J’attache la bouture au tuteur de peur que le vent souffle.

Because je becomes j’ before a vowel sound. This is called elision.

So:

• je attache → j’attache
• je aime → j’aime
• je écoute → j’écoute

French does this to make pronunciation smoother.

The present tense in French often covers both:

• I attach
• I am attaching

So J’attache la bouture... can mean either a general action or something happening now, depending on context.

This is very common in French. You do not always need a special -ing form the way English does.

Because à + le contracts to au.

So:

• à + le → au
• à + les → aux

That means:

• au tuteur = à le tuteur
• aux tuteurs = à les tuteurs

This contraction is mandatory in standard French.

The verb attacher often follows this pattern:

attacher something to something

In French:

attacher quelque chose à quelque chose

So here:

• la bouture = the thing being tied
• au tuteur = what it is tied to

Other examples:

• J’attache le chien à l’arbre.
• Elle attache le vélo au poteau.

De peur que is a fixed expression meaning something like for fear that.

It introduces the feared possibility:

• J’attache la bouture au tuteur de peur que le vent souffle.

The idea is: I tie the cutting to the stake because I am afraid of what might happen if the wind blows.

This expression is a bit more formal or literary than everyday spoken French, but it is perfectly correct.

After de peur que, French normally uses the subjunctive, because the clause expresses fear, uncertainty, or a possible event rather than a simple fact.

So:

• de peur que + subjunctive

With souffler, the present subjunctive is:

• que je souffle
• que tu souffles
• qu’il/elle souffle

So que le vent souffle is the correct form after de peur que.

That is very common in French. For many -er verbs, some subjunctive forms look identical to present indicative forms.

For souffler:

• Present indicative, il souffle
• Present subjunctive, qu’il souffle

Same spelling, different grammar.

You know it is subjunctive because of the trigger expression de peur que. So the structure tells you the mood, even when the form looks identical.

Because after de peur que, French uses the subjunctive, not the future.

So French says:

• de peur que le vent souffle

not:

• de peur que le vent soufflera

Even if the feared action is in the future, the grammar after this expression is still subjunctive present.

This is very different from English, where learners may expect a future idea to require a future tense.

Good question. After expressions of fear such as de peur que, French often uses an optional ne called the explétif ne:

• de peur que le vent ne souffle

This ne does not make the sentence negative. It is just a traditional grammatical feature.

So both are possible:

• de peur que le vent souffle
• de peur que le vent ne souffle

In modern spoken French, the ne explétif is often omitted. In more formal writing, it is more common.

French uses articles much more often than English does.

Here:

• la bouture refers to the cutting being discussed
• le vent refers to the wind in a general or contextually understood sense

English can often say just wind in some structures, but French usually needs an article:

• le vent
• la pluie
• le soleil

So the articles sound natural in French even where English might be less explicit.

You might, but it sounds a bit more formal or literary than the most everyday option.

In casual speech, many people would say something like:

• J’attache la bouture au tuteur parce que j’ai peur que le vent souffle.

That said, de peur que is still completely correct and useful to know, especially in writing or more careful speech. It is similar in tone to English for fear that, which is also a bit more formal than everyday speech.