Quand l'orage arrive, je ferme la fenêtre.

When the storm arrives, I close the window.

Breakdown of Quand l'orage arrive, je ferme la fenêtre.

• je: I
• la fenêtre: the window
• quand: when
• fermer: to close
• arriver: to arrive
• l'orage: the storm

Questions & Answers about Quand l'orage arrive, je ferme la fenêtre.

Why is quand used here instead of lorsque or quand est-ce que?

• Quand and lorsque are both conjunctions meaning “when” in temporal clauses. They’re interchangeable in this sentence, though lorsque is slightly more formal or literary.
• Quand est-ce que is only used in direct questions (e.g. Quand est-ce que l’orage arrive ?) and cannot introduce a subordinate clause in a statement.

Why are arrive and ferme in the present tense when the event seems to be in the future?

• French often uses the present indicative to describe:
  • A general truth or habitual action (“Whenever a storm comes…”), and
  • A near-future action (“As soon as the storm arrives, I close the window.”)
• You could use the future (“Quand l’orage arrivera, je fermerai la fenêtre”), but that stresses a single, specific future occurrence and sounds more formal.

Why is the indicative mood used after quand instead of the subjunctive?

Temporal conjunctions like quand, lorsque, dès que, etc., always take the indicative when they refer to events considered factual or certain. The subjunctive would only appear if you introduced uncertainty or a hypothetical (which quand does not).

What’s the purpose of the comma after arrive?

In French, when a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, you separate them with a comma:
[subordinate clause] , [main clause]
Here: Quand l’orage arrive, (subordinate) je ferme la fenêtre (main). If the main clause came first, the comma would be optional.

Can I swap the clauses and remove the comma? For example: Je ferme la fenêtre quand l’orage arrive.

Yes. When the main clause precedes the subordinate, you can omit the comma:
Je ferme la fenêtre quand l’orage arrive.
The meaning remains exactly the same.

Why does the sentence use the definite articles l’ (l’orage) and la (la fenêtre) instead of un or une?

French uses definite articles for:

1. Specific known items (the window in the room, the storm in the sky)
2. Generic statements or habitual actions (whenever storms come, people close windows).
   Using un or une would imply introducing something new or indefinite.

Why is there no preposition before la fenêtre after ferme?

Verbs of closing/opening in French ( fermer la porte, ouvrir la fenêtre, fermer les yeux ) take a direct object without any preposition.

What are the genders of orage and fenêtre, and why do they use l’ and la?

• Orage is masculine, so before a vowel it becomes l’orage by elision of le.
• Fenêtre is feminine, so it takes la fenêtre.
  Gender in French is lexical (you just have to learn which nouns are masculine or feminine).