Coordinating dinner timing | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Les invités arriveront peut-être alors que le plat principal sera encore en train de cuire.

   The guests may arrive while the main course is still cooking.

   invités

   guests

   arriveront

   will arrive

   peut-être

   perhaps; may

   alors que

   while

   plat

   dish; course

   principal

   main

   sera

   will be

   en train de

   in the process of

   cuire

   cook

   More detail

   invités means “guests” here. It is the plural of invité; the singular is invité. The plural marking shows that this noun refers to more than one guest. arriveront is the future form of arriver (“to arrive”) for ils/elles: ils arriveront = “they will arrive.” Example: Les invités arriveront demain. — “The guests will arrive tomorrow.” peut-être means “perhaps” and makes the arrival uncertain. With the future, it gives the intended meaning “may arrive,” rather than asserting that the arrival will definitely happen. alors que introduces a situation occurring at the same time as the main clause. Here it means “while.” Example: Elle lit alors que son frère cuisine. — “She reads while her brother cooks.” plat means “dish” or, in this context, “course.” Its plural is plats. The noun is masculine, as shown by the masculine singular article le in le plat principal. principal means “main” here and describes plat. It is the masculine singular form agreeing with plat; the feminine singular is principale, as in la partie principale (“the main part”). sera is the third-person singular future form of être (“to be”): il/elle sera = “he/she/it will be.” In this sentence, its subject is le plat principal, so the meaning is “the main course will be.” en train de is used with an infinitive to show that an action is in progress: être en train de + infinitive. It is not a general future marker; the future meaning here comes from sera. cuire is the infinitive meaning “to cook” or “to be cooking.” After en train de, the infinitive stays unchanged. Example: Le riz est en train de cuire. — “The rice is cooking.” Together, Les invités arriveront gives “the guests will arrive,” and peut-être weakens this to “may arrive.” The clause alors que le plat principal sera encore en train de cuire means “while the main course will still be cooking”: sera places the ongoing cooking in the future, en train de cuire presents it as in progress, and encore adds “still.” The complete meaning is: “The guests may arrive while the main course is still cooking.”

2. Alors, sers une entrée simple pour que les invités puissent s'installer tranquillement.

   Then serve a simple starter so people can settle in.

   Alors

   then

   sers

   serve

   entrée

   starter

   simple

   simple

   pour que

   so that

   invités

   guests

   puissent

   can

   s'installer

   settle in

   tranquillement

   peacefully

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here, linking this suggestion to the situation already described. It can also introduce a conclusion or transition, but here it marks the proposed next step in time or sequence. sers is the second-person singular imperative of servir, “to serve.” The imperative addresses one person directly: Sers le dessert. — “Serve dessert.” The form is not an infinitive; servir is the base form. entrée is a feminine singular noun meaning “starter” or “first course” here. Its plural is entrées. French entrée can have other meanings in other contexts, but the meal context selects “starter.” simple describes entrée. The adjective agrees with the noun as feminine singular here, but its spelling does not change: simple is also the masculine singular form in un plat simple. The adjective follows the noun here. Example: une solution simple — “a simple solution.” pour que introduces the intended result or purpose, “so that.” It is followed by a subordinate clause, and that clause uses the subjunctive in this sentence. This is different from pour plus an infinitive, as in pour se reposer — “in order to rest,” where the understood subject is the same. invités means “guests.” It is the masculine plural form; French masculine plural can also refer to a mixed group. The singular is invité for a masculine referent and invitée for a feminine referent; the plural forms are invités and invitées. puissent is the third-person plural present subjunctive of pouvoir, “can” or “be able to.” The plural subject is les invités, so the form is puissent; compare qu’il puisse — “so that he can.” The subjunctive is selected here after pour que, not simply because the subject is plural. s'installer means “to settle in” or “get settled.” It is the infinitive of the pronominal verb s’installer; before a vowel, se contracts to s’. In puissent s’installer, the guests are the ones who settle in. Example: Nous allons nous installer. — “We are going to get settled.” tranquillement is an adverb meaning “peacefully” or “without trouble.” It describes how the guests can settle in. It is related to the adjective tranquille, “calm” or “quiet,” but the adverb is the form used to modify the action. Together, sers une entrée simple means “serve a simple starter.” pour que les invités puissent s’installer tranquillement gives the purpose: “so that the guests can settle in peacefully.” The whole utterance is therefore: “Then serve a simple starter so that the guests can settle in peacefully.”

3. Je peux préparer la salade et le pain avant leur arrivée.

   I can have salad and bread ready before they get here.

