Responding politely to noise in a quiet area | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Les personnes derrière nous parlent dans l'espace silencieux.

   The people behind us are talking in the silent area.

   Les personnes

   the people

   derrière nous

   behind us

   parlent

   are talking

   dans

   in

   l'espace

   the area

   silencieux

   silent

   More detail

   Les personnes means “the people” here. personnes is the plural of personne, “person”; it is grammatically feminine, even when the people’s gender is not specified. The plural definite article is les; unlike singular le and la, it does not show grammatical gender. Example: Les personnes attendent. — “The people are waiting.” derrière nous means “behind us.” derrière expresses a position at the back of a reference point, and nous is the first-person plural pronoun, “us” here. Example: Le café est derrière nous. — “The café is behind us.” The pronoun identifies the group including the speaker; the sentence does not specify who else is in that group. parlent means “are talking” in this sentence. It is the present indicative form of parler, “to talk”: je parle, nous parlons, ils/elles parlent. The ending -ent marks third-person plural in this verb’s written present form; it is normally not pronounced. French present tense can correspond to an English present progressive when an activity is happening now. Example: Ils parlent doucement. — “They are talking quietly.” dans is a preposition meaning “in” or “inside.” It introduces the place containing the activity. Example: Nous sommes dans la salle. — “We are in the room.” l'espace means “the area” here, based on the fixed translation. The noun espace can also mean “space,” but this sentence uses the place-related sense. l' is the singular definite article before a vowel sound, replacing le in le espace; it does not indicate a plural. Example: L'espace est grand. — “The area is large.” silencieux means “silent” here and describes espace. Its masculine singular form is silencieux; the noun espace is masculine singular, so the adjective has this form. A useful contrast is silencieuse, the feminine singular form, as in une salle silencieuse — “a silent room.” The adjective follows the noun in this noun phrase. Together, Les personnes derrière nous identifies the people located behind the speaker’s group. parlent states what those people are doing, and dans l'espace silencieux gives the place where they are talking. The complete meaning is: “The people behind us are talking in the silent area.”

2. C'est gênant, mais nous pouvons gérer la situation poliment.

   It's distracting, but we can handle it politely.

   C'est

   it's

   gênant

   distracting

   nous pouvons

   we can

   gérer

   handle

   situation

   situation

   poliment

   politely

   More detail

   C'est combines ce (“it/that”) with est, the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”). Here it introduces the situation as distracting. Ce sont is the plural counterpart when the subject is explicitly plural. gênant is a masculine-singular form of the adjective meaning “distracting” here. Its feminine-singular form is gênante, as in Cette situation est gênante. (“This situation is distracting.”) The form gênant can also mean “embarrassing” or “inconvenient” in other contexts, but the fixed translation establishes “distracting” here. nous pouvons means “we can” or “we are able to.” pouvons is the first-person plural present form of pouvoir; this form agrees with nous. Pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Nous pouvons attendre. (“We can wait.”) gérer is an infinitive meaning “to handle” or “to manage.” In this sentence, pouvons supplies the ability or possibility, while gérer names the action that is possible. The expression gérer une situation is a reusable way to say “handle a situation.” situation is a feminine noun meaning “situation.” With an indefinite article, it appears as une situation; with the definite article used in the utterance, it is la situation, meaning “the situation.” The article la marks a specific situation in the context; it does not itself express a numerical count. poliment is an adverb meaning “politely.” It describes how the handling is done, so it modifies the action gérer, not the noun situation. Compare the adjective poli (“polite”) with the adverb poliment: Elle répond poliment. (“She answers politely.”) The connector mais contrasts the two parts. The pattern C'est [adjective], mais nous pouvons [infinitive] [object] [adverb] gives the meaning “It is [adjective], but we can [action] [object] [adverb].” Thus C'est gênant states that the situation is distracting, while nous pouvons gérer la situation poliment says that handling the situation politely is possible. Together, the utterance means: “It's distracting, but we can handle it politely.”

3. Est-ce que je devrais leur parler ou demander au bibliothécaire ?

   Should I speak to them or ask the librarian?

