Preparing a welcoming guest room | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ma cousine vient passer un court séjour chez nous.

   My cousin is coming to stay with us for a short visit.

   cousine

   female cousin

   vient

   is coming

   passer

   to spend

   court

   short

   séjour

   stay

   chez nous

   with us

   More detail

   cousine means “female cousin” here. The ending -e is part of the feminine noun form: un cousin is a male cousin, while une cousine is a female cousin. The following context uses son arrivée with “she” in the fixed translation, so the feminine reading is supported here. vient is a form of venir, “to come.” It is third-person singular present: je viens, tu viens, il/elle vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils/elles viennent. In vient passer, the present form of venir combines with an infinitive to express someone coming in order to do something: “is coming to spend.” passer means “to spend” when used with a period of time, as in passer un séjour or passer deux jours. The same verb can have other meanings in other contexts, including “to pass,” so the time expression determines its meaning here. Example: Nous passons une semaine à Lyon. — “We are spending a week in Lyon.” court means “short” and describes séjour, “stay.” It is the masculine singular form of the adjective because séjour is masculine singular: un court séjour. The feminine singular form is courte, as in une courte pause (“a short break”). séjour is a “stay” or “visit” understood as a period spent in a place. It is a masculine noun, so this phrase uses un, not a feminine article. Example: Son séjour dure trois jours. — “Her stay lasts three days.” chez nous means “at our place” or “with us.” chez introduces a person or group whose home or usual place is meant; nous means “us” here. The phrase therefore refers to staying in the speaker’s household or place, rather than merely being near the speakers. The opening Ma means “my” before the feminine singular noun cousine. Together, Ma cousine vient gives “My cousin is coming.” The sequence passer un court séjour adds the purpose or activity: she is coming to spend a short stay. Finally, chez nous identifies where that stay will be. The complete meaning is: “My cousin is coming to stay with us for a short visit.”

2. On devrait rendre la chambre d'amis plus confortable avant son arrivée.

   We should make the spare room more comfortable before she arrives.

   On devrait

   we should

   rendre

   make

   chambre d'amis

   guest room

   plus confortable

   more comfortable

   avant

   before

   son arrivée

   her arrival

   More detail

   On devrait: on is the subject pronoun used here for “we,” although it has a singular grammatical form and takes a third-person singular verb. Devrait is the conditional present of devoir (“must/should”); in this sentence it expresses a recommendation or intended action, not a strict command. A useful pattern is on devrait + infinitive: “we should ...” Rendre: This infinitive means “to make” in the pattern rendre quelque chose + adjective, meaning to cause something to have that quality. For example, rendre le travail plus simple means “make the work simpler.” It is the infinitive selected after devrait. Chambre d'amis: This noun phrase means “guest room” or “spare room.” Chambre is a feminine singular noun; d'amis specifies its intended use, literally referring to friends as guests. The apostrophe in d' is the normal elision of de before the vowel sound in amis. Plus confortable: Confortable means “comfortable,” and plus confortable is its comparative form, “more comfortable.” The adjective is describing chambre; its spelling is the same for masculine and feminine singular here. The pattern rendre + noun + plus + adjective means “make the noun more adjective.” Avant: This preposition means “before.” Before a noun phrase, as here, it places one event earlier than the event named by that noun phrase. It can also introduce a clause, as in avant qu'elle arrive, “before she arrives”; that clause uses a different structure. Son arrivée: Arrivée is a feminine singular noun meaning “arrival,” related to the verb arriver (“to arrive”). Son is the possessive determiner used before this noun. Although arrivée is feminine, son appears because the noun begins with a vowel sound; this avoids the sequence *sa arrivée*. In the supplied translation and context, son means “her,” referring to the cousin’s arrival. Possessive determiners agree with the possessed noun for grammatical form, while the possessor determines the meaning: son can correspond to “his,” “her,” or “its” in other contexts. Together, On devrait rendre la chambre d'amis plus confortable means “We should make the guest room more comfortable.” Avant son arrivée adds the time limit: this improvement should happen before her arrival. The complete utterance therefore means, “We should make the spare room more comfortable before she arrives.”