   Je peux

   I can

   préparer

   prepare

   la salade

   the salad

   le pain

   the bread

   avant

   before

   leur arrivée

   their arrival

   More detail

   Je peux means “I can.” peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to”): je peux, tu peux, but il/elle peut. It is followed by an infinitive when it expresses ability or possibility. Here, Je is the speaker and peux expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility. préparer means “to prepare” here. It is an infinitive after peux; the conjugated verb is peux, not préparer. A reusable pattern is Je peux + infinitive: Je peux attendre. — “I can wait.” la salade means “the salad.” la is the feminine singular definite article, and salade is a feminine singular noun. The article presents the salad as an identifiable item in this situation. For a masculine singular noun, the corresponding definite article is le, as in le pain. le pain means “the bread.” le is the masculine singular definite article, and pain is a masculine singular noun. French definite articles agree with the noun’s grammatical gender and number: le is masculine singular, la feminine singular, and les plural. The article does not by itself state a numerical quantity. avant means “before.” It introduces the time relation between the preparation and the later event. In this sentence, it is followed by the noun phrase leur arrivée, giving the pattern avant + noun phrase (“before + noun phrase”). leur arrivée means “their arrival.” arrivée is a feminine singular noun meaning “arrival”; its singular form is why the possessive determiner is leur, not leurs. leur here means “their” and refers to the people who will arrive—the guests identified in the surrounding context and by “they” in the fixed translation. Compare leur arrivée (“their arrival”) with leurs arrivées (“their arrivals”) when the possessed noun is plural. This is a possessive determiner, not a statement about how many people own or perform the action. Together, Je peux préparer gives “I can prepare,” la salade et le pain gives “the salad and the bread,” and avant leur arrivée gives “before their arrival.” The whole utterance means: “I can prepare the salad and the bread before they get here.” The English translation makes the intended practical sense clear: the food can be made ready before the guests arrive.

4. Cela laisse un peu plus de temps au plat principal sans donner l'impression que le dîner prend du retard.

   That gives the main course a little extra time without making dinner seem delayed.

   Cela

   That

   laisse

   gives; leaves

   un peu

   a little

   plus

   more

   temps

   time

   plat

   dish; course

   principal

   main

   donner l'impression

   give the impression

   dîner

   dinner

   prend du retard

   gets delayed

   More detail

   Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It refers to the relevant situation or action, while its grammatical form is third-person singular. French also uses ceci for “this” in suitable contexts, but it would not automatically replace the source form. laisse is the present-tense third-person singular form of laisser, “to leave” or “to give” in this construction. Here, cela laisse ... means “that gives ...”. The subject is cela, so the verb is singular. Example: Cette pause laisse plus de temps. — “This break gives more time.” un peu means “a little” and expresses a small amount. In un peu plus de temps, it makes the increase small: the amount of time is a little greater. plus is the comparative word “more”; its useful contrast is moins, “less.” temps means “time.” In this sentence, plus de temps is a reusable pattern for “more time.” After a quantity expression such as plus, French uses de before the noun: plus de temps. plat means “dish” or, in a meal context, “course.” principal means “main” or “principal” and agrees with plat here as masculine singular. The adjective’s base form is principal; with a feminine singular noun it is principale, as in la question principale — “the main question.” Together, le plat principal means “the main course.” donner l'impression is the infinitive expression “to give the impression.” After sans, the infinitive is used here: sans donner ... means “without giving ...”. l'impression is impression with the definite article la, elided before the vowel: la impression becomes l'impression. Example: Il répond sans donner l'impression d'être pressé. — “He answers without giving the impression that he is in a hurry.” dîner means “dinner” as a meal here. It can also be a verb meaning “to have dinner,” but in this sentence it is a noun inside le dîner, the subject of prend. The source includes the definite article le; it is not omitted. prend du retard means “gets delayed” or “falls behind.” prend is the third-person singular present form of prendre, “to take,” and du retard is the noun phrase “delay.” Together, prendre du retard is an idiomatic expression, not a word-for-word “take delay.” Example: Le train prend du retard. — “The train is getting delayed.” The first meaningful part, Cela laisse un peu plus de temps au plat principal, means “That gives the main course a little extra time.” au is the contraction of à and le, marking what receives or benefits from the extra time: “to/for the main course.” The second part, sans donner l'impression que le dîner prend du retard, means “without making dinner seem delayed.” sans donner describes how the first action occurs, and que introduces the clause describing the impression. Together, the utterance says that the relevant action gives the main course a little extra time without making dinner appear delayed.