   Est-ce que

   question marker

   je devrais

   should I

   leur

   to them

   parler

   speak; talk

   demander

   ask

   bibliothécaire

   librarian

   More detail

   Est-ce que is a fixed question marker placed at the beginning of a yes/no question. It does not add a separate meaning such as “is it that”; it simply signals the question clearly while keeping the following word order close to a statement. Example: Est-ce que tu viens ? — “Are you coming?” je devrais comes from devoir, “to have to” or “must.” devrais is the first-person singular conditional form, so je devrais means “I should” or “I ought to” here. The conditional presents this as advice or a contemplated choice, rather than a firm statement that the speaker must do it. Other useful forms are je dois — “I must / I have to” — and je devrai — “I will have to.” Example: Je devrais partir maintenant. — “I should leave now.” leur is an unstressed indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them” here. It refers to a plural group, but the supplied sentence does not identify that group more specifically. With parler, French uses parler à quelqu’un, so leur parler means “to speak to them.” leur does not change for the gender of the people it represents. Compare singular lui — “to him / to her” — with plural leur — “to them.” Example: Je vais leur répondre. — “I am going to answer them.” parler is the infinitive “to speak” or “to talk.” After a modal such as devoir, the following verb stays in the infinitive: je devrais parler, “I should speak.” The pattern parler à quelqu’un means “to speak to someone”; here, the indirect pronoun leur fills the place of à eux/elles. ou connects alternatives and means “or.” It links the two possible actions in this question: speaking to the group or asking the librarian. Example: Tu peux venir aujourd’hui ou demain. — “You can come today or tomorrow.” demander is the infinitive “to ask.” It can be used with a person introduced by à: demander à quelqu’un, “to ask someone.” In demander au bibliothécaire, au is the contraction of à le; it marks the librarian as the person being asked. Example: Je vais demander au professeur. — “I am going to ask the teacher.” bibliothécaire means “librarian.” It is a noun for a person who works in a library. In this sentence, au bibliothécaire means “the librarian” as the recipient of the question: à + le bibliothécaire becomes au bibliothécaire. The noun can refer to a woman as well; the form of this noun is not changed here to express the person’s gender. Together, Est-ce que je devrais asks whether the speaker ought to do something. leur parler is the first option, “speak to them,” and ou demander au bibliothécaire is the second, “or ask the librarian.” The complete meaning is: “Should I speak to them or ask the librarian?”

4. Essaie d'abord de leur faire une remarque discrète, sauf si tu ne te sens pas à l'aise.

   Try a quiet reminder first, unless that feels uncomfortable.

   Essaie

   try

   d'abord

   first

   leur

   to them

   faire

   make or do

   remarque

   remark

   discrète

   quiet or discreet

   sauf si

   unless

   ne … pas

   not

   te sens

   feel

   à l'aise

   comfortable

   More detail

   Essaie is the informal singular imperative of essayer (“to try”). It addresses one person with tu; the imperative gives a direct suggestion or instruction. A useful pattern is Essaie de + infinitive: “Try to …” For example, Essaie de parler plus doucement. means “Try to speak more quietly.” d'abord means “first” or “to begin with.” It places this action before another possible step. In this sentence, it makes the discreet remark the initial attempt, not necessarily the only action. leur is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them” here. It refers to the plural people addressed in the surrounding situation, without identifying those people individually. French uses the same leur form for the relevant indirect-object role regardless of the recipients’ gender. Compare lui for “to him/her” and leur for “to them.” faire is the infinitive “to make” or “to do.” After essaie de, it remains an infinitive. Here faire une remarque is the reusable expression “to make a remark” or “to give a comment.” For example, Elle fait une remarque utile. means “She makes a useful remark.” remarque is the noun “remark” or “comment.” In faire une remarque, it names something said to another person, rather than an act of noticing. The noun is feminine, as shown by the adjective form discrète that modifies it. discrète means “discreet” or, in this context, “quiet.” It is the feminine singular form of the adjective discret, agreeing with feminine singular remarque. The masculine singular is discret; the feminine form is written discrète, with a grave accent before the final e. Here the intended idea is a tactful, low-key reminder rather than a conspicuous public comment. sauf si introduces an exception and means “unless” or literally “except if.” It connects the suggested first action with the condition that follows. The pattern sauf si + clause is reusable: Je viendrai, sauf si je suis malade. means “I’ll come unless I’m ill.” ne ... pas surrounds the conjugated verb to make a standard French negative. In the utterance, ne appears before te sens and pas after it; together they mean “do not.” In informal speech, ne is often omitted, but it is present in this fixed sentence and should not be treated as part of the verb itself. te sens is the tu form of the pronominal verb se sentir, “to feel.” The form sens is the present-tense form for tu, and te is the matching reflexive pronoun. In te sentir à l'aise, the person feels comfortable or at ease. For example, Tu te sens prêt. means “You feel ready.” à l'aise is the fixed expression “comfortable” or “at ease.” It describes a person’s state, and with se sentir it forms se sentir à l'aise, “to feel comfortable.” The negative form here, ne te sens pas à l'aise, means “do not feel comfortable.” Together, Essaie d'abord de leur faire une remarque discrète means “Try first to give them a quiet/discreet reminder.” sauf si tu ne te sens pas à l'aise supplies the exception: this suggestion does not apply if you do not feel comfortable. The explicit subject tu is the person being addressed, and ne te sens pas makes that person’s feeling negative. The complete utterance means: “Try a quiet reminder first, unless that feels uncomfortable.”