3. Laisse-moi débarrasser le bureau pour qu'elle ait de la place pour son ordinateur portable.

   Let me clear the desk so she has space for her laptop.

   Laisse-moi

   let me

   débarrasser

   clear

   bureau

   desk

   pour qu'elle ait

   so she has

   place

   space

   ordinateur

   computer

   portable

   portable

   More detail

   Laisse-moi combines the 2nd-person singular imperative of laisser (“let” or “leave”) with the stressed pronoun moi (“me”). Here it means “let me …”. In French, a positive imperative can place a stressed pronoun after the verb with a hyphen: Laisse-moi entrer. — “Let me come in.” débarrasser is the infinitive “to clear” or “to remove things from.” After Laisse-moi, it names the action the speaker asks to be allowed to do. The pattern Laisse-moi + infinitive is reusable: Laisse-moi vérifier. — “Let me check.” In this sentence, débarrasser takes le bureau as what is cleared. bureau is the masculine noun “desk” here. Its meaning can depend on context; for example, un bureau can also refer to an office, but the fixed translation identifies the object here as a desk. The article le marks this noun as masculine singular; it does not mean “one.” pour qu'elle ait introduces the intended result: “so that she has.” pour que is followed by a subordinate clause whose verb is in the subjunctive. ait is the 3rd-person singular subjunctive form of avoir (“to have”); the subject is elle (“she”). Compare pour qu'il ait — “so that he has” and pour qu'elles aient — “so that they have.” place is the feminine noun “space” in this context. The expression avoir de la place means “to have space,” especially enough room for something. de la is partitive here: it presents space as an uncounted amount, not as “a place.” For example, Nous avons de la place. — “We have space.” ordinateur is the masculine noun “computer.” In son ordinateur portable, it is the possessed noun, and its masculine singular form determines the form of the possessive son. The possessive refers to the female person expressed by elle, but French possessives agree with the thing possessed, not with the possessor: son ordinateur means “her computer” here, while sa tablette means “her tablet.” portable is an adjective meaning “portable” in isolation and “laptop” in the established combination ordinateur portable. It follows the noun and agrees with ordinateur in masculine singular; the visible form is therefore portable. The complete noun phrase son ordinateur portable means “her laptop.” Together, Laisse-moi débarrasser le bureau means “Let me clear the desk.” pour qu'elle ait de la place gives the purpose or intended result, “so that she has space,” and pour son ordinateur portable specifies what the space is for, “for her laptop.” The whole utterance therefore means: “Let me clear the desk so she has space for her laptop.”

4. Laisse les instructions pour Internet à un endroit où elle pourra les trouver facilement.

   Leave the internet instructions where she can find them easily.

