Fixing a Stuck Print Job | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Mon document est bloqué dans la file d'attente de l'imprimante et rien ne sort.

   My document is stuck in the printer queue, and nothing is coming out.

   document

   document

   est bloqué

   is stuck

   file d'attente

   queue

   imprimante

   printer

   rien ne sort

   nothing comes out

   More detail

   document means “document.” It is a masculine noun in French, so the adjective in bloqué has the masculine singular form here. A useful example is un document important — “an important document.” est bloqué means that the document is in a blocked or stuck state. est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”), and bloqué is the past participle of bloquer (“to block”). Together, être + past participle describes a resulting state: Le fichier est bloqué — “The file is stuck.” The participle agrees with the subject: La page est bloquée — “The page is stuck.” file d'attente is the French expression for a queue or waiting line. In this sentence it is a printer queue. The apostrophe in d'attente reflects the elision of de before a vowel sound. The expression is reusable in other contexts, for example une file d'attente virtuelle — “a virtual queue.” imprimante means “printer.” It is a feminine noun, as shown by une imprimante (“a printer”). The phrase dans la file d'attente de l'imprimante means “in the printer’s queue” or, more literally, “in the queue of the printer.” rien ne sort means “nothing comes out.” Here, rien is the subject meaning “nothing,” and ne marks negation before the verb sort. sort is the third-person singular present form of sortir (“to come out” or “to leave”). This is different from an object pattern such as Je ne vois rien — “I see nothing,” where rien follows the verb. For example, Rien ne sort de la boîte means “Nothing comes out of the box.” The first part combines Mon document (“my document”), est bloqué (“is stuck”), and dans la file d'attente de l'imprimante (“in the printer queue”). The second part, joined by et (“and”), states rien ne sort (“nothing comes out”). Together, the utterance means: “My document is stuck in the printer queue, and nothing is coming out.”

2. Vérifions l'écran avant de relancer le travail d'impression.

   Let's check the screen before sending the job again.

   Vérifions

   let’s check

   l'écran

   the screen/display

   avant de

   before

   relancer

   send again; restart

   travail

   work; job

   impression

   printing

   More detail

   Vérifions comes from vérifier (“to check”). It is the first-person plural imperative, used for a suggestion meaning “let’s check.” The same form can also be the present-tense form “we check,” so the surrounding construction gives it the suggestion meaning. Example: Vérifions le document. — “Let’s check the document.” l'écran means “the screen/display.” écran is a masculine singular noun; the definite article le becomes l' before the vowel sound at the start of écran. The article’s elision does not change the noun’s gender. Example: L'écran affiche un message. — “The screen displays a message.” avant de introduces an action that happens earlier than another action. It is followed by an infinitive: avant de + infinitive. Example: Avant de partir, je ferme la porte. — “Before leaving, I close the door.” When the following subject is expressed as a separate clause, French commonly uses avant que with a finite verb instead. relancer is an infinitive verb meaning “to start, launch, or send again”; here it refers to sending the print job again. It is related in use to lancer (“to launch/start”), while re- contributes the idea of doing it again. As a transitive verb, it takes the thing being restarted or sent again. Example: Il faut relancer le programme. — “The program needs to be restarted.” travail is a masculine noun meaning “work” or, in a practical task context, “job.” In this sentence it refers to the print job, not to employment in general. Example: Le travail est terminé. — “The job is finished.” impression is a feminine noun meaning “printing” in this context. It is the noun used in travail d'impression, literally a “printing job.” The same form can have other meanings in other contexts, including “impression,” but the surrounding printing vocabulary selects “printing” here. It is related to the verb imprimer (“to print”). Example: L'impression commence. — “Printing is starting.” The phrase travail d'impression combines a general task noun with d'impression to specify its type: a job for printing. The de is written d' before the vowel-initial noun impression. Together, Vérifions l'écran means “Let’s check the screen,” and avant de relancer le travail d'impression places the repeated sending of the print job after that check: “before sending the job again.” The complete utterance is therefore “Let’s check the screen before sending the job again.”

3. J'ai choisi l'impression recto verso, mais l'écran affiche une erreur.

   I chose double-sided printing, but the display shows an error.