5. Je pourrais leur demander de continuer la conversation dehors.

   I could ask them to take the conversation outside.

   Je pourrais

   I could

   leur

   them

   demander

   ask

   continuer

   continue

   la conversation

   the conversation

   dehors

   outside

   More detail

   Je pourrais means “I could” here. pourrais is the conditional present of pouvoir with je: je peux = “I can,” je pourrais = “I could.” The conditional presents the action as a possible or tentative option, not as something the speaker says is happening. Example: Je pourrais venir demain. — “I could come tomorrow.” leur is an unstressed indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them” or, with verbs such as demander, simply “them” as the plural recipient. It does not change for masculine versus feminine. In this sentence, it comes before the infinitive demander. Example: Je leur parle. — “I speak to them.” demander means “to ask.” A useful French pattern is demander à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose: “to ask someone to do something.” The person asked is represented here by leur, and de continuer gives the requested action. Example: Je lui demande de venir. — “I ask him or her to come.” continuer means “to continue” or “to keep doing something.” It is an infinitive after de in the pattern demander de + infinitive. The subject understood for this infinitive is the people being asked, supplied by leur, rather than the speaker. Example: Ils continuent de parler. — “They continue talking.” la conversation means “the conversation.” conversation is a feminine noun, so the definite article is la; the article agrees with this noun, not with the speaker or the people being asked. Example: La conversation est intéressante. — “The conversation is interesting.” dehors is an adverb meaning “outside” or “outdoors.” It describes where the conversation is to continue; it does not itself mark the object of continuer. Example: Nous mangeons dehors. — “We are eating outside.” Together, Je pourrais presents a possible action, leur demander means “ask them,” and de continuer la conversation dehors means “to continue the conversation outside.” The full utterance therefore means: “I could ask them to take the conversation outside.”

6. Cela reste clair sans paraître impoli.

   That keeps it clear without sounding rude.

   Cela

   That; it

   reste

   remains; stays

   clair

   clear

   sans paraître

   without seeming

   impoli

   rude; impolite

   More detail

   Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or, here, “it.” It is the subject of the sentence. French demonstrative pronouns such as cela can refer to something understood from context; the fixed translation supports “it” without identifying a more specific referent. reste is the present-tense, third-person singular form of rester, “to remain” or “to stay.” Here it expresses continuity: it remains clear. A useful pattern is cela reste + adjective, meaning “it remains/is still + adjective.” clair is an adjective meaning “clear.” In Cela reste clair, it is the masculine singular form used with cela. French adjectives can mark gender and number. For example, La situation reste claire means “The situation remains clear”: claire agrees with the feminine singular noun situation. sans paraître means “without seeming” here. sans is followed by the infinitive paraître, “to seem” or “to appear.” The reusable pattern is sans + infinitive, meaning “without doing something.” Example: Il est parti sans parler means “He left without speaking.” impoli means “rude” or “impolite.” It is the masculine singular form of the adjective; the feminine singular form is impolie, and the plural forms are impolis and impolies. Here it describes the understood “it” in “without seeming rude”; the supplied sentence does not identify a more specific noun. Example: Cette remarque paraît impolie means “That remark seems rude.” Together, Cela reste clair says that it remains clear, while sans paraître impoli adds that this occurs without seeming rude. The complete meaning is “That keeps it clear without sounding rude.”

