Checking the apartment before leaving | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Avant de partir, nous devrions vérifier l'appartement.

   Before we leave, we should check the apartment.

   Avant de

   before

   partir

   leave

   nous devrions

   we should

   vérifier

   check

   l'appartement

   the apartment

   More detail

   Avant de introduces an action that happens earlier than the main action. It is followed by an infinitive when the understood subject is the same as in the main clause: Avant de partir, ... means “Before leaving, ...”. With a different subject, French commonly uses avant que plus a clause instead. partir is the infinitive “to leave” and is the base form used after avant de. Its present forms include je pars, nous partons, and ils partent; the infinitive itself does not show the subject. Example: Avant de dormir, je lis. — “Before going to sleep, I read.” nous devrions combines nous (“we”) with the conditional form devrions of devoir (“must / have to”). Here the conditional expresses a recommendation or what would be advisable, so nous devrions means “we should”. The relevant form chain is devoir → nous devons (“we must / have to”) → nous devrions (“we should”). Example: Nous devrions partir maintenant. — “We should leave now.” vérifier means “to check” or “to verify”. It is an infinitive here because it follows the conjugated modal verb devrions; the construction is devoir + infinitive, as in Nous devons vérifier (“We must check”). Example: Je vais vérifier la porte. — “I am going to check the door.” l'appartement means “the apartment”. Here, l' is the elided form of the masculine definite article le before the vowel sound at the start of appartement. The apostrophe reflects elision; it does not itself show the noun's gender. The noun appartement is masculine, as shown by forms such as un appartement (“an apartment”) and, without elision, le appartement is not used because French elides le before this vowel sound. Together, Avant de partir sets an earlier action, nous devrions states what would be advisable for “we”, and vérifier l'appartement names the recommended action and its object. The complete meaning is: “Before we leave, we should check the apartment.”

2. J'ai déjà éteint la cuisinière.

   I already turned off the stove.

   J'ai

   I have

   déjà

   already

   éteint

   turned off

   cuisinière

   stove

   More detail

   J'ai combines je (“I”) with ai, the first-person singular present form of avoir (“to have”). Here avoir is the auxiliary used with the past participle éteint to form the passé composé. In ordinary writing, je becomes j' before a vowel sound. Example: J'ai vérifié la porte. — “I checked the door.” déjà means “already” and places the action before the relevant reference point. In this sentence, it shows that turning off the stove has happened by the time of speaking. Example: J'ai déjà fermé la fenêtre. — “I already closed the window.” éteint is the past participle of éteindre, “to turn off” or “to extinguish.” The form éteint is used here with ai in the passé composé: j'ai éteint means “I turned off” or, depending on context, “I have turned off.” It is not the present-tense form; the present form is j'éteins. Example: Elle a éteint la lumière. — “She turned off the light.” cuisinière is a feminine noun meaning “stove” or “cooker.” In the utterance, the article la marks the noun phrase as definite: la cuisinière means “the stove.” The noun cuisinière can also refer to a female cook in other contexts, but “stove” is the intended meaning here. Example: La cuisinière est propre. — “The stove is clean.” Together, J'ai éteint forms “I turned off,” déjà adds “already,” and la cuisinière identifies the object. The complete utterance therefore means “I already turned off the stove.”

3. Est-ce que toutes les fenêtres sont fermées ?

   Are all the windows closed?

   Est-ce que

   question pattern

   toutes

   all

   fenêtres

   windows

   fermées

   closed

   More detail

   Est-ce que is a reusable French question pattern placed at the beginning of a statement to turn it into a yes-or-no question. It does not itself mean “all” or “closed”; the following words provide the content. For example: Est-ce que tu viens ? — “Are you coming?” toutes means “all” here and agrees with the feminine plural noun fenêtres. Its base form is tout; useful forms include tout (masculine singular), toute (feminine singular), tous (masculine plural), and toutes (feminine plural). The choice reflects the noun’s grammatical gender and number, not a numeric count by itself. fenêtres is the plural of the feminine noun fenêtre, “window.” The final -s marks the plural in writing and is normally not pronounced. Example: une fenêtre — “a window”; deux fenêtres — “two windows.” fermées means “closed” in this sentence. It is the feminine plural form of the adjective fermé and agrees with fenêtres: feminine and plural. The adjective can also appear as fermé (masculine singular), fermée (feminine singular), and fermés (masculine plural). Example: La porte est fermée. — “The door is closed.” Together, toutes les fenêtres means “all the windows,” and sont fermées means “are closed.” The full question Est-ce que toutes les fenêtres sont fermées ? asks whether every window is closed.

