Je garde cet exemple dans mon cahier pour le revoir plus tard.

I keep this example in my notebook to look at it again later.

Breakdown of Je garde cet exemple dans mon cahier pour le revoir plus tard.

• je: I
• mon: my
• dans: in
• plus tard: later
• pour: in order to
• garder: to keep
• revoir: to see again
• le: it
• cet: this
• l'exemple: the example
• le cahier: the notebook

Questions & Answers about Je garde cet exemple dans mon cahier pour le revoir plus tard.

Why is it Je garde and not something like Je suis en train de garder to match I am keeping?

French usually uses the simple present (je garde) where English uses either I keep or I’m keeping.

• Je garde cet exemple… can mean:
  • I’m keeping this example… (an action happening now), or
  • I keep this example… (a general habit).

The form être en train de + infinitive (e.g. je suis en train de garder) exists, but it’s only used when you really want to insist on “right now, at this moment”. In most contexts, je garde is the natural choice.

What exactly does garder mean here, and how is it different from verbs like tenir, conserver, or garder as in “to babysit”?

In this sentence, garder means to keep / to hold on to / not to throw away.

• Je garde cet exemple… = I’m keeping this example…
  → I’m not deleting it; I’m keeping it in my notebook.

Compare:

• conserver – more formal or technical: conserver des données, conserver des aliments.
• tenir – more physical: tenir un livre (to hold a book).
• garder (for children / pets): garder les enfants, garder le chien = to look after, to babysit.

The core idea of garder is keeping something in your possession or under your care. In the context of a notebook, garder un exemple is completely natural.

Why is it cet exemple and not ce exemple or cette exemple?

Cet is the masculine singular demonstrative adjective used before a vowel sound:

• ce
  • consonant: ce livre (this book)
• cet
  • vowel or mute h: cet exemple, cet homme
• cette
  • any sound, but feminine: cette idée, cette femme

Exemple is masculine, so we would normally use ce:
→ ce exemple in theory, but because exemple starts with a vowel, it becomes cet exemple for ease of pronunciation.

So:

• cet exemple = this example (masculine, starts with a vowel)

How do we know exemple is masculine, and how does that affect the rest of the sentence?

You can see that exemple is masculine from:

• cet exemple (masculine demonstrative)
• later, le in pour le revoir (masculine direct object pronoun)

Because exemple is masculine:

• we say cet exemple (not cette exemple)
• we refer back to it with le (not la)

If exemple were feminine, the sentence would be:

• Je garde cette phrase dans mon cahier pour la revoir plus tard.
  (phrase is feminine, so cette and la.)

What is the le in pour le revoir? Is it an article?

Here le is not an article. It is a direct object pronoun meaning it.

It stands for cet exemple:

• Je garde cet exemple… pour le revoir plus tard.
  → le = cet exemple

So le revoir literally means to see it again / to review it.

Articles (like le livre) go before nouns.
Object pronouns (like le voir) go before verbs and replace a noun.

Why does the pronoun come before revoir (as in le revoir) and not after, like in English “review it”?

In French, object pronouns normally come before the verb they depend on:

• le revoir = to see/review it again
• le lire = to read it
• la comprendre = to understand it (feminine)

The pattern is:

• pour
  • pronoun
    • infinitive

Examples:

• pour le lire plus tard – to read it later
• pour la regarder demain – to watch it tomorrow

So you cannot say pour revoir le. The correct order is pour le revoir.

What tense is garde here, and what nuance does it have?

Garde is the present indicative, 1st person singular (je garde).

French present covers several English uses:

• I keep this example… (habit)
• I’m keeping this example… (current action / decision)

The sentence doesn’t force one or the other; context decides. The form itself is just the neutral present.

Why is it dans mon cahier and not sur mon cahier or en mon cahier?

Dans is used for inside something, and here the idea is inside the notebook (on its pages):

• dans mon cahier = in my notebook

Alternatives:

• sur mon cahier = physically on top of the notebook (e.g. a pen on it), not written in it.
• en cahier is not idiomatic; you wouldn’t say en mon cahier in this context.

For written notes, French typically uses:

• dans mon cahier, dans mon carnet, dans mon agenda.

Why is it mon cahier and not ma cahier?

Because cahier is masculine. Possessive adjectives must agree with the gender (and number) of the noun, not with the owner.

• mon cahier – my notebook (masculine)
• ma trousse – my pencil case (feminine)
• mes cahiers – my notebooks (plural)

Even if the speaker is a woman, it is still mon cahier, because cahier is grammatically masculine.

What is the role of pour + infinitive in pour le revoir plus tard?

Pour + infinitive often expresses purpose, like to / in order to in English.

• pour le revoir plus tard = to review it later / in order to review it later

Structure:

• pour
  • (object pronoun, if any)
    • infinitive

Examples:

• Je viens pour t’aider. – I’m coming (in order) to help you.
• Elle garde ses notes pour les relire. – She keeps her notes to reread them.

So pour le revoir answers Why are you keeping this example?

Could we say pour revoir cet exemple plus tard instead of pour le revoir plus tard?

Yes, grammatically you can say:

• Je garde cet exemple dans mon cahier pour revoir cet exemple plus tard.

But it sounds repetitive. Native speakers usually avoid repeating the noun and use a pronoun:

• Je garde cet exemple… pour le revoir plus tard.

Both mean the same thing; using le just makes the sentence more natural and less heavy.

Can plus tard go somewhere else in the sentence, or must it be at the end?

The usual and most natural place is at the end:

• pour le revoir plus tard

You could also occasionally hear:

• pour plus tard le revoir – grammatical but sounds literary/unnatural in everyday speech.

Putting plus tard in the middle of le revoir would be wrong. So for normal speech, keep:

• pour le revoir plus tard

What nuance does revoir have compared to verbs like réviser or relire?

• revoir = literally to see again; by extension to review / to go over again.
  
  • revoir un exemple, une leçon – look at it again, review it.
• réviser = to revise / to study / to review for an exam. More academic or exam-related.
  • réviser un examen, réviser sa grammaire.
• relire = to read again.
  • relire un texte, relire une page.

In your sentence, revoir is good because you’re going back to the example to look at it again and understand/remember it. You might also say pour le réviser plus tard, but that sounds a bit more like exam-style revision.