7. Si ces personnes continuent à parler, nous pouvons demander au bibliothécaire d'intervenir.

   If they keep talking, we can ask the librarian to step in.

   Si

   if

   ces

   these

   personnes

   people

   continuent à

   keep/continue to

   parler

   talk

   pouvons

   can

   demander

   ask

   bibliothécaire

   librarian

   intervenir

   step in

   More detail

   Si introduces a condition: si + clause means “if …”. In this sentence, the condition is that the people continue talking. It is different from oui (“yes”), which is an answer rather than a condition marker. ces is the plural demonstrative determiner “these”. It agrees with the plural noun personnes; French demonstratives also distinguish singular and plural: ce/cet/cette for singular and ces for plural. The form alone does not identify which people are meant; the sentence presents them as the relevant people in the situation. personnes means “people/persons” here. Its singular is personne, and its plural is personnes; the written plural adds -s, which is normally not pronounced. French personne is grammatically feminine, even when the group’s real-world gender is mixed or unspecified, so a feminine singular form such as cette personne is used. continuent à contains continuent, the third-person plural present form of continuer (“to continue”), followed by à. continuer à + infinitive means “to continue doing something”: Ils continuent à attendre. — “They continue to wait.” The subject is plural here because it refers to ces personnes. parler is the infinitive “to talk/speak”. After continuer à, it names the activity that continues. The same infinitive can be used after other constructions, for example Je veux parler. — “I want to talk.” pouvons is the first-person plural present form of pouvoir (“can/be able to”), used with the subject nous. The present-tense chain is je peux, nous pouvons, ils peuvent; the form changes with the subject. Here it expresses that “we” have the possibility or ability to make the request, not a statement that asking has already happened. demander means “to ask”. A useful pattern is demander à quelqu’un de + infinitive: Nous demandons à Marie de venir. — “We ask Marie to come.” In the fixed sentence, au is the contraction of à le before bibliothécaire, and d' is the elided form of de before intervenir. bibliothécaire means “librarian”. In this sentence, au bibliothécaire means “to the librarian”: au contains the masculine singular article le after à. French also has à la bibliothécaire for a feminine singular librarian; the noun’s spelling is the same, while the article changes. intervenir is the infinitive “to intervene” or, in this context, “to step in”. It follows de in the pattern demander à quelqu’un d’intervenir. Its related present form is il intervient (“he intervenes”), but the infinitive is required after de here. Together, Si ces personnes continuent à parler means “If these people keep talking”. The main clause nous pouvons demander au bibliothécaire d'intervenir means “we can ask the librarian to step in”. The complete utterance is therefore: “If they keep talking, we can ask the librarian to step in.”

8. Comme ça, la situation ne dégénérera pas.

   That way, it doesn't turn into a scene.

   Comme ça

   That way

   situation

   situation

   ne … pas

   not

   dégénérera

   will turn into a scene

   More detail

   Comme ça means “that way” or “like that.” Here it points to a way of acting already understood from the context and presents the result of doing so. Example: Comme ça, tout sera plus simple. — “That way, everything will be simpler.” la situation means “the situation.” Situation is a feminine noun, which is why the definite article here is la. Example: La situation est difficile. — “The situation is difficult.” ne ... pas is the standard French negative pattern around a finite verb. Ne comes before the verb and pas after it; together they negate the verb phrase. Here, they surround dégénérera, giving ne dégénérera pas, “will not turn into a scene.” In informal speech, ne is often omitted, but the complete pattern is standard in writing. dégénérera is the third-person singular simple-future form of dégénérer, meaning here “to turn into a scene” or “to get out of hand.” The future form uses the infinitive-based stem dégénérer- plus the third-person singular ending -a, producing dégénérera. Its singular third-person form matches the singular subject la situation; this form does not mark the noun’s feminine gender. Example: La discussion dégénérera si personne ne l’arrête. — “The discussion will get out of hand if nobody stops it.” Together, Comme ça introduces the intended way of acting, and la situation ne dégénérera pas states the resulting prediction: “That way, the situation will not turn into a scene.” The complete utterance means “That way, it doesn’t turn into a scene.”