4. La fenêtre de la chambre est encore ouverte.

   The bedroom window is still open.

   fenêtre

   window

   chambre

   bedroom

   est

   is

   encore

   still

   ouverte

   open

   More detail

   fenêtre means “window” here. It is a feminine French noun: une fenêtre = “a window,” la fenêtre = “the window.” In this sentence, fenêtre is the head noun, while the following phrase de la chambre specifies which window. chambre means “bedroom” here. It is also feminine: une chambre, la chambre. The pattern de la chambre means “of the bedroom” or, naturally in English, “bedroom” before window. French uses de plus the definite article la here; this is not a quantity expression. est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”): être → est. It links the subject la fenêtre de la chambre with its description. For example, La porte est ouverte. means “The door is open.” encore means “still” in this sentence: it shows that the window remains open at the relevant time. In other contexts, encore can also mean “again” or “more,” so its meaning comes from the surrounding clause. Example: Il travaille encore. — “He is still working.” ouverte means “open” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective ouvert, agreeing with the feminine singular noun fenêtre: une fenêtre ouverte. The masculine singular form is ouvert, as in un livre ouvert (“an open book”); the adjective, not the noun, carries this gender and number agreement. Together, La fenêtre de la chambre means “the bedroom window.” est ouverte says that this window is open, and encore adds the idea that it remains open. The complete meaning is: “The bedroom window is still open.”

5. Je vais la fermer et verrouiller la porte du balcon.

   I'll close it and lock the balcony door.

   Je vais

   I go; I’m going

   fermer

   close; shut

   verrouiller

   lock

   porte

   door

   balcon

   balcony

   More detail

   Je vais combines the subject pronoun je (“I”) with vais, the first-person singular present form of aller (“to go”). On its own, this means “I go” or “I’m going.” Before an infinitive, it forms the French near-future pattern aller + infinitive, presenting an action as planned or about to happen. Here, the infinitives are fermer and verrouiller. fermer means “to close” or “to shut.” It is an infinitive, so it does not itself show the subject or tense; vais is the conjugated verb in this near-future construction. Example: Je vais fermer la fenêtre. — “I’m going to close the window.” la is a feminine singular direct-object pronoun meaning “it” here. The preceding context identifies the referent as the bedroom window, and the fixed translation confirms this object reading. In Je vais la fermer, the object pronoun comes before the infinitive fermer, after the conjugated form vais; this is its placement in the aller + infinitive construction. The pronoun’s feminine singular form matches the grammatical gender and number of its referent. It is different from the definite article in la porte. verrouiller means “to lock” by operating a lock. It is another infinitive coordinated with fermer, so the same subject and near-future construction apply: Je vais fermer et verrouiller... — “I’m going to close and lock...” la porte means “the door.” porte is a feminine singular noun, which is why it takes the definite article la. Example: La porte est ouverte. — “The door is open.” du balcon means “of the balcony” or, in this noun phrase, “balcony.” du is the contraction of de + le; balcon is a masculine singular noun. Thus la porte du balcon means “the balcony door,” literally “the door of the balcony.” Taken together, Je vais la fermer means “I’m going to close it,” with la referring to the bedroom window identified in the preceding context. et verrouiller la porte du balcon adds the coordinated action “and lock the balcony door.” The complete meaning is: “I’ll close it and lock the balcony door.”

6. Les lumières du couloir sont encore allumées.

   The hallway lights are still on.

   lumières

   lights

   couloir

   hallway

   sont

   are

   encore

   still

   allumées

   on

   More detail

   lumières means “lights” here. Its singular base form is lumière; the plural ending -s shows that there is more than one light. The feminine form matters for agreement with allumées later. couloir means “hallway” or “corridor.” In les lumières du couloir, du combines de + le and means “of the,” so the phrase is “the hallway lights.” sont is the present-tense third-person plural form of être (“to be”). It is used because the subject les lumières is plural. Compare la lumière est (“the light is”) with les lumières sont (“the lights are”). encore means “still” in this sentence: it says that the lights remain on at the relevant time. Its position before allumées helps form the meaning “are still on.” allumées means “on” here, describing lights that are switched on. It is the feminine plural form of allumé; the form agrees with feminine plural lumières. The related verb is allumer, “to turn on” or “to light.” For example: J’allume la lampe. — “I turn on the lamp.” Together, Les lumières du couloir is “the hallway lights,” sont ... allumées says that they are on, and encore adds “still.” The complete meaning is: “The hallway lights are still on.”