   J'ai

   I have / I’ve

   choisi

   chosen

   impression

   printing

   recto verso

   double-sided

   écran

   screen / display

   affiche

   displays / shows

   erreur

   error

   More detail

   J'ai is the first-person singular present form of avoir, “to have.” Here it works with the following past participle to help form the passé composé. The apostrophe marks the normal elision of je before a vowel: je + ai becomes j'ai. choisi is the past participle of choisir, “to choose.” With j'ai, j'ai choisi means “I chose” or “I have chosen.” The useful pattern is avoir + past participle for many completed past actions: J'ai vérifié l'écran. — “I checked the screen.” impression is a feminine noun meaning “printing” here. It is related to the verb imprimer, “to print,” but the noun names the printing operation or result rather than the action as a verb. In l'impression, l' is the elided form of the feminine article la before a vowel sound. recto verso is a fixed descriptive expression meaning “double-sided” or “on both sides” in a printing context. Together, l'impression recto verso means “double-sided printing.” It describes the type of printing, not a separate action. écran is a masculine noun meaning “screen” or “display.” The phrase l'écran means “the screen/display”; l' is used before this vowel-initial noun. Example: L'écran est allumé. — “The screen is on.” affiche is the third-person singular present form of afficher, “to display” or “to show.” Its subject here is l'écran, so l'écran affiche means “the screen displays/shows.” The same form can occur with other singular subjects: Le panneau affiche un message. — “The panel displays a message.” erreur is a feminine noun meaning “error.” In une erreur, une is the indefinite feminine article; it introduces an unspecified error and does not by itself assert a numerical count as a teaching point. une erreur is therefore “an error,” while l'erreur would be “the error.” The sentence assembles as J'ai choisi (“I chose”) + l'impression recto verso (“double-sided printing”), followed by mais (“but”) + l'écran affiche une erreur (“the display shows an error”). The complete meaning is: “I chose double-sided printing, but the display shows an error.”

4. Il y a peut-être un bourrage papier, alors ne touchez pas aux commandes pour le moment.

   There may be a paper jam, so leave the controls alone for now.

   Il y a

   there is; there are

   peut-être

   perhaps; maybe

   bourrage

   jam; blockage

   papier

   paper

   ne … touchez … pas

   do not touch

   commandes

   controls

   pour le moment

   for now

   More detail

   Il y a is the French existential construction meaning “there is” or “there are.” It presents something as existing or being present; the following noun phrase identifies what may be present. Example: Il y a un problème. — “There is a problem.” peut-être means “perhaps” or “maybe.” It marks the statement as uncertain, so the speaker does not assert that the jam definitely exists. It can also appear at the beginning of a sentence: Peut-être qu’il vient. — “Maybe he is coming.” bourrage means a jam or blockage, especially a mechanical obstruction. Its base form is the noun bourrage; it is not a form of the verb bourrer in this sentence. Here it refers to the obstruction described by the fixed translation. papier means “paper.” In bourrage papier, it specifies the material associated with the blockage: a paper jam. French often places a noun after another noun to specify its type or material. Example: un sac papier — “a paper bag.” ne ... touchez ... pas is the negative command “do not touch.” The two parts of French negation surround the verb: ne + verb + pas. touchez is the imperative form of toucher for vous, used for one person addressed formally or for more than one person. Example: Ne touchez pas à cela. — “Do not touch that.” The preposition à is part of the usual construction toucher à quelque chose, “to touch or tamper with something.” commandes means “controls” here. It is the plural of the feminine noun commande; in this equipment context, it refers to the controls rather than to an order or request. The plural form signals multiple controls, while the definite article is included in the contraction aux in the full sentence: à + les = aux. pour le moment is a reusable time expression meaning “for now” or “at the moment.” It limits the instruction to the present period and does not state how long that period will last. Example: Attendez pour le moment. — “Wait for now.” Together, Il y a peut-être un bourrage papier says that a paper jam may be present. alors then means “so” or “in that case,” linking that possibility to the instruction. ne touchez pas aux commandes tells the addressed person or people not to touch the controls, and pour le moment makes the instruction temporary: “There may be a paper jam, so leave the controls alone for now.”

5. Je ne veux pas le relancer et ajouter un autre travail à la file d'attente.

   I do not want to resend it and add another job to the queue.

