Breakdown of S'il te plaît, n'interromps pas Paul quand il explique le fichier.
Questions & Answers about S'il te plaît, n'interromps pas Paul quand il explique le fichier.
Literally, S'il te plaît means if it pleases you.
- S' = si (if) + il (it) → contracted to avoid two vowels.
- te = you (informal, singular; talking to a friend, child, family member).
- plaît = pleases.
So word‑for‑word: If it pleases you → used exactly like English please in informal situations.
For formal speech or when addressing more than one person, you would say:
- S'il vous plaît = If it pleases you (formal / plural) → polite please to a stranger, superior, or a group.
The apostrophe shows elision: the vowel i of si is dropped before another word starting with i (il).
- Under normal rules, you might expect si il, but in practice si il is avoided for reasons of pronunciation and euphony.
- Instead, it becomes s'il.
So:
- S'il te plaît, not Si il te plaît.
The same pattern happens with other words:
- je ai → j'ai
- ne ai → n'ai
- que il → qu'il
You’re right that with most -er verbs, the tu form of the imperative drops the final s:
- Tu parles → Parle !
- Tu regardes → Regarde !
But interrompre is an -re verb, not an -er verb, and those keep the s in the tu imperative:
- Tu interromps → Interromps !
So in the negative:
- Ne m'interromps pas. – Don’t interrupt me.
Summary:
- -er verbs: tu parles → Parle ! (no s)
- other verbs (like -re, -ir): form is the same as the present tu form → Tu interromps → Interromps !
French standard negation uses two parts around the verb:
- ne (or n' before a vowel sound)
- pas
In your sentence:
- ne becomes n' because interromps starts with a vowel sound.
- The verb interromps is in the middle.
- pas comes after the verb.
So:
- Interromps Paul. – Interrupt Paul.
- N'interromps pas Paul. – Don’t interrupt Paul.
In spoken French, people very often drop ne / n':
- N'interromps pas Paul → Interromps pas Paul (informal speech).
But in writing and in careful speech, ne ... pas is the norm.
You would switch from te to vous and from interromps to interrompez:
- S'il vous plaît, n'interrompez pas Paul quand il explique le fichier.
Changes:
- te → vous (formal / plural you)
- interromps (imperative tu) → interrompez (imperative vous)
The rest of the sentence stays the same.
Yes, that’s grammatically correct, but the nuance changes slightly.
quand il explique le fichier = when he explains / when he is explaining the file
→ French present tense already covers both explains and is explaining.quand il est en train d'expliquer le fichier = when he is (in the middle of) explaining the file
→ être en train de + infinitive emphasizes the ongoing nature of the action: “while he is in the process of explaining.”
In most contexts, quand il explique le fichier is perfectly natural and enough. You’d use est en train de if you really want to emphasize that the interruption would be during the action in progress.
Quand introduces a time clause: when.
- ... quand il explique le fichier. – when he explains / is explaining the file.
You could also say:
- ... lorsque il explique le fichier. → normally written lorsqu'il explique le fichier.
Lorsque is often a bit more formal or literary, but in many contexts it can replace quand without changing the meaning.
Pendant que is slightly different:
- ... pendant qu'il explique le fichier.
This tends to emphasize the duration: while he is explaining the file. It draws more attention to the fact that the two actions overlap in time.
All three are possible; quand is the most neutral and common.
The verb expliquer normally takes a direct object in French, without a preposition:
- expliquer quelque chose à quelqu’un
→ explain something to someone.
So:
- Il explique le fichier. – He explains the file.
- Il explique la règle. – He explains the rule.
- Il explique le problème aux étudiants. – He explains the problem to the students.
Using du or sur would change or break the meaning:
- expliquer du fichier – incorrect here.
- expliquer sur le fichier – also not natural; French doesn’t say explain about X with sur.
If you want about, French usually uses au sujet de / à propos de / concernant, but not with expliquer in this direct-object structure.
French almost always needs an article (or another determiner) before a singular countable noun, where English might omit it.
- English: when he explains the file or when he explains files.
- French: quand il explique le fichier (the specific file).
Le fichier means the file – something specific that the speaker and listener presumably know about.
You can change the article, but you usually cannot drop it entirely:
- un fichier – a file (not specific)
- ce fichier – this file
- son fichier – his file
- ce fichier important – this important file
But bare explique fichier is ungrammatical in French; you need le/un/ce/son fichier, etc., depending on what you mean.
French is not a “pro‑drop” language like Spanish or Italian. You generally must include an explicit subject pronoun:
- Il explique le fichier. – He explains the file.
- You cannot say Explique le fichier to mean He explains the file; that would be interpreted as an imperative Explain the file (addressing tu).
So in the time clause:
- quand il explique le fichier – when he explains the file
- quand explique le fichier – incorrect; missing subject.
There are very rare exceptions (like informal speech commands or certain written styles), but as a learner you should assume: always include the subject pronoun.
Yes, you can use couper la parole, which is a common idiom meaning to interrupt (someone speaking). For example:
- S'il te plaît, ne coupe pas la parole à Paul quand il explique le fichier.
Differences:
- interrompre quelqu’un – neutral, direct to interrupt someone.
- couper la parole à quelqu’un – literally to cut someone’s speech; a bit more vivid, often used when someone speaks over another person.
Both are natural and common; your original sentence with n'interromps pas is perfectly fine and maybe slightly more straightforward for learners.