7. Alors, je vais les éteindre.

   So I'll turn them off.

   Alors

   So

   je vais

   I am going to

   les

   them

   éteindre

   turn off

   More detail

   Alors links this utterance to what has just been established and means “so” here. It can also mean “then” in other contexts, but “so” fits this sentence. je vais contains je, “I,” and vais, the first-person singular present form of aller (“to go”). Before an infinitive, aller + infinitive expresses an intended or imminent action: Je vais partir. — “I’m going to leave.” Here, vais does not mean that the speaker is physically going somewhere; it helps form the near-future construction. les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them.” In this context, it refers to the hallway lights identified in the preceding sentence. French les is used for both masculine and feminine plural objects; its form does not change for that distinction. It is placed before the infinitive in this construction: Je vais les éteindre. éteindre is the infinitive meaning “to turn off” or, for a light, “to switch off.” Its useful contrast is allumer, “to turn on.” The preceding context uses allumées (“on”), while éteindre describes the opposite action. For example, Éteins la lumière. means “Turn off the light.” Together, je vais les éteindre means “I’m going to turn them off”: je vais marks the intended near-future action, les identifies the plural objects, and éteindre names the action. With Alors, the complete utterance means “So I’ll turn them off.”

8. Ça devrait être tout.

   That should be everything.

   Ça

   that

   devrait

   should

   être

   be

   tout

   everything

   More detail

   Ça is a demonstrative pronoun used as the subject here. It points to something understood from the situation, and the fixed translation presents that subject as “that.” Ça is very common in everyday French; cela is a more formal alternative. Example: Ça suffit. — “That’s enough.” devrait is the conditional present form of devoir, “to have to” or “must.” With an infinitive, devoir expresses obligation; in this conditional form, devrait commonly expresses an expectation or a cautious prediction: “should.” It does not present the result as completely certain. Example: Il devrait arriver bientôt. — “He should arrive soon.” être is the infinitive of être, “to be.” It follows devrait in the reusable pattern subject + devrait + infinitive: “should be,” “should do,” and so on. The infinitive does not show a person or number by itself; the conjugated verb carries that information. tout is a standalone indefinite pronoun here, meaning “everything.” In this use it refers to the complete set or total amount relevant to the situation. It is not the adjective tout modifying a following noun. Example: Tout est prêt. — “Everything is ready.” Together, Ça devrait être tout means “That should be everything.” The subject ça points to the relevant matter, devrait être presents the identification as an expectation rather than absolute certainty, and tout says that it constitutes the whole of what is relevant.

9. Allons-y avant qu'il ne soit trop tard.

   Let's go before it gets too late.

   Allons-y

   Let's go

   avant qu'il ne soit trop tard

   before it gets too late

   More detail

   Allons-y means “let’s go.” Allons is the first-person plural present form of aller (“to go”), used here as an imperative: the speaker includes themself and addresses one or more other people. The short form -y means “there/to that place” in this context. Compare Allons-y ! (“Let’s go!”) with Va-y ! (“Go!”), where va addresses one person informally. avant qu'il ne soit trop tard means “before it gets too late.” avant que introduces an event that has not yet happened; French normally uses the subjunctive after it. soit is the third-person singular subjunctive form of être (“to be”), not a form of aller. In this expression, il is an impersonal subject meaning “it,” and trop tard means “too late.” The ne in qu'il ne soit is an explétif: it appears in this construction without making the clause negative. Thus avant qu'il ne soit trop tard does not mean “before it is not too late.” Compare the genuinely negative sentence Il n'est pas trop tard (“It is not too late”). Together, Allons-y expresses the proposal “Let’s go,” and avant qu'il ne soit trop tard sets the time limit: the going should happen before the situation becomes too late. The whole utterance is therefore: “Let’s go before it gets too late.”