Nous avons deux vestes ; nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.

We have two jackets; we wear them only when it rains.

Breakdown of Nous avons deux vestes ; nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.

• avoir: to have
• nous: we
• quand: when
• pleuvoir: to rain
• les: them
• il: it
• deux: two
• la veste: the jacket
• mettre: to put on
• ne ... que: only

Questions & Answers about Nous avons deux vestes ; nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.

Why is mettre used here instead of porter when talking about wearing clothes?

In French, mettre and porter have different focuses:

• mettre means “to put on” an item of clothing (the action of dressing).
• porter means “to wear” something (the state of having it on).

Here, the sentence emphasizes the action of putting on the jackets when it rains, so mettre is appropriate. If you wanted to say “we wear our jackets,” you’d use porter, e.g. Nous portons nos vestes.

How does the restriction ne … que work to mean “only”?

ne … que is a French restrictive negation structure that literally means “not … except.” Its effect is “only.”

• ne appears before the verb (or before the object pronoun if there is one).
• que appears immediately after the verb (or pronoun + verb).

In nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut, it literally says “we do not put them on except when it rains,” i.e. “we only put them on when it rains.”

Why is the object pronoun les placed before mettons, and can its position change?

French object pronouns always precede the conjugated verb (except in affirmative imperatives). Here’s the order:

1. ne
2. object pronoun (les)
3. verb (mettons)
4. que

If there were an infinitive, the pronoun would go before the infinitive:
– Je préfère ne pas les mettre.

You cannot move les after the verb in standard declarative sentences.

Why do we say Nous avons deux vestes instead of Nous portons deux vestes?

• Nous avons deux vestes uses avoir to express possession—“we own/have two jackets.”
• Nous portons deux vestes would mean “we are wearing two jackets” (i.e. both at the same time).

The original wants to convey that you own two jackets but only put them on in rainy weather.

Can we replace quand with lorsque, and are they interchangeable?

Yes, lorsque is generally interchangeable with quand in temporal clauses:
– Nous ne les mettons que lorsqu’il pleut.

lorsque is slightly more formal or literary, but the meaning stays the same.

What is the purpose of the semicolon in deux vestes ; nous ne…? Could we use a comma or a period instead?

A semicolon links two closely related independent clauses more strongly than a period but with a clearer break than a comma. Alternatives:

• Period: Nous avons deux vestes. Nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.
• Comma + conjunction: Nous avons deux vestes, et nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.

All convey the same idea; the semicolon is just a stylistic choice.

What does the il in il pleut refer to?

In weather expressions, French uses an impersonal il that doesn’t refer to anything specific. It’s simply a dummy subject for verbs like pleuvoir (to rain) or neiger (to snow):
– Il pleut. (It’s raining.)
– Il neige. (It’s snowing.)

Can we drop the second nous and say Nous avons deux vestes ; ne les mettons que quand il pleut?

No—French requires a subject pronoun before each conjugated verb in declarative sentences. You must keep nous before ne:
– ✅ Nous avons deux vestes ; nous ne les mettons que quand il pleut.
Dropping nous would be ungrammatical here.