   Je

   I

   ne … pas

   not

   veux

   want

   relancer

   resend

   ajouter

   add

   autre

   another

   travail

   job

   file d'attente

   queue

   More detail

   Je is the first-person singular subject pronoun: “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person who does not want the actions. For comparison, tu means “you” singular in an informal setting, while vous is used for “you” plural or formal singular. ne … pas surrounds the conjugated verb to make the clause negative. Here, ne comes before veux and pas after it; together they mean “do not.” In less formal spoken French, ne is often omitted, but the full pattern is standard and clear in writing. veux is the first-person singular present form of vouloir, “to want”: je veux = “I want,” je ne veux pas = “I do not want.” With a following infinitive, vouloir + infinitive expresses wanting or not wanting to do something. Example: Je veux attendre. means “I want to wait.” relancer is an infinitive meaning “to resend” here. In technical contexts, it can also mean to restart or trigger a process again, but the fixed translation selects the “resend” sense. The form is an infinitive because it follows veux; the subject of the action is still understood as je. ajouter is another infinitive, meaning “to add.” It is coordinated with relancer, so the same pattern applies: vouloir + relancer et ajouter means “to want to resend and add.” Example: Je veux ajouter une note. means “I want to add a note.” autre is a descriptive adjective meaning “other” or, in un autre travail, “another.” It modifies travail; its form is not a verb inflection. travail is a noun meaning “job” in this technical context. It can also mean “work” in other contexts, so the intended sense comes from the fixed translation and the queue context. Its plural form is travaux, as in plusieurs travaux (“several jobs” or “several works,” depending on context); this is not the form used here. file d'attente is a noun phrase meaning “queue.” In computing, it refers to a queue in which jobs wait to be processed. In d'attente, de is elided before the vowel of attente, producing the apostrophe: de attente becomes d'attente. Example: Le document est dans la file d'attente. means “The document is in the queue.” Putting the parts together, Je ne veux pas gives “I do not want,” followed by the two coordinated infinitives le relancer (“resend it”) and ajouter un autre travail à la file d'attente (“add another job to the queue”). The complete meaning is: “I do not want to resend it and add another job to the queue.”

6. Je peux annuler le travail qui a échoué avant que vous essayiez à nouveau.

   I can cancel the failed job before you try again.

   Je peux

   I can

   annuler

   cancel

   le travail

   the job

   échoué

   failed

   avant que

   before

   essayiez

   try

   à nouveau

   again

   More detail

   Je peux means “I can” here. peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to,” “can”): je peux, tu peux, il/elle peut, nous pouvons. The subject Je is the person who has the ability or permission in this sentence. Example: Je peux vérifier. — “I can check.” annuler is the infinitive “to cancel.” After a conjugated form of pouvoir, French uses the infinitive: Je peux annuler — “I can cancel.” Example: Nous pouvons attendre. — “We can wait.” le travail means “the job” in this context. travail is a masculine singular noun, so the definite article is le. The same noun can mean “work” in other contexts; the fixed translation supports the specific sense “job” here. Example: Le travail est terminé. — “The job is finished.” échoué means “failed” here and describes le travail. It is the past participle of échouer (“to fail”); used after qui a, it forms a échoué, literally “has failed.” Because travail is masculine singular, the standalone descriptive form is échoué; in this construction, the past participle with avoir does not change to agree with this preceding subject. Example: Le test a échoué. — “The test failed.” avant que introduces an event that must happen later than the cancellation in the sentence: “before.” French normally uses the subjunctive after avant que. Example: Pars avant qu'il arrive. — “Leave before he arrives.” essayiez means “you try” here. It is the second-person plural present subjunctive form of essayer (“to try”), required here after avant que: vous essayiez. The subject is vous, addressed as “you”; this form also serves a formal singular “you” in French, but the fixed translation gives only the English form “you,” so the number is not established by the translation alone. Example: Je pars avant que vous commenciez. — “I am leaving before you begin.” à nouveau means “again” or “anew.” It is an adverbial expression modifying the trying action: the attempt happens another time. Example: Essayez à nouveau. — “Try again.” The relative clause qui a échoué identifies which job is meant: le travail qui a échoué is “the job that failed.” The complete structure is Je peux annuler (“I can cancel”) + le travail qui a échoué (“the job that failed”) + avant que vous essayiez à nouveau (“before you try again”). Together, the utterance means: “I can cancel the failed job before you try again.”

