Using the shared laundry room fairly | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Toutes les machines à laver sont encore pleines.

   All the washing machines are full again.

   Toutes les

   all the

   machines à laver

   washing machines

   sont

   are

   encore

   again

   pleines

   full

   More detail

   Toutes les means “all the” for a plural feminine noun here. toutes is the feminine plural form of tout; compare tous with a masculine plural noun. The article les is the plural definite article. Together, the phrase refers to the complete set of machines, not to an explicitly stated number. machines à laver means “washing machines.” machine is a feminine noun, and machines is its plural form. The pattern nom + à + infinitive can describe the purpose or function of something: une machine à laver means “a washing machine.” sont is the present-tense third-person plural form of être (“to be”): je suis, il/elle est, ils/elles sont. It agrees with the plural subject toutes les machines à laver. encore means “again” in this sentence, as confirmed by the fixed translation. Its meaning can depend on context, so here it marks a repeated situation. pleines means “full.” It is the feminine plural form of plein, agreeing with the feminine plural noun machines. Compare plein (masculine singular), pleine (feminine singular), pleins (masculine plural), and pleines (feminine plural). The adjective describes the machines’ state; it does not form the plural itself—the final -es is on pleines. The sentence assembles as Toutes les machines à laver (“all the washing machines”) + sont (“are”) + encore (“again”) + pleines (“full”): “All the washing machines are full again.”

2. Regarde le planning pour voir quand le prochain cycle se termine.

   Check the schedule and see when the next load finishes.

   Regarde

   check; look

   le planning

   the schedule

   voir

   see

   quand

   when

   prochain

   next

   cycle

   load; cycle

   se termine

   finishes; ends

   More detail

   Regarde is the informal singular imperative of regarder (“to look at; to check”). It addresses one person directly. The polite or plural imperative is regardez. Example: Regarde l’écran. — “Look at the screen.” le planning is a masculine noun meaning “the schedule” here. Planning is commonly used in French for an organized timetable or schedule. The article le agrees with this masculine noun. Example: Le planning est à jour. — “The schedule is up to date.” voir is the infinitive “to see.” In pour voir, pour introduces the purpose of the action: “in order to see.” The infinitive is useful after pour; it does not carry a separate subject here. Example: Je viens pour voir le résultat. — “I’m coming to see the result.” quand introduces a time question or time clause, “when.” Here it introduces the information being checked: when the next cycle ends. Example: Dis-moi quand il arrive. — “Tell me when he arrives.” prochain means “next” or “upcoming.” In this sentence it is masculine singular because it describes cycle, which is masculine singular. Its feminine singular form is prochaine, as in la prochaine étape (“the next step”). Example: Le prochain train part à huit heures. — “The next train leaves at eight.” cycle is a masculine noun. In this washing-machine context, it means a wash cycle or load, matching the fixed translation’s “load.” Example: Le cycle est presque fini. — “The cycle is almost finished.” se termine comes from the reflexive construction se terminer, “to end” or “to come to an end.” The observed form is present tense, third-person singular: le cycle se termine (“the cycle ends/is ending”). The subject is le prochain cycle; se is part of the verb construction, not a separate participant. Compare Le film se termine. — “The film is ending.” Together, Regarde le planning gives the instruction “Check the schedule.” pour voir adds its purpose, “to see,” and quand le prochain cycle se termine specifies what time information to find: when the next load or cycle ends. The complete meaning is: “Check the schedule and see when the next load finishes.”`

3. Une machine devrait bientôt avoir fini, mais la personne qui l'a lancée n'est pas là.

   One should be done soon, but the person who started it isn't around.