9. Je préfère faire ça plutôt que de me plaindre à voix haute.

   I'd rather do that than complain loudly.

   préfère

   prefer

   faire

   do; make

   ça

   that; it

   plutôt que de

   rather than

   me plaindre

   complain

   à voix haute

   out loud

   More detail

   préfère is the first-person singular present form of préférer (“to prefer”): je préfère = “I prefer.” French uses this present form for the speaker’s current preference. A useful pattern is préférer X à Y (“prefer X to Y”), while here the alternative is introduced by plutôt que de. faire is the infinitive of faire (“to do; to make”). After a preference expression, an infinitive can name the preferred action: Je préfère faire ça = “I prefer to do that.” The infinitive does not show the subject separately here; it is understood as the speaker’s action from je préfère. ça is an informal demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “it.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies it as “that,” referring to the action being chosen. Unlike a noun, ça does not show grammatical gender or plural number. Example: Je fais ça demain. — “I’ll do that tomorrow.” plutôt que de introduces the rejected alternative, “rather than.” Before an infinitive, the reusable pattern is plutôt que de + infinitive: Je préfère marcher plutôt que de conduire. — “I prefer to walk rather than drive.” Here de belongs to this construction; it is not part of the infinitive plaindre. me plaindre is the infinitive expression se plaindre (“to complain”), with the reflexive pronoun changed to me because the understood subject is je: je me plains in the present, but me plaindre after de. The infinitive is irregular in its spelling relationship to the present form: plaindre has the present first-person form je me plains. Example: Je préfère me taire plutôt que de me plaindre. — “I prefer to stay silent rather than complain.” à voix haute is the fixed expression “out loud” or “aloud.” voix means “voice,” and haute agrees with this feminine singular noun, but the whole expression functions adverbially, describing how the complaining is done. Example: Elle lit à voix haute. — “She reads aloud.” Together, Je préfère faire ça states the speaker’s preferred action, and plutôt que de me plaindre à voix haute contrasts it with complaining aloud. The complete meaning is: “I’d rather do that than complain loudly.”

10. Demandons-leur discrètement, puis retournons étudier.

    Let's ask quietly, then get back to studying.

    Demandons

    let’s ask

    leur

    them

    discrètement

    quietly; discreetly

    puis

    then

    retournons

    let’s return; let’s get back

    étudier

    to study

    More detail

    Demandons is the first-person plural imperative of demander (“to ask”): demandons = “let’s ask.” French uses this form to suggest or propose an action with the speaker included. Compare demande (“ask” to one person) and demandez (“ask” to several people or politely to one person). Example: Demandons la vérité. — “Let’s ask for the truth.” leur is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them” or, with demander, simply “them” in the English translation: demander quelque chose à quelqu’un corresponds to “ask someone something.” Leur is plural and does not show the gender of the people; its singular counterpart is lui. Example: Je leur parle. — “I speak to them.” Discrètement is an adverb meaning “quietly” or “discreetly.” It describes how the asking is done, rather than changing who asks or what is asked. It is related to the adjective discret / discrète; the adverb commonly ends in -ment. Example: Elle entre discrètement. — “She enters quietly.” Puis means “then” and links the two actions in sequence. It is a concise, neutral sequencing word; ensuite can also mean “then” or “afterwards” in many contexts. Example: Lisons, puis répondons. — “Let’s read, then answer.” Retournons is the first-person plural form of retourner, used here as an imperative: “let’s get back.” In retourner + infinitive, it can mean resuming an activity, not merely returning to a physical place. The same form can also be the first-person plural present indicative, but the coordinated suggestion makes the “let’s” reading appropriate here. Example: Retournons travailler. — “Let’s get back to work.” Étudier is the infinitive “to study.” After retourner here, it names the activity resumed: retourner étudier = “get back to studying.” The infinitive does not mark the person; retournons supplies the first-person plural subject shared by the suggestion. Example: Nous allons étudier. — “We are going to study.” Together, Demandons-leur discrètement means “let’s ask them quietly/discreetly.” Puis places the next action afterward, and retournons étudier means “let’s get back to studying.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Let’s ask quietly, then get back to studying.”