Learn Hardcore French: Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas. - I have to update the app, otherwise the files do not open.

Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas.

I have to update the app, otherwise the files do not open.

Breakdown of Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching French grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning French now

Questions & Answers about Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas.

What does devoir mean in Je dois mettre à jour…, and how is it different from English "must / have to"?

Devoir is a modal verb that generally means to have to / must / need to.

Je dois mettre à jour… = I have to update… / I must update…
Je dois is the 1st person singular present tense of devoir.

Unlike English:

There is no "to" after dois: you say je dois faire, not je dois à faire or je dois de faire.
Devoir + infinitive is the standard way to express obligation:
- Je dois partir. = I have to leave.
- Nous devons attendre. = We must wait.

So the structure is: > [subject] + [devoir conjugated] + [infinitive]
> Je dois mettre… = I must put/update…

Why is it mettre à jour and not something like mettre en jour? What does this expression literally mean?

Mettre à jour is a fixed expression meaning to update (software, documents, information, etc.).

Literally:

mettre = to put
à jour = up to date / into the day

So the idea is “to bring up to date”.

You cannot replace à with en here:

✅ mettre à jour l’application = to update the application
❌ mettre en jour l’application (incorrect)

Other useful verbs:

actualiser = to refresh / update (often for a web page, display)
mettre à niveau = to bring up to standard/level (slightly different idea)

Why is it l'application with an apostrophe instead of la application?

Application is feminine in French, so the normal article is la:

la application (in theory)

But French avoids a clash of vowel sounds between article and noun.
Before a word starting with a vowel or mute h, le or la become l’. This is called elision.

la
- application ⇒ l’application
le
- ordinateur ⇒ l’ordinateur
la
- histoire ⇒ l’histoire

So l’application simply means the application, with the vowel collision smoothed out.

Why is application feminine? Is there a rule?

You generally have to memorize noun genders; there isn’t a reliable rule for words like application.

une application = an app/application
l’application (feminine) = the application

A helpful pattern: many English words ending in -tion are also French words ending in -tion, and they are almost always feminine:

la nation, la situation, la communication, l’application, etc.

So: application → feminine → la / l’.

Could you also say l’appli instead of l’application?

Yes, in informal French you often see:

une appli / l’appli = an app / the app

Examples:

Je dois mettre à jour l’appli. (more casual)
Je dois mettre à jour l’application. (neutral, standard)

In writing, l’application is safer and more standard, especially in formal or professional contexts.

What does sinon mean exactly, and how is it different from ou or autrement?

In this sentence, sinon means otherwise / or else and introduces a negative consequence:

Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas.
= I need to update the app, otherwise the files don’t open.

Differences:

ou = or (neutral choice)
- Tu veux du thé ou du café ? = Do you want tea or coffee?
autrement can also mean otherwise, but is less common in spoken French in this kind of sentence.
- Dépêche-toi, autrement tu vas être en retard.

Here, sinon is the most natural connector for “if not / or else”.

Why is it les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas and not something like les fichiers n’ouvrent pas?

The verb used is s’ouvrir, which is a pronominal (reflexive-like) verb:

s’ouvrir = to open (by itself / become open)

In French, inanimate things often use se + verb to express something happening to them, somewhat like an English passive:

La porte s’ouvre. = The door opens / is opening.
Les fenêtres s’ouvrent. = The windows open.

So:

les fichiers s’ouvrent = the files open
les fichiers ne s’ouvrent pas = the files don’t open

If you said les fichiers n’ouvrent pas, it would sound wrong, because ouvrir without se normally takes a direct object (someone opens something):

J’ouvre les fichiers. = I open the files.

Why is there an apostrophe in s'ouvrent?

The basic reflexive form is:

se ouvrir (infinitive) → s’ouvrir
ils/elles se ouvrent (they open themselves) → ils/elles s’ouvrent

Again, French avoids two vowels in a row (here, se ouvrir), so it uses elision:

se
- ouvrir ⇒ s’ouvrir
je me ouvre ⇒ je m’ouvre
tu te habilles ⇒ tu t’habilles

So s’ouvrent is se + ouvrent, with se shortened to s’ before the vowel o.

Why is the verb in the present (s'ouvrent) if in English we say "won’t open" (future)?

French often uses the present tense where English would choose the future, especially for:

General results
Conditions
“If / otherwise” type sentences

So:

Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas.
Literally: … otherwise the files do not open.
Natural English: … otherwise the files won’t open.

It’s also possible to use the future in French:

… sinon les fichiers ne s’ouvriront pas. = … otherwise the files will not open.

Both are correct. The version with the present (ne s’ouvrent pas) sounds more general and is very common in spoken French.

How does the negation ne … pas work in ne s'ouvrent pas?

Standard French negation is:

ne + [verb / verb group] + pas

In this sentence:

ne … pas surround s’ouvrent:
- les fichiers ne s’ouvrent pas = the files do not open.

Structure:

ne (or n’ before vowel)
se (shortened to s’)
ouvrent (verb)
pas (negative word)

In casual spoken French, people often drop ne:

Les fichiers s'ouvrent pas. (very informal / spoken)
In writing or careful speech, you keep ne: ne s’ouvrent pas.

Why is it les fichiers with les, not just “fichiers” with no article?

French almost always requires an article before a noun, even when English omits the / a.

Here, les fichiers means the files in a general or specific context (the ones you’re trying to open).

les = plural definite article (the)
fichiers = files

So:

les fichiers = the files
des fichiers = some files
mes fichiers = my files

In English you might say simply “files don’t open”, but in French you need les fichiers ne s’ouvrent pas.

How do we know ouvrent is plural, and why is that important?

Ouvrent is the 3rd person plural present tense of ouvrir.

Conjugation in the present:

il/elle ouvre = he/she opens
ils/elles ouvrent = they open

Since the subject is les fichiers (plural), the verb must also be plural:

Les fichiers s’ouvrent.
not Les fichiers s’ouvre.

This subject–verb agreement is marked by the spelling -ent, pronounced [ouvʀ] (the -ent is silent in speech).

What is the overall word order in Je dois mettre à jour l'application, sinon les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas?

You can break it down like this:

Je dois
- Je = I
- dois = must / have to (devoir, present)
mettre à jour l'application
- mettre à jour = to update
- l'application = the application
→ I have to update the application
sinon
- otherwise / or else
les fichiers ne s'ouvrent pas
- les fichiers = the files
- ne s’ouvrent pas = don’t open
→ the files don’t open / won’t open

So the structure mirrors English fairly closely:

I must [update the application], otherwise [the files don’t open].