Responding to a coffee spill on a laptop | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. J'ai renversé du café près de mon ordinateur portable, et du liquide est passé sous le clavier.

   I spilled coffee near my laptop, and some liquid went under the keyboard.

   renversé

   spilled

   du café

   some coffee

   près de

   near

   ordinateur portable

   laptop

   du liquide

   some liquid

   est passé

   went / passed

   sous

   under

   le clavier

   the keyboard

   More detail

   renversé means “spilled” here. Its base form is renverser, “to spill” or “to knock over.” In J'ai renversé, it is the past participle in the passé composé: j'ai supplies the auxiliary and renversé expresses the completed event. Example: J'ai renversé de l'eau. — “I spilled water.” du café means “some coffee.” du is the partitive article used with a masculine mass noun; it presents coffee as an unspecified amount, not as a stated numerical quantity. The noun is café. With a feminine mass noun, the corresponding form is often de la, as in de la soupe (“some soup”). près de is the reusable preposition “near.” It introduces the place or thing near which something happens: Le sac est près de la porte. — “The bag is near the door.” ordinateur portable means “laptop.” The noun is ordinateur, whose base form is also ordinateur; portable is an adjective meaning “portable” or, in this combination, “laptop.” The adjective follows the noun and agrees with it: un ordinateur portable; with a feminine noun, it would be une machine portable. du liquide means “some liquid.” Here liquide is a noun meaning “liquid,” and du again presents an unspecified amount of a masculine mass substance. This is distinct from liquide used as an adjective, as in un produit liquide (“a liquid product”). est passé means “went” or “passed” here. The base verb is passer. This is another passé composé, formed with est plus the past participle passé; in this use, the verb describes the liquid moving from one place to another. Because the auxiliary is être, the participle agrees with the subject when relevant: Le liquide est passé; with a plural subject, Les liquides sont passés. sous means “under” or “beneath.” It marks the lower position reached by the liquid: Le câble est sous la table. — “The cable is under the table.” le clavier means “the keyboard.” The noun is clavier, a masculine noun, and le is the masculine singular definite article. Its plural is les claviers, “the keyboards.” Together, J'ai renversé du café près de mon ordinateur portable says that the speaker spilled an unspecified amount of coffee near their laptop. Then du liquide est passé sous le clavier says that some liquid moved under the keyboard. The two passé composé clauses present these as completed events linked by et: “I spilled coffee near my laptop, and some liquid went under the keyboard.”

2. Débranche-le tout de suite et éteins-le s'il fonctionne encore.

   Unplug it immediately and turn it off if it is still running.

   Débranche-le

   unplug it

   tout de suite

   immediately

   éteins-le

   turn it off

   s'il

   if it

   fonctionne

   is running

   encore

   still

   More detail

   Débranche-le means “unplug it.” The base verb is débrancher (“to unplug”); débranche is the affirmative imperative form used for tu, and -le is the direct-object pronoun “it/him” attached after an affirmative imperative. In French, affirmative commands place this pronoun after the verb: Débranche-le. In a negative command, it moves before the verb: Ne le débranche pas. tout de suite is a reusable adverbial expression meaning “immediately” or “right away.” It modifies the command, so the unplugging should happen without delay. éteins-le means “turn it off.” The base verb is éteindre (“to turn off” or “to extinguish”); éteins is its tu imperative form, and -le is again the attached direct-object pronoun. Compare the present-tense form tu éteins (“you turn off / you are turning off”) with the imperative Éteins-le ! (“Turn it off!”). The same object-pronoun placement pattern applies: Éteins-le, but Ne l’éteins pas in a negative command. s’il is the contraction of si (“if”) and il (“it/he”). Here, the fixed translation identifies il as “it,” referring to the device whose operation is being discussed. In standard French, si contracts to s’ specifically before il or ils: s’il and s’ils. The si clause introduces the condition for the second command: turn the device off if it is still running. fonctionne comes from fonctionner, “to function” or “to operate.” Here it is the third-person singular present form, agreeing with il; il fonctionne means “it is running/operating.” This verb describes whether a device operates, whereas marcher can also mean “to work” in everyday speech. Example: Le téléphone fonctionne. — “The phone is working.” encore means “still” here: the device may continue to be operating at that moment. It is different from déjà (“already”) in time reference: Il fonctionne encore means “It is still running,” while Il fonctionne déjà means “It is already working.” Together, Débranche-le tout de suite gives the immediate first command: unplug the device. et éteins-le adds a second command with the same object, “and turn it off.” The condition s’il fonctionne encore limits that second action: do it if the device is still operating. The whole utterance is therefore: “Unplug it immediately and turn it off if it is still running.”