7. Pourriez-vous vérifier l'imprimante avant que j'envoie autre chose ?

   Could you check the printer before I send anything else?

   Pourriez-vous

   Could you

   vérifier

   check

   l'imprimante

   the printer

   avant que

   before

   j'envoie

   I send

   autre

   other

   chose

   thing

   More detail

   Pourriez-vous is a polite request meaning “could you…?” It combines pourriez, the second-person plural/formal conditional form of pouvoir (“to be able to”), with inverted vous (“you”). French uses this conditional form to make a request less direct; it is not a past-time statement here. The same formal pattern is reusable: Pourriez-vous + infinitive ... ? vérifier is the infinitive “to check.” After Pourriez-vous, the requested action stays in the infinitive: Pourriez-vous vérifier ... ? (“Could you check ...?”). The infinitive is the base form, unlike a personally inflected verb. l'imprimante means “the printer.” imprimante is a feminine noun; its ordinary definite article is la, but la becomes l' before a vowel sound: l'imprimante. The article form here reflects the noun’s definiteness and the following sound, not a masculine gender. avant que introduces an action that is to occur before another action. French normally uses the subjunctive after this conjunction. In the sentence, j'envoie is the first-person singular subjunctive of envoyer (“to send”); its spelling is the same as the first-person singular present indicative, so the surrounding avant que identifies the construction. je is shortened to j' before the vowel of envoie. autre means “other” or “else” here. It is an adjective modifying the noun chose; it is not the verb or the source of the noun. In autre chose, it appears before the noun and has the masculine singular form autre; this form is also used with feminine singular nouns, while the plural is autres. chose means “thing.” The expression autre chose literally combines “other” and “thing,” but in this context it naturally means “anything else.” It is a useful expression for referring nonspecifically to another thing without naming it. Together, Pourriez-vous vérifier l'imprimante asks politely whether the listener can check the printer. avant que j'envoie autre chose sets the timing: that check should happen before the speaker sends anything else. The complete utterance therefore means: “Could you check the printer before I send anything else?”

8. Je vais regarder, mais n'ouvrez pas la machine vous-même, s'il vous plaît.

   I'll take a look, but please do not open the machine yourself.

   Je vais

   I am going to / I’ll

   regarder

   look at; take a look

   mais

   but

   n'ouvrez pas

   do not open

   machine

   machine

   vous-même

   yourself

   s'il vous plaît

   please

   More detail

   Je vais is the first-person singular present of aller (“to go”), used here with an infinitive to form the near future: je vais + infinitive = “I am going to …” or “I’ll …”. The subject is je, and vais agrees with that subject. Example: Je vais attendre. — “I’m going to wait.” regarder is the infinitive “to look at” or “to watch”; here, with je vais, it means “take a look.” The infinitive is the reusable form after aller: Nous allons regarder. — “We are going to take a look.” mais introduces a contrast: “but.” It links the speaker’s intention to look with the request that follows. n'ouvrez pas is the negative imperative of ouvrir, “to open.” In a negative French imperative, ne comes before the verb and pas after it; before the vowel of ouvrez, ne is elided to n'. ouvrez is the vous form, used for more than one person or for formal address to one person. The pattern is n'ouvrez pas + object — “do not open + object.” Example: N'ouvrez pas la porte. — “Do not open the door.” machine is the noun “machine.” In the full sentence it appears as la machine, with the feminine singular definite article la; the noun itself is machine. Example: La machine fonctionne. — “The machine is working.” vous-même means “yourself” with vous. vous can address one person formally or several people, and -même adds emphasis to the person: “you yourself” or “yourself.” The form agrees with that vous reference in this construction: vous-même for a singular formal addressee and vous-mêmes for plural addressees. Here it emphasizes who should not do the opening, rather than identifying a different object. s'il vous plaît is the fixed polite expression “please.” Literally, it contains si (“if”), il (“it/he”), and vous plaît (“pleases you”), but it functions as a conventional polite request expression. Example: Attendez, s'il vous plaît. — “Please wait.” Together, Je vais regarder means “I’ll take a look,” and mais contrasts that intention with the negative request n'ouvrez pas la machine vous-même: “but please do not open the machine yourself.” The final s'il vous plaît makes the request polite. The complete meaning is: “I’ll take a look, but please do not open the machine yourself.”

