ready.” plus confortable means “more comfortable.” Confortable is the adjective’s base form; plus confortable is its comparative form, formed with plus. The adjective is feminine singular here because it describes la pièce, although confortable itself has the same spelling in masculine and feminine singular. Its plural form is confortables. An explicit comparison can use plus ... que: Cette pièce est plus confortable que l’autre. — “This room is more comfortable than the other one.” Here, the comparison standard is left implicit and is understood from the situation. Together, La pièce semble says “The room seems,” déjà adds “already,” and plus confortable says that it is more comfortable than before or than an understood comparison point. The complete meaning is: “The room already feels more comfortable.”

8. Faisons du thé quand tout sera prêt.

   Let's make tea once everything is ready.

   Faisons

   let’s make

   thé

   tea

   quand

   when

   tout

   everything

   sera

   will be

   prêt

   ready

   More detail

   Faisons is the first-person plural form used here to make a suggestion: “let’s make.” It is also the present-tense first-person plural form of faire (“to do/make”), so the same form can be recognized from context as either an ordinary statement or a suggestion. Example: Faisons une pause. — “Let’s take a break.” thé is the noun “tea.” In du thé, du is the partitive combination de + le, used for an unspecified amount of a masculine mass noun: “some tea.” quand introduces a time clause meaning “when” or “once.” A useful pattern is quand + clause: Je partirai quand tu seras prêt. — “I will leave when you are ready.” tout is used here as a pronoun meaning “everything.” Its form is singular masculine in this use, which matches the adjective later in the clause; the pronoun’s referent is the situation or things included in “everything,” without specifying them individually. sera is the third-person singular future form of être, “to be.” The useful chain is être → sera (“will be”); this form agrees with the singular subject tout. In French, a future action can remain future after quand when the main clause is also about the future. prêt is the masculine singular form of the adjective “ready,” agreeing with singular masculine tout. Its feminine singular counterpart is prête, as in Elle est prête — “She is ready.” Together, Faisons du thé means “Let’s make tea,” and quand tout sera prêt means “once everything is ready.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Let’s make tea once everything is ready.”