5. Est-ce que je dois faire cuire les légumes quand tout le monde sera arrivé ?

   Should I cook the vegetables once everyone has arrived?

   Est-ce que

   question marker

   je dois

   I have to

   faire cuire

   cook

   les légumes

   the vegetables

   quand

   when

   tout le monde

   everyone

   sera arrivé

   will have arrived

   More detail

   “Est-ce que” is a fixed way to turn a statement into a neutral yes/no question. It does not change the order of the subject and verb: Est-ce que tu viens ? means “Are you coming?” “Je dois” uses the present-tense first-person singular form of devoir, “to have to” or “must.” In this sentence, it expresses the speaker’s obligation or need to do something, and it is followed by an infinitive. Other useful forms are tu dois, “you have to,” and ils doivent, “they have to.” Example: Je dois partir. — “I have to leave.” “Faire cuire” is a two-word verb construction meaning “to cook” in this context. Faire is followed by the infinitive cuire; together, they describe causing food to cook. The simpler verb cuire can also mean “to cook” or “to bake,” but faire cuire is especially common when describing cooking a food item. Example: Elle fait cuire le riz. — “She is cooking the rice.” “Les légumes” means “the vegetables.” Les is the definite article used with plural nouns, and légumes is the plural of le légume, “vegetable.” The article marks these as definite vegetables in the sentence, not an unspecified quantity. Example: J’achète les légumes. — “I am buying the vegetables.” “Quand” introduces a time relation and means “when.” Here it introduces the event that provides the time condition for cooking. Example: Appelle-moi quand tu arrives. — “Call me when you arrive.” “Tout le monde” is a fixed expression meaning “everyone” or “everybody.” Although its meaning refers to multiple people, monde is grammatically singular in this expression, so the verb that agrees with it is singular. Example: Tout le monde est prêt. — “Everyone is ready.” “Sera arrivé” is the future perfect, or futur antérieur, of arriver: the future form sera of être plus the past participle arrivé. It describes arrival as completed before a later future point. Because tout le monde is grammatically singular, the auxiliary is sera rather than seront. In this sentence, the participle is masculine singular, matching the grammatical agreement used with tout le monde. Example: Quand elle sera arrivée, nous commencerons. — “When she has arrived, we will start.” Together, Est-ce que introduces the question, je dois asks whether the speaker is required to act, and faire cuire les légumes names the action and its object. Quand tout le monde sera arrivé gives the future time condition: the arrival will already be complete before the cooking is to take place. The whole utterance therefore means, “Should I cook the vegetables once everyone has arrived?”

6. Ils sont meilleurs quand ils viennent d'être cuits, alors attends d’être sur le point de servir.

   They taste better freshly cooked, so wait until you are close to serving.

   meilleurs

   better

   quand

   when

   viennent d'être

   have just been

   cuits

   cooked

   alors

   so

   attends

   wait

   sur le point de

   about to

   servir

   serve

   More detail

   meilleurs means “better” here, referring to better quality or taste. It is the plural form of meilleur, the usual comparative related to bon: bon → meilleur → le meilleur (“the best”). Its plural form agrees with ils; that agreement does not identify the referent. quand introduces a time relationship: “when.” Example: Appelle-moi quand tu arrives. — “Call me when you arrive.” viennent d'être uses venir de plus an infinitive to express a very recent event: “have just been.” Viennent is the present-tense third-person plural form of venir, agreeing with ils; être remains an infinitive. Here, être introduces the passive form completed by cuits. cuits is the past participle of cuire, “to cook.” In être cuits, it agrees with the plural form represented by ils. Thus viennent d’être cuits means “have just been cooked,” rather than simply “cook.” Example: La soupe vient d’être réchauffée. — “The soup has just been reheated.” alors connects the first statement to its consequence: “so” or “then.” Example: Il pleut, alors je reste ici. — “It’s raining, so I’m staying here.” attends is the informal singular imperative of attendre, “to wait.” It addresses one person directly, so the subject pronoun is normally omitted. For a formal addressee or several people, the corresponding form is attendez. Example: Attends une minute. — “Wait a minute.” sur le point de is a reusable construction meaning “about to” or “on the point of.” It is used with être plus an infinitive: être sur le point de + infinitive. Example: Le train est sur le point de partir. — “The train is about to leave.” servir is the infinitive “to serve.” In être sur le point de servir, its understood subject is the person addressed by attends, so this part means that the addressee is about to serve. Example: Je vais servir le dessert. — “I’m going to serve dessert.” Together, the first part says that they are better when they have just been cooked. Alors presents the consequence: the addressee should wait until being about to serve. The whole utterance therefore gives timing advice: they are best when freshly cooked, so wait until serving is imminent.

