Learn Hardcore French: Demain, elle a un entretien important, et elle sait que les autres candidats sont forts. - Tomorrow, she has an important interview, and she knows that the other candidates are strong.

Demain, elle a un entretien important… = Tomorrow, she has an important interview… (emphasis on tomorrow)
You can also say: Elle a un entretien important demain. (more neutral)

The comma after Demain is normal in French when you place a time expression at the very beginning of the sentence. It separates that introductory element from the main clause.

Why is it elle a un entretien important (present tense) if it’s happening tomorrow?

French often uses the present tense + a future time expression to talk about the near future.

Demain, elle a un entretien important.
Literally: Tomorrow, she has an important interview.
Meaning: She is having / She will have an important interview tomorrow.

You could also use the future tense:

Demain, elle aura un entretien important.

Both are correct. The present with a future time phrase (demain, ce soir, la semaine prochaine, etc.) is very common and sounds natural in spoken French.

What exactly does entretien mean here? Is it always “interview”?

In this context, un entretien means a job interview or formal interview (for a position, school, etc.).

Common uses:

un entretien d’embauche – a job interview
un entretien individuel – a one‑on‑one meeting/interview
un entretien annuel – an annual performance review

Outside this context, entretien can also mean:

l’entretien d’une voiture – maintenance (of a car)
l’entretien d’un jardin – upkeep of a garden

Here, because of les autres candidats, it clearly means a selection interview (most likely job or school).

Why is important placed after entretien, not before it?

Most French adjectives normally come after the noun, unlike English.

un entretien important – an important interview
(literally: an interview important)

Some common adjectives come before the noun (like petit, grand, beau, bon, mauvais, jeune, vieux, etc.), but important is not one of those; it usually comes after.

So:

un important entretien sounds unusual or literary; the natural order is un entretien important.

Why is it important (masculine) and not importante (feminine)?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, not with elle.

The noun entretien is masculine singular.
So the adjective must also be masculine singular: important.

If the noun were feminine, for example une réunion, you would say:

Demain, elle a une réunion importante.
(réunion is feminine, so importante is feminine.)

Why is it elle sait que and not elle connaît que?

French distinguishes savoir and connaître:

savoir = to know a fact, to know that something is true, to know how to do something
connaître = to be familiar with someone or something (a person, a place, a thing)

You use savoir before que when you’re stating a fact:

Elle sait que les autres candidats sont forts.
She knows that the other candidates are strong/very good.

You do not say connaître que.
You can say, for example:

Elle connaît les autres candidats. – She knows the other candidates (personally / is familiar with them).

Why is it les autres candidats and not d’autres candidats?

Both exist, but they don’t mean the same thing.

les autres candidats = the other candidates (a specific, known group)
→ implies a defined set of candidates, and she is one of them.
d’autres candidats = other candidates / some other candidates (nonspecific, more vague)
→ implies “other candidates” in general, not a clearly defined group.

In the sentence, les autres candidats suggests something like “the rest of the candidates in this same selection process,” which is why les is used.

Why is it candidats and forts (masculine plural) if elle is a woman?

Agreement here is with candidats, not with elle.

candidats is masculine plural, so the adjective must be masculine plural: forts.

In French:

If the group is mixed (men + women), the masculine plural is used: candidats forts.
If the group is only women, you would use the feminine plural:
- les autres candidates sont fortes.

The subject of sont forts is les autres candidats, not elle, so her gender does not affect this agreement.

Does forts here mean physically strong or something else?

In this context, forts is figurative, not physical.

fort can mean:
- physically strong
- good at something / highly competent / very capable

Here, with candidats, it means:

The other candidates are strong competitors / very good / very capable.

So the nuance is about their skills or profile, not their muscles.

How is les autres candidats pronounced? Is there a liaison?

Yes, there is a liaison between les and autres:

les – normally: [lé]
autres – [otr]

Together, in normal speech:

les autres → [lezotr]

So you pronounce a /z/ sound linking them: lez autres.
Then:

candidats → the final -s is silent: roughly [kãdida].

Full chunk:

les autres candidats → [lez otr kãdida] (approximate phonetics).

Why is there a comma before et: …important, et elle sait…? Is that normal?

In French, a comma before et is more flexible than in English. Both are possible:

Demain, elle a un entretien important et elle sait que les autres candidats sont forts.
Demain, elle a un entretien important, et elle sait que les autres candidats sont forts.

The version without the comma is more standard and smooth.
The version with the comma can add a slight pause or emphasis between the two ideas, but it is not required. Many writers would omit it here.