   machine

   machine

   devrait

   should

   bientôt

   soon

   avoir fini

   to have finished

   personne

   person

   lancée

   started

   n'est pas là

   isn't there

   More detail

   machine means “machine” here. The noun is feminine in French: une machine. Its plural is des machines; a describing adjective or participle agrees with it when the relevant grammar requires agreement. devrait is the third-person singular conditional form of devoir (“must / have to; should”). Here it expresses an expectation: the machine is expected to be done. Compare doit, the present form, which can express “must” or “is supposed to.” Example: Il devrait arriver bientôt. — “He should arrive soon.” bientôt means “soon” and places the expected completion in the near future. Example: Je reviendrai bientôt. — “I will come back soon.” avoir fini is the perfect infinitive of finir: avoir + the past participle fini, “to have finished.” With devrait, devrait bientôt avoir fini means “should soon have finished” or, naturally here, “should be done soon.” The infinitive is avoir; fini is the past participle of finir. Example: Elle devrait avoir fini son travail. — “She should have finished her work.” personne means “person” in this noun use. With la, la personne means “the person”; the noun is grammatically feminine regardless of the person’s actual gender. Example: La personne attend dehors. — “The person is waiting outside.” lancée means “started” here and is the feminine singular past participle of lancer (“to start; to launch”). In qui l'a lancée, l' is the preceding direct object and refers to the feminine singular machine; its position before the participle triggers the feminine singular form lancée. It is not agreeing with personne, which is the subject of the action. The masculine singular form is lancé, as in le programme qu'il a lancé — “the program that he started.” n'est pas là means “isn't there” or “isn't around.” It contains est, the third-person singular present form of être, with ne ... pas marking negation; n' is the shortened form of ne before a vowel. là indicates presence in that place. Example: Le responsable n'est pas là. — “The person in charge isn't there.” The sentence combines Une machine with devrait bientôt avoir fini: “A machine should be done soon.” The relative clause qui l'a lancée identifies the person as the one who started that machine. Mais contrasts this expected completion with the person’s absence: “One should be done soon, but the person who started it isn't around.”

4. Laisse-lui encore quelques minutes avant de déplacer son linge.

   Give them a few minutes before moving their laundry.

   Laisse-lui

   give them / let them have

   encore

   still / another

   quelques

   a few

   minutes

   minutes

   avant de

   before

   déplacer

   move

   son

   their

   linge

   laundry

   More detail

   Laisse-lui is the imperative of laisser (“to let” or “to leave/give time”), addressed to one person. The ending -e here is the second-person singular imperative form; -lui is an unstressed indirect-object pronoun meaning “to him,” “to her,” or, as in the fixed translation, singular “to them.” The hyphenated form is written with the pronoun after the imperative: Laisse-lui ... = “Let them have ...”. Encore means “still” or “more/another” depending on the construction. Here it adds time to an amount being allowed: “a few more minutes.” Quelques means “a few” or “some,” introducing a small, non-exact number. It agrees in number with the plural noun minutes; the singular form is quelque in uses where that form is appropriate. Example: quelques jours means “a few days.” Minutes is the plural of minute, a unit of time. The singular/plural contrast is une minute / quelques minutes. Avant de introduces an action that happens later than the main action: “before doing ...”. With an infinitive, the reusable pattern is avant de + infinitive, as in avant de partir = “before leaving.” Déplacer is the infinitive “to move.” It is the action placed after avant de; the understood person doing it is supplied by the context, rather than expressed inside this infinitive phrase. Example: avant de déplacer la boîte means “before moving the box.” Son is a possessive determiner meaning “his,” “her,” or singular “their.” Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the possessor: son is used before a masculine singular noun, while sa is used before a feminine singular noun and ses before a plural noun. Here son agrees with masculine singular linge; the translation’s “their” identifies the possessor as singular in the context but does not make that person’s gender explicit. Linge means “laundry” here. It is a masculine singular noun, so the phrase is son linge; the noun’s grammatical gender is not the same thing as the possessor’s gender. In other contexts, linge can refer more broadly to household or washable fabric items, but “laundry” is the intended meaning here. Together, Laisse-lui encore quelques minutes means “Give them a few more minutes,” and avant de déplacer son linge means “before moving their laundry.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Give them a few minutes before moving their laundry.”

5. Combien de temps est-il raisonnable d'attendre avant de le déplacer ?

   How long is fair before I move it?

