Le mousqueton fait partie de la dégaine.

Faire partie de is a very common French expression meaning to be part of or to belong to a larger whole.

So in this sentence, Le mousqueton fait partie de la dégaine means that the carabiner is one component of the quickdraw.

It is best to learn faire partie de as a whole expression, rather than translating faire word by word.

Because faire partie de is the normal idiomatic way to say to be part of in French.

English uses to be, but French usually uses faire in this expression:

• Il fait partie de l équipe
• Ce livre fait partie de la collection
• Le mousqueton fait partie de la dégaine

You could build a sentence with être, such as Le mousqueton est une partie de la dégaine, but that sounds less natural in most everyday contexts.

Fait is the third-person singular present tense form of faire.

It matches the subject Le mousqueton, which is singular.

Here is the pattern:

• je fais
• tu fais
• il / elle / on fait
• nous faisons
• vous faites
• ils / elles font

If the subject were plural, you would say: Les mousquetons font partie de la dégaine.

The expression is faire partie de + noun.

So after partie, you need de. Since dégaine is a feminine singular noun, de + la stays de la.

That is why you get: fait partie de la dégaine

Compare:

• faire partie du groupe → du because groupe is masculine singular
• faire partie de la famille → de la because famille is feminine singular
• faire partie des éléments → des because the noun is plural

French uses definite articles much more often than English.

In a sentence like this, Le mousqueton can mean:

• the specific carabiner being discussed, or
• the carabiner as a type of object in a general statement

Likewise, la dégaine can refer to:

• a specific quickdraw, if the context is clear, or
• the quickdraw as the whole item being described

English often drops the article or uses a, but French often prefers le / la / les in these kinds of statements.

Yes.

• le mousqueton → masculine
• la dégaine → feminine

This matters because articles and some adjectives must agree with the noun:

• un mousqueton
• le mousqueton
• une dégaine
• la dégaine

There is nothing in this sentence that changes those genders; you just have to learn them with the nouns.

Because faire partie de is a fixed expression.

In this expression, you normally say: faire partie de quelque chose

You do not usually insert an article before partie in this meaning.

So:

• natural: Il fait partie du groupe
• not the usual idiom: Il fait une partie du groupe

Be careful, because une partie de does exist, but it means a part of as a noun phrase, not the same idiomatic structure:

• Une partie de la dégaine est usée = one part of the quickdraw is worn out

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

Le mousqueton fait partie de la dégaine
lə mus.kə.tɔ̃ fɛ paʁ.ti də la de.ɡɛn

A rough English-friendly guide could be:

luh moos-kuh-TON feh par-TEE duh la day-GEN

A few useful points:

• fait sounds like fè / feh
• the ending -on in mousqueton is nasal, so it does not sound like a full English on
• dégaine ends with a clear -gène / -gen sound, not like English gain

Yes, but Le mousqueton fait partie de la dégaine is the most natural everyday phrasing.

Other possible versions include:

• Le mousqueton est un élément de la dégaine
• Le mousqueton est une partie de la dégaine

These are understandable, but they can sound more technical, formal, or less idiomatic than fait partie de.

So for a learner, faire partie de is the best structure to remember.

It can do either, depending on context.

If someone is explaining climbing equipment in general, it can mean a general fact: The carabiner is part of the quickdraw.

If someone is pointing at one piece of gear, it can mean a specific object: This carabiner is part of that quickdraw.

French often relies on context for this, even when using le and la.