Learn Hardcore French: Marie met des bananes dans le frigo.

Met is the 3rd person singular present of mettre (“to put, to place”). French simple present can mean both “puts” and “is putting,” so the sentence can mean “Marie puts/is putting bananas in the fridge.” Common uses of mettre:

put/place: mettre quelque chose quelque part
put on (clothes): mettre un manteau
set (the table): mettre la table
turn on (devices): mettre la radio/la télé
take (time) with a person as subject: Je mets dix minutes pour y aller.

How do you pronounce met? Is it the same as mets or mettent?

met (il/elle/on) and mets (je/tu) sound the same: /mɛ/ (the final t/s is silent).
mettent (ils/elles) is /mɛt/ (you hear a final /t/). In the sentence, met is /mɛ/.

What’s the full present-tense of mettre, and what’s its past participle?

Present:

je mets
tu mets
il/elle/on met
nous mettons
vous mettez
ils/elles mettent Past participle: mis (e.g., Marie a mis des bananes… = “Marie put/has put…”).

Why is it des bananes and not les bananes? What does des mean here?

Here des is the plural indefinite article (“some” or an unspecified number). Des bananes = “(some) bananas.” Use les bananes only when you mean specific, already-known bananas (“the bananas”).

Could des also mean “of the”? How can I tell which des it is?

Yes, des can be:

plural indefinite article: “some” (as in this sentence)
contraction of de + les: “of the” How to tell: if it is a direct object after a verb like mettre, it’s almost always the indefinite article (“some”). The “of the” reading typically appears after nouns or adjectives that take de (e.g., le goût des bananes = “the taste of the bananas”).

What happens in the negative?

With negation, plural/indefinite articles usually become de (or d’):

Marie ne met pas de bananes dans le frigo. = “Marie isn’t putting any bananas in the fridge.” If you mean specific bananas, you’d keep the definite article:
Marie ne met pas les bananes dans le frigo. (She’s not putting the bananas in the fridge.) With pronouns: Marie ne les y met pas.

Is banane feminine or masculine? How do I make it plural?

Banane is feminine: une banane, la banane.
Plural: des bananes (add -s; the final -s is silent).
With adjectives, agree in gender/number: des bananes mûres (“ripe bananas”).

Why dans le frigo and not au frigo? Are both correct?

Both are used:

dans le frigo literally means “in/inside the fridge.”
au frigo (à + le) is very common and idiomatic to mean “in(to) the fridge.” You’ll hear it a lot: Met ça au frigo. So your sentence is fine; mettre au frigo is also perfectly natural.

Can I say en le frigo?

No. En isn’t used for physical “inside” like that. Use dans for inside a space: dans le frigo. En is used in other senses (materials: en bois; months: en juin; means: en voiture), and as a pronoun.

What is frigo exactly—gender, register, more formal option?

Frigo is masculine: le frigo / un frigo / des frigos.
It’s informal but extremely common. The more formal word is réfrigérateur (also masculine).
Older/brand-generic you may hear: frigidaire (masc.), less common today.

Can I change the word order?

Yes, with nuance/emphasis:

Default: Marie met des bananes dans le frigo.
Emphasize place: Marie met dans le frigo des bananes.
Topicalize place: Dans le frigo, Marie met des bananes. All are grammatical; the default order (direct object before place) is the most neutral.

How do I replace parts with pronouns (like “them” or “there”)?

Replace des bananes (some bananas) with en: Marie en met dans le frigo.
Replace the place dans le frigo with y: Marie y met des bananes.
Replace a specific plural object with les: Marie les met dans le frigo.
Two pronouns together: object(s) + place: Marie les y met. (specific bananas) or quantity + place: Marie y en met. Negative: Marie ne les y met pas. / Marie n’y en met pas. Pronoun order: me/te/se/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en → verb.

Any liaison or elision to watch for?

met: final -t is silent here.
des bananes: no liaison (the next word starts with b, a consonant).
dans le: no liaison; the final -s of dans stays silent before consonant. There would be liaison before a vowel (e.g., dans un… → /dɑ̃z‿œ̃/).
If the next word began with a vowel, le would elide: dans l’armoire.

How do you pronounce the whole sentence?

Approximate IPA (standard FR): [maʁi mɛ de banan dɑ̃ lə fʁigo]. Tips:

French r: uvular [ʁ].
dans has a nasal vowel [ɑ̃]; final -s is silent.
frigo has a hard g [ɡ] and closed o [o].

How would I say it in the past or future?

Passé composé (completed past): Marie a mis des bananes dans le frigo.
Imparfait (ongoing/habitual past): Marie mettait des bananes dans le frigo.
Futur: Marie mettra des bananes dans le frigo.

Could I use other verbs instead of mettre?

Yes, with nuance:

ranger (to put away/neatly): Marie range des bananes au frigo.
poser (to set/place down): Marie pose des bananes dans le frigo.
placer (to place, a bit formal): Marie place des bananes dans le frigo.
garder/mettre au frais (to keep/chill): Marie met des bananes au frais.

How do I give the command “Put bananas in the fridge!”?

Informal (tu): Mets des bananes dans le frigo !
Polite/plural (vous): Mettez des bananes dans le frigo !
Inclusive (nous): Mettons des bananes dans le frigo !

Can I drop the article and say Marie met bananes…?

No. In French, you usually need an article with countable nouns. Use des bananes (or a determiner like trois bananes, quelques bananes, ces bananes).

How do I turn this into a yes/no question in French?

Three common ways:

Intonation only (speech): Marie met des bananes dans le frigo ?
Est-ce que: Est-ce que Marie met des bananes dans le frigo ?
Inversion (more formal): Marie met-elle des bananes dans le frigo ?