9. J'attendrai ici pendant que vous la vérifiez.

   I'll wait here while you check it.

   J'attendrai

   I will wait

   ici

   here

   pendant que

   while

   vous

   you

   la

   it

   vérifiez

   check

   More detail

   J'attendrai means “I will wait” here. It is the first-person singular future form of attendre (“to wait”): j'attends = “I wait/I am waiting,” while j'attendrai places the waiting in the future. Example: J'attendrai jusqu'à demain. — “I will wait until tomorrow.” ici means “here,” referring to the speaker's location. It is an adverb, so it does not change for person or number. Example: Nous resterons ici. — “We will stay here.” pendant que introduces an action happening at the same time as another action: “while.” It is followed here by a clause with vous vérifiez. Example: Je lis pendant que tu écris. — “I read while you write.” vous is the subject pronoun for “you.” It can address more than one person or one person formally; the sentence alone does not require choosing between those uses. In vous vérifiez, it determines the second-person plural verb form. Example: Vous attendez ici. — “You are waiting here.” la is a feminine singular direct-object pronoun meaning “it” here. It represents the thing being checked, while its grammatical form marks feminine singular object status. It is different from le, used for a masculine singular direct object, and from les, used for plural direct objects. Example: Je la regarde. — “I am looking at it.” vérifiez means “check” here. It is the present indicative form of vérifier (“to check”), agreeing with vous; in this clause, the present tense presents the checking as simultaneous with the waiting. Example: Vous vérifiez le document. — “You are checking the document.” Together, J'attendrai ici states that the speaker will wait at the current location. pendant que vous la vérifiez adds the simultaneous action: the addressee or addressees check the feminine singular item referred to by la. The complete meaning is “I’ll wait here while you check it.”

10. Cela nous aidera à résoudre le problème sans ajouter d'autres travaux d'impression.

    That will help us clear the problem without adding more print jobs.

    Cela

    That

    nous

    us

    aidera

    will help

    résoudre

    solve

    problème

    problem

    ajouter

    add

    d'autres

    other; more

    travaux

    work; jobs

    impression

    printing

    More detail

    Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It is singular and does not identify a specific noun by itself; in this sentence, it points to the situation or action understood from the context. A useful contrast is ce before a noun, as in ce problème (“this/that problem”), versus cela used independently. nous is the object pronoun “us.” With aider, the pattern aider quelqu’un à faire quelque chose means “help someone do something”: Cela nous aidera à comprendre means “That will help us understand.” aidera is the future form of aider for the third-person singular subject. The future ending shows that the help is expected later or as a result. The useful chain is aider (help), aidera (will help), a aidé (helped). In Cela nous aidera, Cela is the subject, while nous is the object. résoudre is the infinitive “to solve” or “to resolve.” After aider quelqu’un, French commonly uses à plus an infinitive: Elle m’aide à apprendre means “She helps me learn.” Here, à résoudre describes what the help will enable “us” to do. le problème means “the problem.” problème is a masculine singular noun, so the definite article is le; its plural is les problèmes. The article identifies a particular problem in the intended situation, rather than asserting that there is one problem merely because the noun is singular. ajouter is the infinitive “to add.” The construction sans plus an infinitive means “without doing something”: sans attendre means “without waiting.” Here, sans ajouter introduces an action that will not be done in the described result. d'autres means “other” or, in this context, “more.” It is the plural form of autre after de; the apostrophe represents the elision in de autres → d'autres. It modifies the following plural noun, not ajouter itself. For example, d'autres solutions means “other solutions.” travaux is the plural of travail. In travaux d'impression, it refers to print jobs or printing work. The plural form is irregular in spelling: un travail becomes des travaux, not *travails. The noun travail can also mean “work” in other contexts, so the printing context determines the more specific “print jobs” sense here. impression is a feminine noun meaning “printing” in this phrase. travaux d'impression is a noun phrase in which d'impression specifies the type of work: “printing work” or “print jobs.” The related expression imprimer is the verb “to print,” but impression itself is the noun observed here. Together, Cela nous aidera à résoudre le problème means “That will help us solve the problem.” sans ajouter d'autres travaux d'impression adds “without adding more print jobs.” The complete utterance therefore means: “That will help us clear the problem without adding more print jobs.”