Learn French: Je mets le clavier devant l'écran. - I put the keyboard in front of the screen.

Je mets le clavier devant l'écran.

I put the keyboard in front of the screen.

Breakdown of Je mets le clavier devant l'écran.

Questions & Answers about Je mets le clavier devant l'écran.

Why does mets end in s for the Je form?

Mettre (to put) is an irregular verb. In the present tense, its singular forms drop the -tre and add standard endings. The forms are: je mets, tu mets, and il/elle/on met. The s on the end is silent, so je mets and il met are pronounced exactly the same.

I always mix up devant and avant. Why is it devant in this sentence?

Use devant for physical locations, meaning literally in front of something in space. You use avant for time, meaning before an event. Since the keyboard is physically located in front of the screen, devant is the right choice here.

Could mettre translate to setting or placing the keyboard in this context?

Absolutely! Mettre is a very flexible verb. While it is usually taught as meaning to put, it is the most natural verb to use in French when you mean placing or setting a physical object down somewhere.

Écran is a masculine word, so why isn't it le écran?