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J'arrête la voiture devant la maison.

J'arrête la voiture devant la maison.
I stop the car in front of the house.
From Lesson 63:Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)·French

Breakdown of J'arrête la voiture devant la maison.

la maison
the house
devant
in front of
arrêter
to stop (something), to arrest

Questions & Answers about J'arrête la voiture devant la maison.

Why is it J'arrête instead of Je arrête?
When je (I) is followed by a verb starting with a vowel, like arrête, it drops the -e and blends into the word with an apostrophe. This is a mandatory rule in French to make sentences flow smoother.
Is arrêter (to stop) a regular -ir verb like the ones in this lesson?
No, arrêter is actually a regular -er verb! You can tell because the je form ends in -e (j'arrête). If it were a regular -ir verb (like choisir), the je form would end in -is (like je choisis). Sentences often mix in older grammar so you don't forget the -er endings.
Can I use devant to say "before" a certain time?
No, devant is only used for physical locations, meaning "in front of" (like devant la maison). If you want to say "before" as a measurement of time, you must use the word avant.
Does the verb keep that little hat accent (ê) in all its forms?
Yes! That accent is called a circumflex. The infinitive is arrêter, and it keeps the ê in all of its present tense forms (such as tu arrêtes, nous arrêtons, etc.). You just have to memorize it as part of the spelling.

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