3. Est-ce que je devrais essayer de le sécher avec un sèche-cheveux ?

   Should I try to dry it with a hair dryer?

   Est-ce que

   question marker

   je devrais

   I should

   essayer de

   try to

   le

   it

   sécher

   dry

   avec

   with

   sèche-cheveux

   hair dryer

   More detail

   Est-ce que introduces a yes/no question in a neutral, widely reusable way. It does not change the order of the subject and verb: Est-ce que je ... ? turns the following statement into a question. je devrais is the first-person singular conditional form of devoir (“to have to; must”). By itself, it means “I should”; with Est-ce que before it, the whole sequence asks “Should I ...?” The conditional presents advice or a tentative course of action. The useful contrast is je dois (“I must / have to”) for a present obligation versus je devrais (“I should”) for advice or a considered action. essayer de is the reusable construction “to try to”, followed by an infinitive: essayer de + infinitive. The de belongs to this construction, while the next verb supplies the action being attempted. Example: J’essaie de comprendre. — “I’m trying to understand.” le is a third-person singular direct-object pronoun. Here it means “it”, referring to the object already under discussion; the supplied texts do not identify that object by name. In this use, le is the masculine singular form; la is used for a feminine singular direct object, and les for plural direct objects. sécher is the infinitive “to dry”. After essayer de, it remains in the infinitive: essayer de sécher = “to try to dry”. With the object pronoun before it, le sécher means “to dry it”. Example: Il veut sécher le vêtement. — “He wants to dry the garment.” avec means “with” and introduces the means or tool used for an action. Example: Elle écrit avec un stylo. — “She writes with a pen.” sèche-cheveux is the compound noun “hair dryer”. In the source it follows un, so un sèche-cheveux is “a hair dryer”. The compound is treated as one noun, and the hyphen is part of its written form. The phrase entry quotes the noun itself; the article belongs to the larger noun phrase. Together, Est-ce que je devrais essayer de le sécher avec un sèche-cheveux ? asks whether the speaker should try drying the already-discussed object by using a hair dryer. The question structure, conditional form of devoir, essayer de + infinitive, object pronoun le, and tool phrase avec un sèche-cheveux combine to give: “Should I try to dry it with a hair dryer?”

4. La chaleur peut causer davantage de dégâts. Laisse un technicien le vérifier.

   Heat can cause more damage. Let a technician check it.

   chaleur

   heat

   peut

   can

   causer

   cause

   davantage

   more

   dégâts

   damage

   Laisse

   let

   technicien

   technician

   vérifier

   check

   More detail

   chaleur means “heat” here. It is a feminine noun: la chaleur. French nouns have grammatical gender, so the feminine article la is part of the form used in the sentence. Example: La chaleur est forte. — “The heat is intense.” peut is the third-person singular present form of pouvoir, “to be able to” or “can.” In this sentence it expresses possibility or potential: heat can cause damage. The infinitive after it names the possible action. Useful forms include je peux (“I can”), il peut (“he/it can”), and ils peuvent (“they can”). causer is an infinitive meaning “to cause.” After a conjugated form of pouvoir, the following verb stays in the infinitive: peut causer = “can cause.” Example: Cela peut causer un problème. — “That can cause a problem.” davantage means “more” in the comparison of amount or degree. Here it indicates a greater amount of damage, not a separate kind of damage. It is often interchangeable with plus in this use: causer davantage de dégâts and causer plus de dégâts both mean “cause more damage.” dégâts is the plural of the masculine noun dégât, meaning “damage” or “damages.” French commonly uses it in the plural when referring to harm or material damage. The pattern davantage de is followed by a noun phrase without a definite article when the amount is indefinite: davantage de dégâts = “more damage.” Laisse is the second-person singular imperative of laisser, “to let” or “to leave.” The imperative addresses one person informally and has no written subject here; the understood subject is tu. In laisse + infinitive, it can mean “let [someone] do something”: Laisse Paul entrer. — “Let Paul come in.” technicien is a masculine noun meaning “technician.” The sentence uses un technicien, an indefinite noun phrase referring to a technician without identifying which one. The indefinite article does not by itself state a numerical count; it presents an unspecified technician as the person to perform the action. vérifier is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to verify.” With laisse, it forms laisse un technicien vérifier = “let a technician check.” The object pronoun le before it is masculine singular and means “it” here; the fixed translation and surrounding context identify it as the item under discussion, while the sentence itself does not name that item. Together, La chaleur peut causer davantage de dégâts means “Heat can cause more damage”: the noun phrase la chaleur is the possible cause, peut marks possibility, causer names the possible effect, and davantage de dégâts expresses a greater amount of damage. Laisse un technicien le vérifier means “Let a technician check it”: the imperative Laisse introduces permission, un technicien is the person allowed to act, and le vérifier is the action and its masculine singular object. The two sentences therefore give a warning followed by an instruction to have the item checked by a technician.

