L'étagère est haute ; je la trouve pratique pour ranger le sucre et le thé.

The shelf is high; I find it useful for storing sugar and tea.

Breakdown of L'étagère est haute ; je la trouve pratique pour ranger le sucre et le thé.

• je: I
• être: to be
• et: and
• pour: for
• trouver: to find
• la: it
• ranger: to store
• le thé: the tea
• le sucre: the sugar
• l'étagère: the shelf
• haut: high
• pratique: useful

Questions & Answers about L'étagère est haute ; je la trouve pratique pour ranger le sucre et le thé.

Why is the definite article L’ used before étagère instead of La étagère?

Because étagère begins with a vowel sound. In French, the feminine singular article la elides before a vowel or mute h:
la + étagère → l’étagère

Why is the adjective haute written with an -e at the end?

Adjectives in French must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Étagère is feminine singular, so:
haut (masculine singular) → haute (feminine singular)

What’s the function of the semicolon ; here? Could I use a comma or a period instead?

A semicolon links two independent but related clauses more strongly than a period and more cleanly than a comma.
• With a comma you’d risk a run-on sentence.
• A period would be correct but separates the ideas more forcefully.
Using ; shows “the shelf is tall” and “I find it practical…” are distinct yet closely connected thoughts.

What does je la trouve mean? What is la referring to?

je la trouve literally means “I find it.”
• je = “I” (subject)
• la = direct-object pronoun replacing l’étagère (feminine singular)
• trouve = first-person singular of trouver (“to find”)
Word order in French is subject – pronoun – verb: “Je la trouve.”

Why doesn’t pratique change to something like pratiquée or practicienne here?

pratique is an adjective that happens to end in -e in its base form. For singular usage, both masculine and feminine forms are identical:
masculine singular pratique = feminine singular pratique
Only the plural adds an -s (pratiques).

Why are le sucre and le thé used rather than du sucre and du thé?

French uses the definite article for talking about things in a general or generic sense. Here, pour ranger le sucre et le thé means “to store sugar and tea” as categories. If you used du, it would mean “some sugar/tea” rather than the concept of sugar and tea in general.

Why is pour ranger followed by an infinitive? How does pour work here?

After pour expressing purpose (“in order to”), French uses the infinitive form of the verb without any additional preposition. Structure:
pour + infinitive = “in order to ”
So pour ranger = “in order to store/put away.”