   Laisse

   leave; let

   instructions

   instructions

   endroit

   place

   où

   where

   elle

   she

   pourra

   will be able to

   les

   them

   trouver

   find

   facilement

   easily

   More detail

   Laisse is the imperative of laisser for tu. Here it means “leave” as an instruction: keep the instructions in a particular place. The same verb can also mean “let” in patterns such as Laisse-moi entrer (“Let me come in”), but that is a different construction. instructions is the plural of instruction, meaning instructions or directions. The plural ending shows that more than one instruction is meant. Example: Les instructions sont claires. — “The instructions are clear.” endroit means a place or spot. Its plural is endroits. In à un endroit, the preposition à and the indefinite article un introduce a place without stating a numerical count of places. Example: Mets-le à un endroit sûr. — “Put it in a safe place.” où introduces a relative clause connected with a place and means “where” here. It links un endroit to the information about what can happen there. This is different from ou without an accent, which means “or.” elle is a third-person singular feminine pronoun meaning “she” here. Its grammatical form is feminine singular, while the exact person it refers to is supplied by the fixed meaning and context rather than by the pronoun alone. pourra is the third-person singular future form of pouvoir, “to be able to” or “can.” The future makes the ability part of the later situation: elle pourra means “she will be able to.” Useful forms include je peux (“I can”), elle peut (“she can”), and elle pourra (“she will be able to”). les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” here. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the instructions. In French, les does not itself mark masculine or feminine; it marks a plural object. Example: Je les trouve. — “I find them.” trouver is the infinitive meaning “to find.” After pourra, French uses the infinitive: pourra trouver means “will be able to find.” The infinitive stays trouver; the person and future tense are expressed by pourra. Example: Elle pourra trouver la clé. — “She will be able to find the key.” facilement is an adverb meaning “easily.” It describes how she will find the instructions, not where they are located. It is related to the adjective facile (“easy”), but the adverb is the form used to describe the action. Together, Laisse les instructions gives the instruction to leave the instructions, and à un endroit specifies the place. The relative clause où elle pourra les trouver facilement says that this place should allow her to find them easily. The whole utterance therefore means: “Leave the internet instructions where she can find them easily.”

5. Est-ce qu'on met des serviettes supplémentaires dans la chambre, ou est-ce qu'on lui montre le placard ?

   Should we put extra towels in the room, or show her the cupboard?

   Est-ce qu'on

   are we…? / shall we…?

   met

   puts; puts in

   serviettes

   towels

   supplémentaires

   extra; additional

   chambre

   room; bedroom

   lui

   to her

   montre

   shows

   placard

   cupboard

   More detail

   Est-ce qu'on introduces a yes/no question in French. Here on means “we,” as confirmed by the fixed translation; in other contexts it can mean “one” or people in general. The same question frame appears again before the second alternative: est-ce qu'on montre.... met is the present-tense form of mettre (“to put”) used with on. The useful pattern is on met = “we put / shall we put?”; the question frame supplies the suggestion or question meaning here. In the first alternative, dans la chambre completes the location: the towels are to be put in the room. serviettes is the plural of serviette, “towel.” The plural ending shows that more than one towel is meant. supplémentaires means “additional” or “extra” and agrees with the feminine plural noun serviettes; its singular form is supplémentaire, and it has the same form for masculine and feminine singular, with -s in the plural. Example: des couvertures supplémentaires means “extra blankets.” chambre means “room,” and can also mean “bedroom” when the context supports that reading. It is a feminine noun, as shown by forms such as la chambre; the phrase dans la chambre means “in the room.” lui is an indirect object pronoun meaning “to her” here. The translation and the preceding context identify the person as female. French uses lui for both “to him” and “to her,” so the pronoun’s form itself does not mark gender. Example: Je lui parle means “I speak to him/her”; the context identifies the person. montre is the present-tense form of montrer (“to show”) used with on. The pattern montrer quelque chose à quelqu’un means “to show something to someone”: montre le placard supplies the thing shown, while lui supplies the person it is shown to. placard means “cupboard” here. It is a masculine noun, as in le placard. The phrase le placard therefore means “the cupboard”; le is the definite article, identifying a specific cupboard in the situation. The utterance presents two alternatives with ou (“or”). The first is on met des serviettes supplémentaires dans la chambre: “we put extra towels in the room.” The second is on lui montre le placard: “we show her the cupboard.” Together, the repeated yes/no question frame asks whether the towels should be put in the room or whether the cupboard should be shown to her.

6. Mets-les dans la chambre. Cela donne plus d'intimité aux invités.

   Put them in the room. It gives guests more privacy.

