Je nettoie la cheminée avant l’hiver.

I clean the fireplace before winter.

Breakdown of Je nettoie la cheminée avant l’hiver.

• je: I
• avant: before
• nettoyer: to clean
• l’hiver: the winter
• la cheminée: the fireplace

Questions & Answers about Je nettoie la cheminée avant l’hiver.

Why is nettoie spelled with ie at the end instead of the regular e for –er verbs?

The verb nettoyer belongs to the –er verbs that end in –yer. In the present tense, the y changes to i before a silent e (for je, tu, il/elle, ils/elles). That gives:

• je nettoie
• tu nettoies
• il/elle nettoie
• ils/elles nettoient

For nous and vous, the y remains:

• nous nettoyons
• vous nettoyez

This irregularity prevents having yy in the spelling.

Why does je stay as je and not become j’ before nettoie?

In French, je contracts to j’ only when the following word starts with a vowel sound or a mute h (e.g. j’aime, j’habit). Since nettoie begins with the consonant n, there is no elision and we keep je nettoie.

Why is there an apostrophe in l’hiver?

The full form is le hiver, but French does not allow two vowel sounds in a row (the article le + the vowel hiver). So le elides to l’, giving l’hiver. This process is called elision.

Why don’t we say avant de l’hiver? Wouldn’t that mirror avant de partir?

French has two separate structures:

• Before an infinitive: use avant de
  • verb (e.g. avant de partir).
• Before a noun (like a season): use avant
  • definite article
    • noun.

Hence you say avant + l’hiver, not avant de l’hiver.

Why do we use la before cheminée?

Every French noun has a gender. Cheminée (meaning chimney or fireplace) is feminine, so it takes the feminine definite article la. You simply memorize that la cheminée is always feminine.

Can I place avant l’hiver at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. French allows time expressions to come first. You can say:
Avant l’hiver, je nettoie la cheminée.
The meaning stays the same; fronting it just emphasizes when you do it.

How do you pronounce the oi in nettoie, and where is the stress?

In French, oi is pronounced [wa]. So nettoie sounds like [nɛt-ˈtwa]. The stress in French always falls on the last syllable of the word: net-TOIE.

How would I conjugate nettoyer for all the subject pronouns in the present tense?

Here is the complete present‐tense conjugation of nettoyer:

• je nettoie
• tu nettoies
• il/elle nettoie
• nous nettoyons
• vous nettoyez
• ils/elles nettoient