Learn French: Je mets les œufs dans le bol avec la vanille. - I put the eggs in the bowl with the vanilla.

In the plural, the f and the s are completely silent, and you make a mandatory liaison with the s in les. It is pronounced roughly like 'lay zø'. This is a common trap for learners because in the singular un œuf, you actually do pronounce the f!

Why does the French sentence say la vanille when the English translation just says 'with vanilla'?

In French, nouns almost always require an article. When you are talking about a mass noun, a general ingredient, or a specific portion of an ingredient you already have on hand, you use the definite article (le, la, les). Therefore, 'with vanilla' translates to avec la vanille.

Since our current lesson is about avant que, how would I add 'before you mix' to the end of this sentence?

You would say: Je mets les œufs dans le bol avec la vanille avant que tu mélanges. The main action (Je mets) stays in the normal present tense. The conjunction avant que (before) requires the subjunctive mood, so the second verb (mélanges) must be conjugated in the subjunctive.

Wait, is mets in the subjunctive here?