5. Je suis inquiet parce que mes fichiers de projet sont dessus.

   I am worried because my project files are on it.

   Je suis

   I am

   inquiet

   worried

   parce que

   because

   mes

   my

   fichiers

   files

   projet

   project

   sont

   are

   dessus

   on it

   More detail

   Je suis combines the subject pronoun je (“I”) with suis, the first-person singular present form of être (“to be”). With an adjective, this is a reusable pattern: Je suis + adjective. Example: Je suis prêt. — “I am ready.” inquiet means “worried” here. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective; the feminine singular form is inquiète, and the plural forms are inquiets and inquiètes. The adjective agrees with the person being described. Example: Elle est inquiète. — “She is worried.” parce que introduces the reason for what precedes it. It is a fixed conjunction meaning “because” and is followed by a clause with its own subject and verb. Example: Je reste ici parce qu’il pleut. — “I am staying here because it is raining.” mes is the first-person singular possessive determiner, meaning “my.” It is used here with the plural noun fichiers, so it has the plural form mes. It agrees with the possessed noun in number, not with the possessor’s gender. Compare singular mon fichier (“my file”) with plural mes fichiers (“my files”). fichiers is the plural of the noun fichier, meaning “file.” The plural is formed here with -s, which is generally not pronounced. Example: Mes fichiers sont prêts. — “My files are ready.” projet is the singular noun “project.” In the sequence fichiers de projet, the prepositional phrase identifies the type or purpose of the files: “project files.” The noun remains singular because it names the kind of project associated with the files. sont is the third-person plural present form of être. Its subject here is the plural noun phrase mes fichiers, so the verb is plural. Compare singular est with plural sont: Le fichier est ici. — “The file is here”; Les fichiers sont ici. — “The files are here.” dessus is an adverbial form meaning “on it” in this context. With sont, it expresses the location of the files on the object referred to as “it” in the fixed translation. The form itself does not identify that object. Together, Je suis inquiet states the speaker’s worried condition. parce que then introduces the reason: mes fichiers de projet are the subject of sont, and dessus gives their location. The complete utterance therefore says that the speaker is worried because the project files are on the object referred to as “it” in the fixed translation.

6. Vérifie ta sauvegarde dans le cloud depuis un autre appareil avant de toucher à nouveau à l'ordinateur portable.

   Check your cloud backup from another device before you touch the laptop again.

   Vérifie

   check

   sauvegarde

   backup

   dans le cloud

   in the cloud

   depuis

   from

   autre

   other

   appareil

   device

   avant de

   before doing something

   toucher

   touch

   à nouveau

   again

   ordinateur

   computer

   portable

   portable

   More detail

   Vérifie is the imperative of vérifier (“to check”) for tu (“you”). It gives a direct instruction. For regular -er verbs, the tu imperative normally has no final -s: Vérifie ! = “Check!” Example: Vérifie ton adresse. — “Check your address.” sauvegarde means “backup” here: a stored copy of data. It is a feminine singular noun, so the possessive form in ta sauvegarde agrees with it. The same noun can also refer to the act or process of saving, depending on context. dans le cloud means “in the cloud.” dans introduces the storage location, and le is the masculine singular definite article used with cloud in this expression. Together, ta sauvegarde dans le cloud means “your cloud backup.” depuis marks the source or starting point. Here, the check is to be made from another device. It is different from pendant, which expresses duration. Example: Je travaille depuis la maison. — “I work from home.” autre means “other” or “another.” In un autre appareil, it is masculine singular to agree with appareil. The contrast with the current device comes from autre; the indefinite article un does not by itself assert a numerical count. Example: un autre choix — “another choice.” appareil means “device.” It is a masculine noun. The pattern un autre appareil is reusable for “another device.” Example: Essaie sur un autre appareil. — “Try on another device.” avant de introduces an action that occurs later: avant de + infinitive means “before doing something.” Here, the infinitive is toucher, so avant de toucher ... means “before touching ...”. Example: Lis avant de répondre. — “Read before answering.” toucher means “to touch.” In toucher à quelque chose, à links the verb to what is touched; depending on context, the construction can also mean handling or interfering with something. Here, toucher à l'ordinateur portable is understood as touching the laptop. The infinitive remains unchanged after avant de. à nouveau means “again” or “anew.” Here it indicates that the touching is happening another time. Example: Essaie à nouveau. — “Try again.” ordinateur means “computer.” Here it is part of the noun phrase ordinateur portable, meaning “laptop.” portable is the masculine singular adjective modifying ordinateur; its feminine singular form is also portable, while its plural form is portables. In ordinateur portable, it identifies the type of computer. Example: un téléphone portable — “a mobile phone.” Putting the chunks together: Vérifie ta sauvegarde dans le cloud gives the instruction to check the cloud backup; depuis un autre appareil specifies using another device for the check; and avant de toucher à nouveau à l'ordinateur portable sets the time condition, before touching the laptop again. The whole utterance therefore means: “Check your cloud backup from another device before you touch the laptop again.”