7. Recevoir des invités est stressant parce que coordonner le timing de tout est plus difficile que de cuisiner.

   Hosting feels stressful because timing everything is harder than cooking.

   Recevoir

   to host

   invités

   guests

   stressant

   stressful

   coordonner

   to coordinate

   timing

   timing

   tout

   everything

   plus difficile

   harder; more difficult

   cuisiner

   to cook

   More detail

   Recevoir is an infinitive meaning “to receive,” but with des invités here, Recevoir des invités means “to host guests.” French commonly uses an infinitive phrase as the subject of a sentence: Recevoir des invités est stressant = “Hosting guests is stressful.” The infinitive keeps its base form; it does not show a subject-person ending. invités is the plural noun “guests.” Its singular form is invité; the feminine forms are invitée and invitées when the referents are feminine. The masculine plural form can also represent a mixed group; the sentence does not specify the guests’ gender. stressant means “stressful.” It is the adjective describing something that causes stress; it is related to the verb stresser, “to stress” or “to make someone stressed.” Here it describes the activity of hosting guests, expressed by the full subject phrase Recevoir des invités. coordonner is the infinitive “to coordinate.” After parce que, it begins the reason clause: parce que coordonner ... = “because coordinating ...”. As with recevoir, an infinitive can function as the subject of its clause. timing is a noun meaning “timing,” or the coordination of when things happen. In this sentence it appears in le timing de tout, referring to the timing of everything. It is an English-derived word used in French; other wording may be preferred in more formal contexts, but timing is the form used here. tout is the pronoun “everything” in le timing de tout. It refers broadly to all the relevant actions or elements, without listing them in this sentence. The construction de tout means “of everything.” plus difficile means “harder” or “more difficult.” The adjective is difficile; plus marks the comparative degree. A useful pattern is plus + adjective + que: Ce travail est plus difficile que prévu = “This work is harder than expected.” Here, plus difficile compares coordinating everything with cooking. cuisiner is the infinitive “to cook.” In que de cuisiner, it is the second member of the comparison. French uses de before the infinitive in this comparison pattern: plus difficile que de cuisiner = “harder than cooking.” Together, Recevoir des invités est stressant states that hosting guests is stressful. parce que coordonner le timing de tout gives the reason: coordinating everything’s timing. est plus difficile que de cuisiner compares that task with cooking and says it is harder. The complete meaning is: “Hosting feels stressful because timing everything is harder than cooking.”

8. Fais un plan simple pour servir : les boissons, l'entrée, puis le plat principal.

   Make a simple serving plan: drinks, starter, then the main course.

   Fais

   make

   plan

   plan

   simple

   simple

   servir

   serve

   boissons

   drinks

   entrée

   starter

   plat

   course or dish

   principal

   main

   More detail

   Fais is the second-person singular imperative of faire (“to make/do”). It gives a direct instruction to one person, with the subject pronoun normally omitted: Fais attention. — “Be careful.” The imperative is different from the ordinary present form tu fais, which normally appears with its subject: Tu fais un plan. — “You are making a plan.” plan is a masculine singular noun meaning “plan.” In this sentence it is the thing being made. Its plural is plans: Nous avons deux plans. — “We have two plans.” simple describes plan here and means “simple” or “straightforward.” simple has the same written form in the masculine and feminine singular: un plan simple — “a simple plan”; une idée simple — “a simple idea.” Its plural form is simples. servir is the infinitive “to serve.” With pour, as in pour servir, it expresses purpose: “to serve” or “for serving.” un couteau pour couper — “a knife for cutting.” The infinitive itself does not identify who will serve. boissons is the plural of the feminine noun boisson (“drink”), so les boissons means “the drinks.” Une boisson means “a drink,” while des boissons means “drinks” in an indefinite sense. entrée is a feminine noun. Here, in the meal sequence, l'entrée means “the starter.” The singular definite article is written l' before the vowel sound at the beginning of entrée. In other contexts, entrée can mean “entrance” or “entry,” but the food-list context and fixed translation support “starter” here. puis means “then” and marks the next item in a sequence. It connects the meal items in the order given: drinks, then the starter, then the main course. plat is a masculine singular noun meaning “dish” or “course”; here the meal context supports “course.” Its plural is plats. principal is the masculine singular form of the adjective principal, meaning “main” or “principal,” and it agrees with plat. With a feminine singular noun, the form is principale: la raison principale — “the main reason.” Together, Fais + un plan simple + pour servir means “Make a simple plan for serving.” The colon introduces the contents of the plan, listed in order as les boissons, l'entrée, puis le plat principal: “the drinks, the starter, then the main course.” The utterance is a direct, reusable instruction for organizing a sequence.

