Preparing tea and snacks for a guest | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Notre invité va bientôt arriver.

   Our guest will arrive soon.

   Notre

   our

   invité

   guest

   va … arriver

   is going to arrive

   bientôt

   soon

   More detail

   Notre means “our” here and is a possessive adjective placed before the noun. It agrees with the thing possessed in number: notre is used with a singular noun, while nos is used with a plural noun. It does not show the gender of the possessor; the relevant noun here, invité, is singular. invité means “guest” here. It is a noun; the feminine form is invitée, while the masculine singular form observed here is invité. For example, Notre invitée arrive. means “Our female guest is arriving.” va ... arriver is the French near-future pattern aller in the present + an infinitive. va is the third-person singular present form of aller, and arriver is the infinitive “to arrive.” The pattern il/elle va arriver means “he/she is going to arrive” or, as in this sentence, “will arrive.” It is different from simple future forms such as arrivera (“will arrive”), which express the same general future time with a different grammatical form. bientôt is an adverb meaning “soon.” It specifies that the arrival is expected in the near future. For example, Le train va bientôt partir. means “The train is going to leave soon.” Together, Notre invité identifies the participant as “our guest,” va arriver presents the arrival as forthcoming, and bientôt places it soon. The complete utterance therefore means “Our guest will arrive soon.”

2. On sert du café ou du thé ?

   Should we serve coffee or tea?

   On

   we

   sert

   serves

   café

   coffee

   thé

   tea

   More detail

   On means “we” here because the fixed translation presents the speaker and others as the group deciding what to serve. French on takes third-person singular verb forms even when it has this inclusive “we” meaning. In other contexts, on can refer to people in general or to an unspecified person, so its exact referent comes from context. sert is the present-tense form of servir used with on (as with il or elle). Here it asks about the serving action: “serves/serve.” Compare nous servons for “we serve” when the subject is explicitly nous. Example: On sert le dessert. — “We serve dessert.” café is the masculine noun “coffee.” In this sentence it appears in du café: du is the partitive form used before this masculine noun to refer to an unspecified amount, not to a specific counted item. The same pattern is visible in du thé, where thé is the masculine noun “tea.” thé means “tea.” The phrase du thé refers to an unspecified amount of tea. The two noun phrases are joined by ou, “or,” presenting the alternatives du café and du thé. Together, On sert du café ou du thé ? asks which of the two drinks should be served: “Should we serve coffee or tea?” The present form sert describes the serving decision in the immediate situation, while the question intonation and question mark turn the alternatives into a request for a choice.

3. Le thé est probablement meilleur ce soir.

   Tea is probably better this evening.

   thé

   tea

   probablement

   probably

   meilleur

   better

   ce soir

   this evening

   More detail

   thé means “tea” here. It is a masculine noun in French: le thé means “the tea.” In du thé, as in the preceding question, du is the partitive article used for an unspecified amount of tea. Example: Je bois du thé. — “I drink tea.” probablement is an adverb meaning “probably.” It expresses likelihood rather than certainty and can modify the whole statement. Example: Il viendra probablement demain. — “He will probably come tomorrow.” meilleur is the comparative form of bon (“good”), meaning “better.” The comparison is understood from context; French does not need to state what the tea is better than. bon → meilleur → le meilleur corresponds to “good” → “better” → “the best.” Meilleur agrees with the noun it describes: un thé meilleur is masculine singular, while une idée meilleure is feminine singular. The form here is masculine singular because it describes thé. ce soir is the time expression “this evening” or “tonight.” Ce is the masculine singular demonstrative used with soir, a masculine noun. Example: Nous travaillons ce soir. — “We are working this evening.” The structure is Le thé est probablement meilleur ce soir: Le thé is the subject, est means “is,” probablement adds probability, meilleur describes the tea as better, and ce soir gives the time. Together, the sentence means “Tea is probably better this evening.”

4. Je vais faire bouillir de l'eau dans la bouilloire.

   I'll boil some water in the kettle.