   Mets

   put

   les

   them

   chambre

   room

   Cela

   it / that

   donne

   gives

   plus

   more

   intimité

   privacy

   invités

   guests

   More detail

   Mets is the second-person singular imperative of mettre, “to put.” The imperative gives a direct instruction. Compare Mets le livre sur la table. — “Put the book on the table.” With les, the object pronoun follows the affirmative imperative and is joined by a hyphen: Mets-les. The pronoun is plural; the supplied sentence does not identify exactly which items it refers to. les is the plural direct-object pronoun “them.” It does not itself mark masculine or feminine gender here. In an ordinary statement it would come before the verb, as in Je les mets ici. — “I put them here,” whereas the affirmative command uses Mets-les. chambre is the noun “room,” specifically in la chambre, “the room.” Its useful base form is already chambre; the feminine grammatical gender is shown by the article la, not by the noun’s meaning. The preposition dans makes the location phrase dans la chambre, “in the room.” Cela is the invariable demonstrative pronoun “that” or “it.” Here it refers to the situation or action just mentioned, rather than identifying a new person. It functions as the subject of donne: Cela aide. — “That helps.” donne is the third-person singular present form of donner, “to give.” In this sentence, donner means “to provide” or “to give” an effect, not necessarily to hand over an object. A useful pattern is donner quelque chose à quelqu’un, “to give something to someone.” The recipient is expressed here by aux invités; aux is the contraction of à and les. plus means “more.” In plus d'intimité, it marks a greater amount of the noun that follows. The pattern plus de + noun is reusable: plus de temps — “more time.” intimité means “privacy” in this sentence. It is a noun; the expression plus d'intimité means “more privacy.” The de after plus is the form used before this noun phrase, and the elision in d'intimité reflects the following vowel sound. invités means “guests.” It is the plural of invité, a noun related to the verb inviter, “to invite.” The feminine forms are invitée and invitées; invités is the observed masculine-plural form and can also be used for a mixed group in standard French. Here, aux invités identifies the guests as the recipients of the increased privacy. Together, Mets-les dans la chambre means “Put them in the room”: the command uses mettre, the plural object pronoun les, and the location phrase introduced by dans. Cela donne plus d'intimité aux invités means “It gives guests more privacy”: Cela refers to the preceding situation, donne expresses the resulting benefit, and aux invités marks who receives it. The complete utterance is therefore: “Put them in the room. It gives guests more privacy.”

7. Je veux être un hôte détendu, pas quelqu'un qui explique chaque détail.

   I want to be a relaxed host, not someone who explains every detail.

   Je veux

   I want

   être

   to be

   hôte

   host

   détendu

   relaxed

   pas

   not

   quelqu'un

   someone

   explique

   explains

   chaque

   every

   détail

   detail

   More detail

   Je veux is the first-person singular present form of vouloir, “to want.” It commonly introduces an infinitive: Je veux partir. — “I want to leave.” The subject is je, and veux is the form used with that subject; the infinitive that follows does not change for person. être is the infinitive “to be.” After veux, it names what the speaker wants: Je veux être calme. — “I want to be calm.” hôte is a noun meaning “host” here. It can refer to a host who welcomes or accommodates guests. The spelling is the same for masculine and feminine uses, although associated forms can show gender: un hôte détendu and une hôte détendue. détendu is the masculine singular form of the adjective “relaxed.” It agrees with the singular masculine form used for hôte in this sentence. The feminine singular form is détendue; the plural forms are détendus and détendues. Example: Elle est détendue. — “She is relaxed.” pas supplies the “not” part of the contrast. Here it follows the positive idea Je veux être un hôte détendu and introduces what the speaker does not want to be: pas quelqu'un qui.... In ordinary French negation, pas often appears with ne, but after Je veux, the contrast can be expressed with pas directly: Je ne veux pas partir. — “I do not want to leave.” quelqu'un is an indefinite pronoun meaning “someone” or “somebody.” It refers to a person without identifying that person. In this utterance, it is the person described by the following relative clause, not a specifically named individual. explique is the third-person singular present form of expliquer, “to explain.” The relative pronoun qui makes quelqu'un the subject of this verb, so French uses the singular form: quelqu'un qui explique. Example: Je connais quelqu'un qui explique bien. — “I know someone who explains well.” chaque means “every” or “each” and normally comes before a singular noun: chaque détail. It presents the details one by one as a complete set. Compare tous les détails, “all the details,” which uses a plural noun. détail is a noun meaning “detail.” In chaque détail, it is singular because chaque selects a singular noun. Its plural is détails: les détails importants — “the important details.” Together, Je veux être un hôte détendu says “I want to be a relaxed host.” The contrast pas quelqu'un qui explique chaque détail adds “not someone who explains every detail.” The complete meaning is therefore: “I want to be a relaxed host, not someone who explains every detail.”