   Combien de temps

   how long

   est-il

   is it

   raisonnable

   reasonable; fair

   attendre

   to wait

   avant de

   before

   le

   it

   déplacer

   to move

   More detail

   Combien de temps asks about duration: literally, “how much time?” It is the standard French question pattern for “how long?” Compare Combien de minutes ? (“How many minutes?”) when asking for a count of minutes rather than a general duration. est-il is subject–verb inversion in a question. The verb is être, and est is its third-person singular present form. Here il is an impersonal grammatical subject in the pattern est-il raisonnable de... (“is it reasonable to...”), not a person identified in the conversation. In ordinary word order, the same pattern can be written il est raisonnable de..., though inversion is natural in this question. raisonnable means “reasonable” here, with the sense “fair” or “justified.” It is an adjective whose form does not change for masculine versus feminine in the singular: un délai raisonnable and une attente raisonnable. In this sentence, it evaluates the amount of waiting expressed by the following infinitive construction. attendre is the infinitive “to wait.” Its present-tense forms include j’attends (“I wait / I am waiting”) and il attend (“he waits / he is waiting”); the infinitive itself is used after de in this construction. Example: Je peux attendre. — “I can wait.” avant de introduces an action that happens later: “before.” It is followed here by an infinitive, déplacer. A reusable pattern is avant de + infinitive: Réfléchis avant de répondre. — “Think before answering.” le is a masculine singular direct-object pronoun meaning “it” here. It replaces the thing being moved; the preceding context supports the laundry as that item. Its form reflects the grammatical gender and number of the object, not the gender of the person acting. For a feminine singular object, French uses la: Je la déplace — “I move it.” déplacer is the infinitive “to move,” used here for moving the item to another place. Its base form is déplacer; a present-tense example is Je déplace le linge. — “I move the laundry.” In the fixed sentence, le déplacer combines the object pronoun with the infinitive: “to move it.” Together, Combien de temps est-il raisonnable d’attendre asks what duration of waiting is considered fair, and avant de le déplacer identifies the later action as moving the item. The complete meaning is: “How long is fair before I move it?” The context makes this a practical question about how long to leave the laundry before moving it.

6. Un court délai suffit si d'autres personnes attendent.

   A short grace period is enough if other people are waiting.

   court

   short

   délai

   grace period; time allowed

   suffit

   is enough

   si

   if

   d'autres

   other

   personnes

   people

   attendent

   are waiting

   More detail

   court means “short” here and agrees with the masculine singular noun délai: un court délai. Its base form is court; the feminine singular is courte, and the plural forms are courts and courtes. Example: une courte pause — “a short break.” délai is a masculine noun for an allowed period of time or a time limit. In this sentence, it means a grace period: a short amount of time that is allowed before an action is needed. Example: Le délai est de dix minutes. — “The time limit is ten minutes.” suffit is the present-tense, third-person singular form of suffire, “to be enough.” The subject is the singular noun phrase un court délai, so French uses suffit. Useful forms include je suffis — “I am enough” (less common in everyday contexts), and cela suffit — “that is enough.” Example: Une minute suffit. — “One minute is enough.” si introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause after it states the condition under which the first clause is true. Here, si connects the sufficient grace period with other people waiting. Example: Je viendrai si tu appelles. — “I will come if you call.” d'autres means “other” or “others” in the plural expression used here. It is formed from de plus autres, with elision: de autres becomes d'autres. In d'autres personnes, it modifies the plural noun personnes; the form autres does not mark masculine versus feminine in this plural use. Example: d'autres options — “other options.” personnes is the plural of the feminine noun personne, meaning “person” or “people.” It is the subject of attendent, so the verb is plural. Example: Plusieurs personnes arrivent. — “Several people are arriving.” attendent is the present-tense, third-person plural form of attendre, “to wait.” The ending -ent marks ils/elles in the present; it is generally not pronounced in this form. Here it describes the ongoing condition that other people are waiting. Example: Elles attendent dehors. — “They are waiting outside.” Together, un court délai suffit says that a short grace period is enough. si d'autres personnes attendent adds the condition “if other people are waiting.” The complete utterance therefore means: “A short grace period is enough if other people are waiting.”

7. Je vais mettre un rappel pour revenir dès que mon cycle sera terminé.

   I'll set a reminder so I come back as soon as my load is done.

