Le bailleur chiffre les réparations locatives.

Bailleur means landlord or lessor.

However, it is a fairly formal/legal word. In everyday conversation, French speakers often say propriétaire if they mean the owner of the property. In rental or legal contexts, bailleur is very common because it refers specifically to the person who rents out the property.

So:

• bailleur = landlord/lessor, especially in legal or administrative language
• propriétaire = owner

They are often the same person, but not always exactly the same idea.

Not here.

Although chiffre is related to number or figure, the verb chiffrer in this sentence means:

• to estimate the cost of
• to put a figure on
• to calculate the amount of

So Le bailleur chiffre les réparations locatives means that the landlord is calculating/estimating the cost of the tenant-related repairs.

It does not mean the landlord is literally counting the repairs one by one.

Because chiffre is the verb chiffrer conjugated in the present tense.

The infinitive is:

• chiffrer = to estimate / to put a figure on

The present tense for il / elle / on and also for many singular subjects like le bailleur is:

• je chiffre
• tu chiffres
• il/elle chiffre
• nous chiffrons
• vous chiffrez
• ils/elles chiffrent

Since le bailleur is a third-person singular subject, the correct form is chiffre.

French uses articles much more often than English does.

Here:

• le bailleur = the landlord
• les réparations locatives = the tenant-related repairs / the rental repairs

Even where English might sometimes drop an article, French usually keeps one.

So this structure is very normal:

• Le bailleur
  • verb + les réparations locatives

This is a set expression in housing/rental language.

Réparations locatives refers to repairs that are considered the responsibility of the tenant, or repairs connected with the normal use of a rented property.

Word by word:

• réparations = repairs
• locatives = rental-related / tenant-related

So the phrase is not just any repairs in a rented apartment. It usually refers to a specific legal or administrative category of repairs.

Because it agrees with réparations.

In French, adjectives usually agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.

Here:

• réparation = feminine singular
• réparations = feminine plural

So the adjective must also be feminine plural:

• locative = feminine singular
• locatives = feminine plural

That is why the sentence says les réparations locatives.

French often uses either:

• a noun + adjective structure, or
• a noun + de + noun structure

But some expressions are just more idiomatic in one form than the other.

In legal and housing French, réparations locatives is the standard expression. It sounds natural and precise.
Réparations de location would sound much less idiomatic here.

So this is a good phrase to learn as a chunk:

• les réparations locatives

The word order is the standard French pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Direct Object

So:

• Le bailleur = subject
• chiffre = verb
• les réparations locatives = direct object

This is very similar to English word order:

• The landlord estimates the repairs

So the structure is quite straightforward.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

luh bah-yur sheefr lay ray-pah-rah-syon loh-kah-teev

A few notes:

• bailleur sounds roughly like bah-yur
• chiffre begins with sh
• réparations has the French r, which is pronounced in the throat
• locatives ends with a pronounced -tiv

Also, in careful speech, you may hear a liaison in les réparations, so les can sound like lay-z before the vowel sound in réparations.

Yes, it is in the present tense.

Le bailleur chiffre... can mean:

• The landlord is estimating...
• The landlord estimates...
• The landlord calculates...

French present tense can cover both a simple present and, depending on context, something close to the English present progressive.

So without more context, the sentence could describe:

• a general action,
• a habitual action,
• or something happening now.

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

• Le propriétaire chiffre les réparations locatives.

That would still make sense.

But there is a slight nuance:

• bailleur is more legal/technical
• propriétaire is more general and often more everyday

If the sentence comes from a contract, legal notice, or housing regulation, bailleur is probably the better choice.

Yes. Chiffrer is used whenever someone is putting a number or cost on something.

For example, it can be used for:

• estimating the cost of repairs
• pricing a project
• calculating damages
• putting a figure on losses or expenses

So it is especially common in:

• business
• insurance
• construction
• administration
• legal contexts

It is not the most casual everyday verb, but it is very useful.

You would place ne ... pas around the conjugated verb:

• Le bailleur ne chiffre pas les réparations locatives.

This means:

• The landlord is not estimating the tenant-related repairs.

So the pattern is:

• subject + ne
  • verb + pas
    • object

Example:

• Le bailleur chiffre les réparations locatives.
• Le bailleur ne chiffre pas les réparations locatives.