Learn French: Le tiroir est propre. Est-ce que tu le ranges ?

In French, direct object pronouns like le (it/him), la (it/her), and les (them) usually go before the verb. So instead of saying tu ranges le tiroir, you say tu le ranges (literally: 'you it tidy').

How do we know to use le for 'it' instead of la?

The pronoun has to match the gender of the noun it replaces. Here, 'it' refers to the drawer. Since le tiroir is a masculine noun, we must use the masculine pronoun le.

Why does ranges have an 's' at the end?

The verb here is ranger (to tidy or put away). For all regular -er verbs, the ending for tu (you) is -es. Even though there is an 's' at the end, it is completely silent when you speak!

Can I just ask Tu le ranges ? without using Est-ce que?

Yes! Est-ce que is a very common tool to turn a statement into a yes/no question, but you can also just say Tu le ranges ? and raise your voice at the end. Both are perfectly correct.

The English translation says 'Do you tidy it?'. Can this also mean 'Are you tidying it?'?