7. La plupart des fichiers étaient déjà synchronisés.

   Most of the files were already synced.

   La plupart des

   most of the

   fichiers

   files

   étaient

   were

   déjà

   already

   synchronisés

   synced

   More detail

   La plupart des means “most of the” and introduces a majority within a definite group. La plupart is a fixed quantity expression; the noun after des identifies the group being measured. Example: La plupart des messages sont courts. — “Most of the messages are short.” fichiers means “files.” Its singular is fichier, and its plural is formed with -s: un fichier / des fichiers. Here it is the noun in the group referred to by La plupart des. étaient is the imperfect form of être for ils/elles (“they were”). The imperfect presents a past state or situation in progress, without focusing on when it began or ended. Example: Les fichiers étaient prêts. — “The files were ready.” déjà means “already.” It marks the synchronization as completed before the relevant past reference point. Its position before synchronisés is common, though French can place adverbs differently in other structures. synchronisés means “synced” here. It is the past participle of synchroniser, and with étaient it forms the imperfect passive: étaient synchronisés, literally “were synchronized.” Because it describes fichiers, it is masculine plural: synchronisé (masculine singular), synchronisée (feminine singular), synchronisés (masculine plural), synchronisées (feminine plural). The ending belongs to synchronisés, not to fichiers. Together, La plupart des fichiers identifies a majority of the files, étaient places their state in the past, déjà adds the idea of prior completion, and synchronisés names that state. The whole utterance means: “Most of the files were already synced.”

8. Laisse l'ordinateur portable éteint et n'essaie pas de le rallumer trop tôt.

   Keep the laptop off, and do not try to start it too soon.

   Laisse

   keep; leave

   l'ordinateur

   the computer

   portable

   portable

   éteint

   off

   n'essaie pas

   don't try

   le

   it

   rallumer

   turn on again

   trop tôt

   too soon

   More detail

   Laisse is the tu imperative of laisser, meaning “leave” or “keep” here. The imperative gives a direct instruction and normally omits the subject pronoun: Laisse la porte ouverte. — “Leave the door open.” l'ordinateur means “the computer.” l' is the contracted form of le before a vowel sound; the noun is ordinateur. In this sentence, the noun phrase refers to the laptop specified by the following adjective. portable means “portable.” Here it modifies ordinateur, producing “portable computer,” or naturally “laptop.” The form portable is the same for masculine and feminine singular; its plural form is portables. éteint means “off” or “turned off” in this context. It is the past participle of éteindre (“to turn off”), used here to describe the computer’s resulting state. It is masculine singular to agree with ordinateur: un ordinateur éteint. With a feminine singular noun, the form is éteinte. Together, Laisse l'ordinateur portable éteint uses laisser + an object + a state to mean “Keep the laptop off.” The instruction concerns maintaining the laptop in that state. n'essaie pas is the negative tu imperative of essayer, “try.” In a negative imperative, ne contracts to n' before the vowel sound in essaie, and pas completes the negation: N'essaie pas de comprendre. — “Don’t try to understand.” le is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun meaning “it” here. The fixed translation and the surrounding text identify “it” as the laptop/computer. It appears before the infinitive rather than after it: le rallumer. rallumer is the infinitive meaning “to turn on again.” It is built from allumer (“to turn on”) with re-, which marks repetition. After essayer, French uses de plus an infinitive: essayer de rallumer — “try to turn on again.” trop tôt means “too soon” or “too early.” trop marks an excessive degree, while tôt means “early.” Compare Il est arrivé tôt (“He arrived early”) with Il est arrivé trop tôt (“He arrived too early”). The second instruction therefore combines n'essaie pas de (“do not try to”) with le rallumer (“turn it on again”) and trop tôt (“too soon”). The complete utterance tells the listener to keep the laptop switched off and not attempt to switch it on again too soon.