8. Une courte note suffit, surtout pour les clés, les lumières et le petit-déjeuner.

   A short note is enough, especially for keys, lights, and breakfast.

   courte

   short

   note

   note

   suffit

   is enough

   surtout

   especially

   clés

   keys

   lumières

   lights

   petit-déjeuner

   breakfast

   More detail

   courte describes note here as “short.” It is the feminine singular form of court because it agrees with the feminine singular noun note: court (masculine singular), courte (feminine singular), courts (masculine plural), courtes (feminine plural). Example: une courte pause — “a short break.” note means “note” here, a brief written message. It is a feminine noun, as shown by une. Example: J’écris une note. — “I am writing a note.” suffit means “is enough” in this sentence. It is the third-person singular present form of suffire: ça suffit — “that is enough.” The subject here is Une courte note, so the singular form is used. Example: Un seul mot suffit. — “One word is enough.” surtout means “especially” and highlights the items that are particularly relevant. It is an adverb, so it does not change for number or gender. Example: Je l’aime surtout le matin. — “I especially like it in the morning.” clés means “keys.” It is the plural of the feminine noun clé; the plural is marked in writing by -s: une clé, des clés. Example: Où sont les clés ? — “Where are the keys?” lumières means “lights.” It is the plural of the feminine noun lumière: une lumière, des lumières. Example: Les lumières sont allumées. — “The lights are on.” petit-déjeuner means “breakfast.” It is a compound noun written with a hyphen. In this sentence, it follows le, so it is used as a masculine singular noun: le petit-déjeuner. Example: Le petit-déjeuner est prêt. — “Breakfast is ready.” Together, Une courte note suffit says “A short note is enough.” The adverb surtout then gives special emphasis to the coordinated list pour les clés, les lumières et le petit-déjeuner: “especially for keys, lights, and breakfast.” The preposition pour marks the things the note is meant to cover, while les introduces the plural nouns clés and lumières; le introduces the singular noun petit-déjeuner. The complete utterance is therefore: “A short note is enough, especially for keys, lights, and breakfast.”

9. Préparer la chambre à l'avance nous éviterait de nous dépêcher plus tard.

   Preparing it ahead of time would keep us from rushing later.