   Je vais

   I am going to

   faire bouillir

   boil

   de l'eau

   some water

   dans

   in

   bouilloire

   kettle

   More detail

   Je vais uses the first-person singular present form of aller, whose base form is aller. Before an infinitive, this construction expresses the near future: Je vais partir. — “I’m going to leave.” Here, the following infinitive is faire, so the speaker presents the boiling as an action they are about to carry out. faire bouillir means to boil something. faire is the infinitive of “to do/make,” and bouillir is the infinitive of “to boil”; together, faire bouillir expresses causing a liquid to reach boiling point. The form bouillir is unchanged here because it is an infinitive after faire. Example: Je fais bouillir le lait. — “I boil the milk.” de l'eau refers to some water or water without specifying a measured quantity. eau is a feminine noun, and the partitive form is de l' before the vowel sound at the start of eau. Compare de l'eau (“some water”) with l'eau (“the water”); the indefinite article un or une is not used for this uncountable substance in this meaning. dans is the preposition “in.” It introduces the container or place where the action occurs. For example, dans la tasse means “in the cup.” bouilloire is a feminine noun meaning “kettle.” In the utterance, it appears with the definite article la: la bouilloire, “the kettle.” The noun is bouilloire; la marks the definite feminine singular noun phrase. This is distinct from une bouilloire, “a kettle.” Together, Je vais faire bouillir de l'eau means “I’m going to boil some water,” and dans la bouilloire specifies where: “in the kettle.” The complete utterance is therefore “I’ll boil some water in the kettle.”

5. Utilise la grande tasse pour notre invité, s'il te plaît.

   Please use the large mug for our guest.

   Utilise

   use

   grande

   large

   tasse

   cup; mug

   notre

   our

   invité

   guest

   s'il te plaît

   please

   More detail

   Utilise is the informal singular imperative of utiliser (“to use”). It gives a direct instruction to one person; the subject tu is understood rather than written. Compare utilise (addressing one person) with utilisez (addressing several people or using the formal vous form). Example: Utilise cette clé. — “Use this key.” grande means “large” here and describes tasse. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective grand; the masculine singular form is grand, and the comparative is plus grand / plus grande (“larger”). Example: une grande boîte — “a large box.” tasse is a feminine noun meaning “cup” or, in this context, “mug.” Its gender is grammatical; it does not by itself identify who owns or uses it. The adjective agrees with it: une grande tasse (“a large cup/mug”). notre means “our” before a singular noun. Possessive forms in French reflect the number of the thing possessed here: notre tasse (“our cup”), but nos tasses (“our cups”). Notre itself does not change according to the gender of the singular noun. invité means “guest.” It is a masculine singular form; the feminine form is invitée. In this sentence, the form identifies the grammatical form used for the guest, without the supplied translation specifying the guest’s gender. Example: Notre invité arrive. — “Our guest is arriving.” s'il te plaît is the familiar singular expression “please.” It is a fixed polite addition when addressing one person informally; te corresponds to the informal singular addressee. With formal or plural vous, the usual corresponding expression is s'il vous plaît. Together, Utilise gives the instruction, la grande tasse identifies the large cup or mug, and pour notre invité says that it is intended for the group’s guest. The final s'il te plaît softens the direct instruction into a polite request. Thus the whole utterance asks one person informally to use the large mug for the group’s guest.

6. Tu veux que je prépare aussi quelque chose à grignoter ?

   Would you like me to prepare snacks too?

