Learn Hardcore French: J'éteins la lampe du salon avant de me coucher. - I turn off the lamp in the living room before going to bed.

Éteindre = to turn off / to switch off / to extinguish (a light, a lamp, a fire, etc.)
J’éteins = I turn off / I switch off / I extinguish

So J’éteins la lampe = I turn off the lamp.

How do you pronounce J’éteins and what’s going on with that -ins ending?

J’éteins is pronounced roughly like: [zhay-TEN] (in IPA: /ʒe.tɛ̃/).

The in in éteins is a nasal vowel: you don’t really pronounce a clear n at the end; your voice goes through your nose.
The final -s is silent.

So:

éteins (je) → /etɛ̃/
It sounds the same as éteint (past participle & masculine singular adjective form), even though the spelling is different.

Why do we write J’éteins and not Je éteins?

In French, when je is followed by a word starting with a vowel or silent h, it usually contracts to j’ with an apostrophe.

je + éteins → j’éteins
This is to make the sentence flow more smoothly and avoid a glottal stop between vowels.

Same pattern:

je aime → j’aime
je habite → j’habite

Why is it la lampe and not une lampe or just “the light” like in English?

French needs an article almost every time you mention a noun.

la lampe = the lamp (a specific lamp, probably a known one in the living room)
une lampe = a lamp (any lamp; not specific)

In English you often say “I turn off the light”, but in French you can say:

J’éteins la lumière. = I turn off the light.
J’éteins la lampe. = I turn off the lamp.

Both are natural. La lumière focuses on the light itself; la lampe focuses on the physical object giving the light. In everyday speech, J’éteins la lumière is more common, but J’éteins la lampe is perfectly correct.

What does du salon mean, and why is it du and not de le?

Du is the contraction of de + le.

de = of / from / belonging to
le salon = the living room

So:

de + le salon → du salon

La lampe du salon literally means “the lamp of the living room”, i.e. the living-room lamp or the lamp in the living room.

You never say de le salon; you must contract it to du salon.

Could we say de la salon instead of du salon?

No. Salon is masculine in French:

le salon (not la salon)

Because it’s masculine singular, de + le must contract to du:

✅ du salon
❌ de la salon

You’d only use de la with a feminine noun:

de la cuisine, de la chambre, etc.

What’s the difference between avant de me coucher and avant que je me couche?

Both involve “before I go to bed,” but the grammar is different:

avant de + infinitive
- avant de me coucher = before going to bed / before I go to bed
- Structure: avant de + infinitive (coucher), with the reflexive pronoun (me) in front of the infinitive.
- Very common and quite neutral/natural here.
avant que + subject + verb (subjunctive)
- avant que je me couche uses the subjunctive (que je me couche).
- It’s grammatically correct but heavier and more often used:
  - when there are two different subjects (e.g. Avant que tu te couches…),
  - or in more formal/literary style.

In a simple sentence about your own habit, avant de me coucher is the normal choice.

Why do we say me coucher and not just coucher? What does the reflexive me do?

Coucher on its own means to lay something/someone down:

Je couche le bébé. = I put the baby to bed.

When you talk about going to bed yourself, French uses the reflexive form se coucher = to go to bed.

Je me couche. = I go to bed.
Avant de me coucher. = Before going to bed / before I go to bed.

The me shows that I am doing the action to myself (I lay myself down → I go to bed). It’s the same pattern as:

se laver → to wash oneself: Je me lave. = I wash (myself).

Why is it avant de me coucher and not avant de coucher me?

With an infinitive and a reflexive verb, the reflexive pronoun always goes before the infinitive, not after.

Correct order:

avant de + me + coucher

So:

✅ avant de me coucher
❌ avant de coucher me

More examples:

avant de se lever → before getting up
pour me reposer → in order to rest

Does the present tense J’éteins mean “I am turning off” or “I turn off”?

The French present tense covers both:

I turn off (habitual, general)
I am turning off (right now)

So J’éteins la lampe du salon avant de me coucher can mean:

I turn off the living-room lamp before I go to bed (habit, routine)
In the right context, it could also be I’m turning off the living-room lamp before going to bed (now).

French does not need a separate “-ing” form here.

Could we replace la lampe du salon with a pronoun, like “I turn it off before going to bed”?

Yes. If the context already makes it clear which lamp, you can use a direct object pronoun (la for a feminine singular noun like la lampe).

Je l’éteins avant de me coucher. = I turn it off before going to bed.

Note:

la becomes l’ before a vowel sound (j’éteins starts with a vowel sound), so you get Je l’éteins, not Je la éteins.

Is there any difference between saying J’éteins la lampe du salon and J’éteins la lumière du salon?

Both are correct, but there’s a slight nuance:

J’éteins la lampe du salon.
- Focuses on the object: the lamp in the living room.
J’éteins la lumière du salon.
- Focuses on the light itself: the living room’s light.

In everyday conversation, people often say la lumière, but referring to la lampe is also perfectly natural, especially if you have several lamps and want to be specific.

Is there any liaison to make when saying this sentence out loud?

Yes, there are some natural liaisons:

J’éteins‿la lampe → the s of éteins links to the l of la (sounds like “J’étein-z la lampe”).
avant‿de me coucher → the t of avant links slightly to de (pronounced like “avan-t de me coucher”).

Liaison helps the sentence sound smoother and more natural in spoken French.

Can I also say Je vais me coucher instead of just me coucher in this structure?

You can’t put Je vais me coucher directly after avant de, because avant de must be followed by an infinitive, and vais is not an infinitive.

✅ Avant de me coucher, j’éteins la lampe du salon.
Before going to bed, I turn off the living-room lamp.
✅ J’éteins la lampe du salon avant d’aller me coucher.
I turn off the living-room lamp before going to bed.
✅ J’éteins la lampe du salon, puis je vais me coucher.
I turn off the living-room lamp, then I go to bed.
❌ J’éteins la lampe du salon avant de je vais me coucher.

So: after avant de, use an infinitive: me coucher, aller me coucher, etc.