Learn Hardcore French: Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant que la musique commence. - We always close the windows before the music starts.

Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres... = We always close the windows... (normal statement, needs the subject nous)
Fermons toujours les fenêtres... (without nous) would be understood as an imperative: Let’s always close the windows... (a suggestion or instruction).

French normally requires the subject pronoun (je, tu, il, nous, etc.) in statements; you can’t omit it the way you often can in Spanish or Italian.

Why is toujours placed between fermons and les fenêtres? Could it go somewhere else?

In French, many adverbs like toujours (always) are placed right after the conjugated verb:

Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres...

Other positions are possible but less neutral:

Nous toujours fermons les fenêtres... – incorrect in standard French.
Nous fermons les fenêtres toujours... – possible in speech for emphasis but sounds odd as a default.
Toujours, nous fermons les fenêtres avant que la musique commence. – emphatic, more literary: Always, we close the windows before the music starts.

So the natural, everyday position is:
subject + conjugated verb + adverb + rest of the sentence → Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres...

Why is it les fenêtres and not des fenêtres or nos fenêtres?

Les fenêtres uses the definite article (les) because we’re talking about specific, known windows – typically “the” windows of the room or place everyone already has in mind.

Les fenêtres = the windows (those specific ones, already identified by context)
Des fenêtres = some windows (non-specific)
Nos fenêtres = our windows

In this kind of habitual sentence about a familiar setting (“We always close the windows…”), French naturally uses les to refer to the specific, known windows of that place.

Why does fenêtres end in -es?

Because fenêtre is:

Feminine (la fenêtre)
And here it is plural (more than one window)

French plural of regular nouns:

Add -s to the singular form.
Feminine singular often ends in -e. So fenêtre → fenêtres (you add an -s to the existing -e).

You write fenêtres, but the final -s is silent in pronunciation.

Why is it la musique and not something like de la musique?

Here la musique refers to “the music” as an event (a specific piece or performance that’s going to start), not to music in a general or uncountable sense.

Compare:

Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant que la musique commence.
→ We always close the windows before the music starts (this particular music event).
J’aime écouter de la musique.
→ I like listening to music (music in general, not a specific event).

So la musique = the music (a known, specific instance), which is what fits this context.

Why do we say avant que la musique commence and not just avant la musique commence?

In French, you cannot say avant la musique commence.
When you introduce a full clause (with its own subject and verb), you need avant que:

Avant que + subject + verb
- avant que la musique commence
- avant que tu arrives
- avant qu’il parte

Avant by itself can come before:

A noun: avant le concert, avant le repas
An infinitive with avant de: avant de manger, avant de partir

But with a subject + conjugated verb, you must use avant que.

What’s the difference between avant que and avant de?

Use them in different structures:

Avant que + subject + conjugated verb
- Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant que la musique commence.
  (We close the windows before the music starts.)
Avant de + infinitive
Use this when the subject is the same in both parts:
- Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant de commencer la musique.
  (We always close the windows before starting the music. – same “we” for both actions)

So:

Different subject → avant que + clause
Same subject → often avant de + infinitive

Shouldn’t avant que take the subjunctive? Where is the subjunctive here?

Yes, avant que normally requires the subjunctive.

The verb commencer in the present subjunctive, 3rd person singular is commence.
The present indicative, 3rd person singular is also commence.

So in this sentence:

la musique commence

the form is the same whether you think of it as indicative or subjunctive.
Grammatically, after avant que, it’s understood as subjunctive, even though you can’t see the difference in spelling here.

If it were nous instead of la musique, you’d see the difference:

Indicative: nous commençons
Subjunctive: que nous commencions

Why is it commence and not commencera or va commencer (future forms)?

After avant que, French uses the subjunctive, which usually looks like a present form, even if the action is in the future.

So:

Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant que la musique commence.
Literally uses a present-looking form but means:
We always close the windows before the music starts / will start.

You would not normally say:

✗ avant que la musique commencera
✗ avant que la musique va commencer

Those sound wrong after avant que. The correct pattern is simply:

avant que + subjunctive form (here: commence)

I’ve seen avant que la musique ne commence. Why is there no ne here? Is it wrong without it?

You may sometimes see:

avant que la musique ne commence

That ne is called a “ne explétif” (expletive ne). It does not make the sentence negative; it’s a stylistic/old-fashioned extra ne that can appear after certain conjunctions like avant que, de peur que, à moins que, etc.

Modern everyday French:

Often omits this extra ne.
So avant que la musique commence is completely correct and very natural.

Both are grammatically acceptable:

avant que la musique commence – modern, neutral
avant que la musique ne commence – more formal/literary

Can I change the order and say Avant que la musique commence, nous fermons toujours les fenêtres?

Yes.

Both word orders are correct:

Nous fermons toujours les fenêtres avant que la musique commence.
Avant que la musique commence, nous fermons toujours les fenêtres.

Putting avant que la musique commence at the beginning adds a bit of emphasis on the time condition (“Before the music starts...”), but the meaning is the same.