Question 1

Why does même come at the very beginning of the sentence here?

Accepted Answer

As an adverb meaning "even", même is placed immediately before the word it emphasizes. Since it emphasizes the subject mon père ("even my father"), it has to go at the start of the sentence. If we put it after the verb (mon père garde même ce bois), it would mean he "even keeps this wood" (alongside doing other things).

Question 2

Why is bricolerait in the conditional tense when the English translation uses the present tense "does"?

Accepted Answer

In French, the phrase au cas où (in case) must always be followed by the conditional mood because it expresses a hypothesis or an uncertain future event. Even though English uses the present tense here ("in case he does"), French requires the conditional (il bricolerait).

Question 3

Is bricoler the usual way to say "to do DIY"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, bricoler is a very common verb for doing casual DIY, tinkering, or doing small odd jobs around the house. The noun for someone who loves doing this is un bricoleur (or une bricoleuse), and a hardware store is often called un magasin de bricolage.

Question 4

The English translation says "is keeping", but French uses the simple present garde. Why not use est en train de garder?

Accepted Answer

While être en train de does mean "to be in the middle of doing something", it is used only to emphasize an action happening actively at this exact second. For a continuous state like keeping or storing something over time, French simply uses the standard present tense (garde).

Même mon père garde ce bois au cas où il bricolerait.

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