Learn Hardcore French: Parfois, la connexion n’est pas bonne et le Wi-Fi coupe pendant quelques minutes. - Sometimes the connection is not good and the Wi‑Fi cuts out for a few minutes.

Gender: la (feminine), not le (masculine)
In French, every noun has a gender, and connexion is grammatically feminine, so it takes la:
- la connexion = the connection
- une connexion = a connection
There is no logical rule here; you just have to memorize that connexion is feminine.
Spelling: connexion vs connection
- In standard French, the correct spelling is connexion with an x.
- You may sometimes see connection under English influence, especially online, but this is considered incorrect in careful written French.

So the correct, natural form is la connexion.

Why do we say la connexion n’est pas bonne and not la connexion n’est pas bien?

In French, you normally use:

bon / bonne (adjective) to describe the quality of a noun.
bien (adverb) to describe how something is done or give a general evaluation.

Here we talk about the quality of the connection, so we need an adjective that agrees with connexion:

la connexion est bonne = the connection is good (good quality)
la connexion n’est pas bonne = the connection is not good

La connexion n’est pas bien sounds wrong to a native speaker.
Bien is used more like:

C’est bien. = That’s good.
Il travaille bien. = He works well.

So here, because we’re qualifying la connexion, we must use bonne, not bien.

What exactly does Parfois mean, and could we use Quelquefois instead?

Parfois means sometimes. It expresses that something happens occasionally, not all the time.

You can also say quelquefois, which has the same basic meaning: sometimes.

Parfois, la connexion n’est pas bonne.
Quelquefois, la connexion n’est pas bonne.

Both are correct. Differences in practice:

Parfois is more common in everyday modern French.
Quelquefois is slightly more formal or old‑fashioned, but still perfectly correct.

So yes, you could say Quelquefois, la connexion n’est pas bonne, but Parfois is the more usual choice.

Does Parfois have to go at the beginning of the sentence? Could I say La connexion n’est pas bonne parfois?

You have some flexibility. All these are grammatically possible:

Parfois, la connexion n’est pas bonne.
La connexion n’est pas bonne parfois.
La connexion n’est parfois pas bonne.

Nuances:

Parfois, la connexion n’est pas bonne.
- Very natural and common.
- “Sometimes, the connection isn’t good.”
La connexion n’est pas bonne parfois.
- Understandable, but sounds a bit heavier / less elegant.
- Often used more in speech than in careful writing.
La connexion n’est parfois pas bonne.
- Slightly more formal/literary word order.
- Emphasizes “not always good”: “The connection is sometimes not good.”

The original version with Parfois at the beginning is the most neutral and natural.

Why is it n’est and not ne est? When do we use n’ instead of ne?

In French, the basic negative structure is ne … pas:

La connexion est bonne. → La connexion n’est pas bonne.

But ne becomes n’ (with an apostrophe) before a vowel or a silent “h” to make pronunciation smoother:

ne est → n’est
ne a → n’a
ne habite pas → n’habite pas

So:
La connexion n’est pas bonne = La connexion ne est pas bonne (but contracted to sound natural).

In everyday spoken French, people often drop the ne / n’:

Written / careful: La connexion n’est pas bonne.
Spoken / casual: La connexion est pas bonne.

But in writing and for learners, you should keep the full n’est … pas form.

What does le Wi-Fi coupe mean literally, and why use the verb couper here?

Literally:

couper = to cut
le Wi-Fi coupe = “the Wi-Fi cuts”

In this context, couper has a specific intransitive meaning: to cut out / to drop / to go off.

So le Wi-Fi coupe means:

“the Wi‑Fi cuts out”
“the Wi‑Fi drops”
“the Wi‑Fi disconnects”

You might also hear:

Le Wi‑Fi se coupe.
(Reflexive form, very similar meaning: the Wi‑Fi cuts out.)

But le Wi‑Fi coupe on its own is natural and common in speech for “the Wi‑Fi keeps cutting out.”

Why is the verb coupe and not coupeS or something else?

Coupe is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of couper.

Conjugation of couper (present tense):

je coupe
tu coupes
il / elle / on coupe
nous coupons
vous coupez
ils / elles coupent

The subject here is le Wi‑Fi → 3rd person singular → il, so we use:

il coupe → le Wi‑Fi coupe

Even though you write different endings, in speech je coupe / tu coupes / il coupe all sound the same: [koop].

What does pendant add in pendant quelques minutes? Could I just say quelques minutes?

Pendant introduces a duration: for a certain amount of time.

pendant quelques minutes = for a few minutes

You can drop pendant in casual speech:

Le Wi‑Fi coupe quelques minutes.

…but this sounds more like “the Wi‑Fi cuts for a few minutes (as an event)” and is much less natural.
The clean, idiomatic version for duration is:

Le Wi‑Fi coupe pendant quelques minutes.
→ The Wi‑Fi cuts out for a few minutes.

So in standard French, you should keep pendant when you talk about how long something lasts, especially in writing.

What exactly does quelques mean in quelques minutes, and why is there no s on quelques?

Quelques means a few / some.

Structure:

quelques + plural noun

Examples:

quelques minutes = a few minutes
quelques problèmes = a few problems
quelques amis = a few friends

Important points:

quelques already ends in -s, but it is invariable (it doesn’t change between masculine/feminine or singular/plural; it’s always quelques in this use).
The noun that follows is plural:
- minutes (with -s), problèmes, amis, etc.

So:

✅ quelques minutes
❌ quelque minutes
❌ quelques minute

Why is the tense present (coupe) if this is something that happens from time to time, not right now?

In French, the present tense is used both for:

Things happening right now:
- Le Wi‑Fi coupe maintenant. = The Wi‑Fi is cutting out now.
Things that happen regularly / sometimes / in general:
- Parfois, le Wi‑Fi coupe. = Sometimes the Wi‑Fi cuts out.
- Je prends le bus tous les jours. = I take the bus every day.

This is like the English present simple (“Sometimes the Wi‑Fi cuts out”).
So even though it describes a repeated or occasional event, French still uses the present.

Could we say la connexion coupe instead of le Wi‑Fi coupe?

You can say both, but the nuance is slightly different:

Le Wi‑Fi coupe.
→ The Wi‑Fi signal itself is cutting out.
La connexion coupe.
→ The connection (to the internet, network, etc.) is cutting out.

In practice, both are understood as “the internet drops.” Many speakers might even say:

La connexion coupe pendant quelques minutes.
La connexion se coupe pendant quelques minutes.

The original sentence separates:

la connexion n’est pas bonne (the quality is bad)
le Wi‑Fi coupe (the Wi‑Fi drops)

to describe two related but slightly different problems.

Are there any important pronunciation points in this sentence?

Yes, a few useful ones:

Parfois
- Final -s is silent here: [par-fwa]
- No liaison with la (because la starts with a consonant).
la connexion
- x is pronounced like [ks]: [la ko-nek-syɔ̃]
- Final -on is a nasal sound [ɔ̃], not “on” like in English.
n’est pas bonne
- n’est is [nɛ].
- pas is [pa]; the s is silent.
- bonne ends with a pronounced [n]: [bɔn] (unlike bon [bɔ̃]).
Wi‑Fi
- In French, usually pronounced [wi-fi], similar to English.
coupe
- Final -e is silent: [kup].
pendant
- Final -t is silent: [pɑ̃-dɑ̃] (both an/en → nasal [ɑ̃]).
quelques
- Pronounced [kɛlk]; the -es at the end is not pronounced.
minutes
- Usually [mi-nyt] in France (final -tes → [t]).

Putting it together smoothly is good practice for French rhythm and nasal vowels.