9. Je peux garder cette liste près de la cuisinière.

   I can keep that checklist near the stove.

   Je peux

   I can

   garder

   keep

   cette

   that

   liste

   checklist

   près de

   near

   cuisinière

   stove

   More detail

   Je peux means “I can”: je is the first-person singular subject pronoun, and peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to, can”). Pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Je peux garder... = “I can keep...” The form peux is used with je; with tu, the corresponding form is peux too, as in Tu peux garder.... garder is the infinitive “to keep.” After pouvoir, the infinitive names the action that is possible or permitted. Example: Je peux attendre. — “I can wait.” cette means “that” here. It is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative determiner, agreeing with the feminine singular noun liste. The masculine singular counterparts are ce before a consonant and cet before a vowel sound, as in ce plan (“that plan”) and cet objet (“that object”); the plural form includes ces. The determiner identifies the checklist intended in this sentence, without adding a numeric claim. liste means “list” and is feminine: une liste, la liste, cette liste. Here, the fixed translation specifies that it is a checklist. The noun can be reused in compounds or descriptions, for example une liste simple — “a simple list.” près de is the preposition sequence “near.” It introduces the location of the object being kept: garder quelque chose près de... means “to keep something near...” The following noun phrase names the nearby location. cuisinière means “stove” in this context. It is a feminine noun: une cuisinière and la cuisinière. Do not confuse the noun with cuisine, which means “kitchen” or “cooking,” depending on context. In près de la cuisinière, la is the feminine singular definite article, and de la is the separate preposition-plus-article sequence. Together, Je peux garder cette liste près de la cuisinière means “I can keep that checklist near the stove.” The structure is [subject + pouvoir] + [infinitive action] + [object] + [location]: the speaker says that keeping the specified checklist in that location is possible.

10. Cela devrait t'aider à rester concentré pendant que les invités arrivent.

    It should help you stay focused while people arrive.

    Cela

    it

    devrait

    should

    t'aider

    help you

    rester

    stay

    concentré

    focused

    pendant que

    while

    les invités

    the guests

    arrivent

    arrive

    More detail

    Cela is a demonstrative pronoun used as the subject: “that” or “it.” Here, the fixed translation supports the neutral English subject “it,” but it does not identify exactly what “it” refers to. Unlike a form such as celle, cela does not mark masculine or feminine agreement. devrait is the third-person singular present conditional of devoir, whose base form is devoir. In this sentence, devoir expresses an expected or likely result, so devrait means “should,” not a command that someone must obey. Example: Cela devrait fonctionner. — “That should work.” In t'aider, t' is the elided form of te before a vowel, and it is the object of aider: aider quelqu'un means “to help someone.” aider is the infinitive, so the construction means “help you.” The pronoun te identifies the person being helped, while the subject of aider is understood from the sentence structure rather than expressed again. rester is an infinitive meaning “to stay” or “to remain.” The pattern aider quelqu'un à + infinitive is useful for saying that something helps someone do something: Cela m'aide à comprendre. — “It helps me understand.” concentré is an adjective meaning “focused” here. It describes the person represented by t', not cela. The observed form is masculine singular; with a feminine singular referent, the corresponding form is concentrée, and the plural forms are concentrés or concentrées according to the relevant agreement. Thus t'aider à rester concentré means “help you stay focused.” pendant que is a conjunction meaning “while” and introduces an action occurring at the same time as the main action. Example: Je lis pendant que tu cuisines. — “I read while you cook.” les invités means “the guests.” les is the plural definite article, and invités is the plural noun form of invité. The noun’s masculine plural form can refer to a group of men or to a mixed-gender group; a group consisting only of women would be les invitées. arrivent is the third-person plural present indicative of arriver, “to arrive.” Its subject is les invités, so the ending marks plural agreement. In this simultaneous context, the present can be translated as “arrive” or “are arriving.” Example: Les invités arrivent. — “The guests are arriving.” Together, Cela devrait gives the expected result “it should,” t'aider à rester concentré gives “help you stay focused,” and pendant que les invités arrivent adds the simultaneous situation “while the guests arrive.” The complete meaning is: “It should help you stay focused while the guests arrive.”