9. Je vais l'apporter à un technicien et lui demander quelle est la prochaine étape.

   I will take it to a technician and ask about the next step.

   Je vais

   I will / I’m going to

   l'apporter

   take it / bring it

   technicien

   technician

   lui demander

   ask him/her

   quelle est

   what is

   prochaine

   next

   étape

   step

   More detail

   Je vais combines the subject pronoun je (“I”) with vais, the first-person singular present form of aller (“to go”). Before an infinitive, this forms the common near-future pattern aller + infinitive: je vais apporter means “I will bring/take” or “I am going to bring/take.” The form vais is tied to je; it is not the infinitive itself. l'apporter contains l', a shortened direct-object pronoun meaning “it” here, plus the infinitive apporter (“to bring” or “to take”). The apostrophe appears before the vowel of apporter. The pronoun comes before the infinitive, so je vais l'apporter means “I will take it.” In another context, l' can represent a different singular direct object; here the fixed translation identifies it as “it.” technicien means “technician.” Its base form is the noun technicien; the feminine counterpart is commonly technicienne. In à un technicien, un introduces an unspecified technician, while à marks the destination or recipient relation: “to a technician.” The article does not by itself add a numerical emphasis to the English meaning. lui demander uses the infinitive demander, “to ask,” with lui before it. Here lui is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “him” or “her,” referring to the technician in this sentence. It does not show the person’s gender; the surrounding noun phrase supplies the intended referent. Compare leur demander for asking several people. quelle est begins the embedded question. quelle is the feminine singular form of the question word meaning “which/what,” and est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”). quelle agrees with the feminine singular noun étape that follows, rather than with the person asking. In this construction, quelle est la prochaine étape ? asks “what is the next step?” prochaine is the feminine singular form of the adjective prochain (“next” or “coming”). It agrees with the feminine singular noun étape. The masculine singular form is prochain; the feminine form changes to prochaine. étape is a feminine noun meaning “step” or “stage.” In this utterance it means a step in a process. The phrase la prochaine étape is therefore “the next step”; la is the definite article used with this known or contextually intended step. Together, Je vais l'apporter à un technicien means “I will take it to a technician.” The near-future construction is followed by the object pronoun l' and the infinitive apporter, while à un technicien identifies where or to whom it will be taken. et lui demander quelle est la prochaine étape adds “and ask the technician what the next step is.” The complete utterance is: “I will take it to a technician and ask about the next step.”

10. Un technicien peut le vérifier sans aggraver les dégâts.

    A technician can check it without making the damage worse.

    technicien

    technician

    peut

    can

    le

    it

    vérifier

    check

    sans

    without

    aggraver

    make worse

    dégâts

    damage

    More detail

    technicien means “technician” here. It is a masculine singular noun; the feminine counterpart is technicienne. The indefinite article in Un technicien presents a technician as the possible person who can perform the action; it does not by itself state a numerical count. peut is the present-tense, third-person singular form of pouvoir (“to be able to; can”). Here its subject is Un technicien, and pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: peut vérifier = “can check.” Compare je peux (“I can”) and ils peuvent (“they can”). le is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun, meaning “it” in this translation. Its precise referent is not identified by the supplied sentence, but it is the thing being checked. In French, object pronouns such as le, la, and les normally come before the conjugated verb: Il peut le vérifier = “He can check it.” vérifier is the infinitive “to check” or “to verify.” After peut, it remains in the infinitive rather than taking a personal ending. The sequence le vérifier places the object pronoun before this infinitive. sans means “without” and introduces an action that is avoided. With an infinitive, the reusable pattern is sans + infinitive: sans attendre = “without waiting.” aggraver is the infinitive “to make worse” or “to aggravate.” Its object is les dégâts, so the sentence describes making the existing damage worse. The construction sans aggraver... means “without making ... worse,” not simply “without checking.” dégâts is the plural noun “damage” or “damages” in this context. Its singular form is dégât; the plural is marked in writing by -s. The fixed translation uses the uncountable English sense “the damage,” while French uses the plural noun in les dégâts. The sentence assembles as Un technicien (“a technician”) + peut le vérifier (“can check it”) + sans aggraver les dégâts (“without making the damage worse”). Thus, its meaning is: “A technician can check it without making the damage worse.”