   Préparer

   to prepare

   chambre

   room

   à l'avance

   in advance

   nous

   us

   éviterait

   would avoid

   nous dépêcher

   to hurry

   plus tard

   later

   More detail

   Préparer is the infinitive “to prepare.” Here it functions as the subject of the sentence: “Preparing …” French can use an infinitive this way when an action is treated as the topic or cause. Example: Lire aide means “Reading helps.” chambre means “room.” In la chambre, the feminine singular article la agrees with this noun; the noun itself is not marked here for number or gender. The phrase préparer la chambre means “prepare the room.” à l'avance means “in advance” or “ahead of time.” The l' is an elided definite article before a vowel sound; by itself, l' does not reveal whether the underlying article is le or la. In this expression, avance is a feminine noun. The expression is learned as a fixed time expression. Example: Réservez à l'avance means “Book in advance.” The first nous means “us” and identifies the people who would be spared the later action. It is used in the construction éviter quelque chose à quelqu'un or, as here, éviter à quelqu'un de plus an infinitive. Its precise grammatical role is determined by that construction, while its meaning here is “us.” éviterait is the third-person singular conditional form of éviter, “to avoid.” With éviter de plus an infinitive, French expresses avoiding an action. In this sentence, the construction nous éviterait de means “would keep us from.” The conditional presents this as a result that would follow from the preparation. The ending belongs to éviter, not to chambre. nous dépêcher contains the pronominal verb se dépêcher, “to hurry.” With a first-person plural subject, its infinitive form is nous dépêcher; in a finite present form, nous nous dépêchons means “we hurry.” In de nous dépêcher, the second nous is the reflexive pronoun belonging to that verb. Example: Nous devons nous dépêcher means “We have to hurry.” plus tard means “later,” referring to a later time. It contrasts with à l'avance, which places the preparation earlier. Example: Nous partirons plus tard means “We will leave later.” Together, Préparer la chambre à l'avance means “preparing the room ahead of time.” nous éviterait de nous dépêcher plus tard means “would keep us from hurrying later”: the earlier preparation would spare the first-person plural participants from having to hurry at that later time. The full utterance is therefore “Preparing the room ahead of time would keep us from rushing later.”

10. Cela lui permettra de se sentir la bienvenue sans rendre la visite trop formelle.

    That will make her feel welcome without making the visit too formal.

    Cela

    That

    lui

    to her

    permettra

    will allow

    se sentir

    to feel

    la bienvenue

    welcome

    sans

    without

    rendre

    to make

    la visite

    the visit

    trop

    too

    formelle

    formal

    More detail

    Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It is invariable: unlike a demonstrative adjective, it does not change for gender or number. In this context, it points to the relevant action or situation, supported by the preceding sentence about preparing the room. lui is the singular indirect-object pronoun “to her” in this translation. The form lui is the same for a singular masculine or feminine indirect object; the translation identifies the person here as female. Compare leur for a plural indirect object. permettra is the future form of permettre, “to allow” or “to make possible”: permettre → permettra. With cela as subject, the sentence says that this situation will make the result possible. Example: Cette clé permettra d’ouvrir la porte. — “This key will make it possible to open the door.” se sentir means “to feel,” literally using the pronominal construction se sentir. The infinitive is used after permettra de; French commonly uses permettre à quelqu’un de + infinitive for “allow someone to do something.” The pronoun se belongs to the verb and does not itself show the person’s gender. la bienvenue is the feminine noun phrase used in the expression se sentir la bienvenue, “to feel welcome,” here referring to the female person identified in the translation. The article la belongs to the noun bienvenue; this is not the adjective bienvenu agreeing directly with an expressed noun. A related adjective is bienvenu for a masculine singular person and bienvenue for a feminine singular person, but the fixed sentence uses the noun phrase la bienvenue. sans means “without.” In sans + infinitive, it introduces an action that does not happen: sans attendre means “without waiting.” Here, sans begins the second part of the sentence rather than changing the meaning of se sentir. rendre means “to make” in the construction rendre quelque chose + adjective: it gives the object the described quality. Example: La musique rend la pièce calme. — “The music makes the room calm.” la visite means “the visit.” Visite is a feminine noun, shown by la. The noun is the direct object of rendre, so the construction is rendre la visite ... — “make the visit ...”. trop means “too” here, expressing an excessive degree. It modifies the adjective formelle, not the noun visite. This differs from très, “very”: très formelle means “very formal,” while trop formelle means “more formal than desired or appropriate.” formelle means “formal” and describes la visite. Its base form is the masculine singular adjective formel; formelle is the feminine singular form agreeing with the feminine noun visite. The complete pattern is rendre + noun + adjective: rendre la visite trop formelle, “make the visit too formal.” Together, Cela lui permettra de se sentir la bienvenue means “That will make it possible for her to feel welcome.” sans rendre la visite trop formelle adds “without making the visit too formal.” Thus the whole utterance says: “That will make her feel welcome without making the visit too formal.”