   Je vais

   I’ll

   mettre

   set / put

   un rappel

   a reminder

   revenir

   come back

   dès que

   as soon as

   cycle

   cycle

   sera terminé

   will be finished

   More detail

   Je vais is the common French near-future pattern: present-tense aller + an infinitive. vais is the first-person singular form of aller; the following infinitive identifies the planned action. Here, Je vais mettre means “I’ll set,” presenting the action as forthcoming. mettre means “to put” or “to set.” Its infinitive follows vais. Here it takes un rappel as its object: the reminder is what will be set. The verb can also describe physically putting something somewhere; the object helps determine the intended sense. un rappel means “a reminder.” rappel is a masculine singular noun, so it takes un. The indefinite article introduces a non-specific reminder; it does not by itself make a numerical count the main point. revenir means “to come back” or “return.” It is the infinitive in pour revenir, expressing purpose: “so as to come back.” The understood subject is the speaker, the same subject as Je. A reusable pattern is pour + infinitive, for example: Je viens pour aider. — “I’m coming to help.” dès que introduces the time condition “as soon as.” Here it links the return to the completion of the cycle: the return is to happen once that condition is met. French can use a future form after dès que when the condition concerns a future event. cycle means “cycle” here, and mon cycle means “my cycle.” cycle is masculine singular, so the possessive form is mon; this agreement reflects the noun’s grammatical form, not the speaker’s gender. The fixed translation gives the intended context-specific sense as “load,” while the French noun can refer to other kinds of cycles in other contexts. sera terminé means “will be finished.” sera is the third-person singular future form of être, and terminé is the past participle of terminer, used here with cycle to describe its completed state. Because cycle is masculine singular, the participle has the form terminé; with a feminine singular noun, the corresponding form would be terminée. The future form presents the completion as occurring later. Together, Je vais mettre un rappel says “I’ll set a reminder.” pour revenir gives the purpose, “so as to come back,” and dès que mon cycle sera terminé specifies the time, “as soon as my cycle is finished.” The whole utterance therefore means: “I’ll set a reminder so I come back as soon as my cycle is done.”

8. Cela permet de demander plus facilement la même chose à tout le monde.

   That makes it easier to ask the same of everyone else.

   Cela

   That

   permet

   makes it possible

   demander

   to ask

   plus facilement

   more easily

   même

   same

   chose

   thing

   tout le monde

   everyone

   More detail

   Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It is invariable: it does not change for masculine/feminine or singular/plural. In this context, it points to the relevant preceding situation or action. The more informal spoken form ça can often replace cela, but cela is also common in more neutral or formal wording. permet comes from permettre, “to allow” or “to make possible.” It is the present-tense form for a third-person singular subject: cela permet. A useful pattern is permettre de + infinitive: Cela permet de comprendre. — “That makes it possible to understand.” The idea of making something easier is supplied by plus facilement, not by permet alone. demander is the infinitive “to ask” or “to request,” required here after de in permettre de demander. A reusable pattern is demander quelque chose à quelqu’un: Je demande une information à Paul. — “I ask Paul for information.” In the fixed sentence, demander introduces the action that the situation makes easier. plus facilement means “more easily.” Facilement is the adverb related to facile (“easy”), and plus forms its comparative: plus facilement = “more easily.” The comparison indicates greater ease relative to an understood alternative or situation; it does not itself specify what that alternative is. même means “same” in la même chose. As a modifier of a singular noun, it has the same written form with masculine and feminine nouns, although plural nouns take mêmes: les mêmes questions — “the same questions.” chose is the feminine noun “thing.” The expression la même chose means “the same thing,” with chose carrying the noun’s feminine singular agreement: une chose, la même chose. In this sentence, it refers to the same unspecified matter being asked about, rather than naming that matter. tout le monde is the fixed expression “everyone” or “everybody.” Although it refers to multiple people, monde is grammatically singular, so associated verbs normally use the third-person singular: Tout le monde comprend. — “Everyone understands.” Here, the preceding à makes it the recipient of the asking: “to everyone.” Together, Cela permet de demander plus facilement la même chose à tout le monde means “That makes it easier to ask everyone else the same thing.” The structure is Cela permet de + infinitive action + comparative adverb + object + recipient: “That makes it possible to ask the same thing more easily of everyone.”

9. Je ne peux pas me plaindre du linge abandonné si je laisse aussi le mien là-bas.

   I can't complain about abandoned laundry if I leave mine there too.