   veux

   want

   prépare

   prepare

   aussi

   too; also

   quelque chose

   something

   à grignoter

   to snack on

   More detail

   veux is the present-tense form of vouloir (“to want”) for tu: tu veux. Here it asks about the listener’s desire. For example, Tu veux du thé ? means “Do you want some tea?” prépare comes from préparer (“to prepare”). In que je prépare, it is the present subjunctive after vouloir que: “that I prepare.” The first-person subject is je, so the speaker is the person who would do the preparing. The subjunctive form happens to look like the present indicative form in this case; do not treat prépare as a form of vouloir. aussi means “also” or “too.” It adds this preparation to something else already relevant, without changing who prepares it. Its position after prépare is natural here. For example, Je viens aussi. means “I’m coming too.” quelque chose is the indefinite pronoun “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing, rather than naming a particular item. For example, Je cherche quelque chose. means “I’m looking for something.” à grignoter contains à plus the infinitive grignoter, “to nibble” or “to snack.” After quelque chose, this pattern identifies the intended use: quelque chose à grignoter means “something to snack on.” The infinitive does not specify a separate person who snacks; the phrase describes the food being prepared. Together, Tu veux que introduces a question about whether the listener wants an action performed. je prépare supplies that action and its actor, aussi adds it as an additional option, and quelque chose à grignoter specifies the object. The whole utterance therefore means: “Would you like me to prepare snacks too?”

7. Mets quelques biscuits sur la petite assiette, s'il te plaît.

   Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.

   Mets

   put

   quelques

   some

   biscuits

   biscuits

   petite

   small

   assiette

   plate

   s'il te plaît

   please

   More detail

   Mets is the second-person singular imperative of mettre, “to put.” The imperative gives a direct instruction, and French normally leaves the subject pronoun out here. Compare Tu mets ... (“You put/are putting ...”) in an ordinary statement with Mets ... (“Put ...”) as a command. quelques means “some” in the sense of an unspecified small number. It is a plural determiner, so it accompanies a plural noun; it does not state an exact count. Compare singular un biscuit (“a biscuit”) with plural quelques biscuits (“some biscuits”). biscuits is the plural of the noun biscuit, “biscuit.” The plural ending is written -s; in this form it is generally not pronounced. For example: Je mange un biscuit. — “I am eating a biscuit.” petite means “small” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective petit, agreeing with the feminine singular noun assiette. The adjective therefore appears as petite, not the masculine singular petit; plural forms are petits (masculine) and petites (feminine). assiette means “plate.” It is a feminine noun, which is why the related adjective is petite: une petite assiette means “a small plate.” s'il te plaît is the fixed expression “please.” It is used here with the informal singular form te; a more formal or plural form uses s'il vous plaît. In this expression, plaît is a form of plaire (“to please”), but the full expression is learned and used as a polite request. Together, the imperative Mets introduces the instruction, quelques biscuits identifies what should be put, and sur la petite assiette identifies the location: “on the small plate.” The complete utterance is therefore “Put some biscuits on the small plate, please.”

8. Tout sera prêt avant son arrivée.

   Everything will be ready before they arrive.

   Tout

   everything

   sera

   will be

   prêt

   ready

   avant

   before

   son

   their

   arrivée

   arrival

   More detail

   Tout means “everything” here and functions as a singular pronoun, so the following verb is singular. It can also be a determiner meaning “all” when it accompanies a noun, but that is a different use. sera is the future form of être (“to be”) for a singular subject: je serai, tu seras, il/elle/on sera. With tout, it means “will be.” Example: Tout sera simple. — “Everything will be simple.” prêt is an adjective meaning “ready.” It is masculine singular here because it agrees with the singular pronoun tout. Its feminine singular form is prête, as in La salle sera prête. — “The room will be ready.” avant means “before.” In avant son arrivée, it introduces the event that marks the earlier time. A reusable pattern is avant + noun: avant le départ — “before the departure.” son means “their” in this sentence. It is a possessive determiner referring to one possessor, while its form agrees with the possessed noun. Before the vowel sound at the start of feminine arrivée, French uses son, not sa; compare son arrivée with sa venue (“their coming”), where venue begins with a consonant sound. This form is not itself a statement that there is more than one possessor. arrivée is the feminine noun “arrival,” related to the verb arriver (“to arrive”). The phrase son arrivée therefore means “their arrival,” matching the fixed translation’s “they arrive.” Together, Tout sera prêt says “Everything will be ready.” avant son arrivée places that future state before their arrival. The complete utterance is: “Everything will be ready before they arrive.”