   Je ne peux pas

   I can't

   me plaindre

   complain

   linge

   laundry

   abandonné

   abandoned

   si

   if

   laisse

   leave

   aussi

   too

   le mien

   mine

   là-bas

   there

   More detail

   Je ne peux pas: peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to,” often “can”). ne ... pas makes the verb phrase negative, so this means “I cannot / I can’t.” In French, pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Je peux venir = “I can come.” Here, the infinitive is the reflexive verb se plaindre. me plaindre: This is the first-person form of the infinitive se plaindre, “to complain.” The pronoun me matches the subject je; it is part of the verb’s reflexive form, not a separate object meaning “myself” in this translation. The usual construction is se plaindre de quelque chose: Elle se plaint du bruit = “She complains about the noise.” In the utterance, de combines with le in the following phrase as du. linge: le linge is a masculine singular noun meaning laundry or linen. Here it refers to the laundry described as abandoned. French commonly uses du linge for an unspecified amount of laundry: Je lave du linge = “I am washing laundry.” The article form du is de + le; it does not by itself state a numerical quantity. abandonné: This is the masculine singular form of the adjective abandonné, “abandoned.” It agrees with the masculine singular noun linge. The feminine singular form is abandonnée, as in une valise abandonnée = “an abandoned suitcase.” In this utterance, the adjective describes the laundry as left behind or unattended; it does not change the meaning of the speaker’s own later action. si: si introduces the condition “if.” A useful reusable pattern is si + present-tense clause: Si je pars, je ferme la porte = “If I leave, I close the door.” Here it introduces the condition involving the speaker leaving their own laundry somewhere. laisse: laisse is the first-person singular present form of laisser, “to leave” or “to let,” and its subject is je. The context here supports the “leave” sense: the speaker leaves the laundry in a place. For example, Je laisse le sac ici = “I leave the bag here.” The form laisse can also be the present form used with il or elle, but this sentence identifies the subject through je. aussi: aussi means “too” or “also.” Here it adds that the speaker leaves their own laundry there as well, in addition to the abandoned laundry already mentioned. For example, Je viens aussi = “I am coming too.” le mien: This is the masculine singular possessive pronoun meaning “mine.” Le mien replaces a previously understood masculine singular noun, here le linge, so the noun is not repeated: Mon linge est propre; le tien est sale = “My laundry is clean; yours is dirty.” The pronoun’s grammatical gender and number match the omitted thing, not the owner. Other forms include la mienne for feminine singular and les miens / les miennes for plural nouns. là-bas: This adverb means “there” or “over there,” indicating a place relatively distant from the speaker or treated as distant in the discourse. Je travaille là-bas = “I work over there.” It contributes the location of the leaving action; it is separate from le mien. Together, Je ne peux pas me plaindre du linge abandonné means “I can’t complain about the abandoned laundry”: pouvoir expresses inability or lack of possibility in this context, and the negation denies it; se plaindre de supplies the “complain about” construction. si je laisse aussi le mien là-bas gives the condition: “if I leave mine there too.” Aussi marks this as an additional comparable action, and le mien refers to the speaker’s own laundry by replacing le linge. The complete meaning is: “I can’t complain about abandoned laundry if I leave mine there too.”

10. La buanderie commune fonctionne mieux quand les gens surveillent la durée des cycles.

    Shared laundry goes more smoothly when people watch the cycle times.

    buanderie

    laundry room

    commune

    shared

    fonctionne

    works; functions

    mieux

    better; more smoothly

    gens

    people

    surveillent

    watch; monitor

    durée

    duration; length of time

    cycles

    cycles

    More detail

    buanderie means a laundry room or laundry area. It is a feminine noun: une buanderie. In this sentence, it is the place being described. commune means shared or communal here. It is the feminine singular form of commun, agreeing with buanderie (feminine singular). The masculine singular form is commun; for example, un espace commun means “a shared space.” fonctionne comes from fonctionner, “to work” or “to function.” It is the present-tense third-person singular form, used because the subject is la buanderie. For example, Le système fonctionne bien means “The system works well.” mieux means “better” or, with an action such as functioning, “more smoothly.” It is the comparative form related to the adverb bien (“well”): bien → mieux. It modifies how the laundry room functions, rather than describing the room itself. gens means “people.” It is a plural noun and normally refers to people in general or to a group of people. Its plural meaning is already built into the word; the following verb is therefore plural. surveillent comes from surveiller, “to watch” or “to monitor.” It is the present-tense third-person plural form, matching les gens: les gens surveillent. For example, Ils surveillent la porte means “They are monitoring the door.” durée means “duration” or “length of time.” It is a feminine noun: la durée. The construction la durée de ... expresses how long something lasts or its time length. cycles means “cycles,” here the cycles of the laundry machines. It is the plural of cycle; the phrase la durée des cycles means “the length of the cycles.” des combines the plural article les with de in this context. The words quand les gens surveillent ... introduce the condition “when people monitor ...”. The main clause is La buanderie commune fonctionne mieux, “The shared laundry room functions better.” Together, quand les gens surveillent la durée des cycles specifies the situation in which it functions more smoothly. The complete meaning is: “Shared laundry goes more smoothly when people watch the cycle times.”