Ces derniers mois, je fais beaucoup de télétravail.

Literally, « ces derniers mois » is:

• ces = these
• derniers = last
• mois = months

So literally: “these last months”.

Natural English translations would be:

• “in the last few months”
• “over the past few months”
• “in recent months”

English rarely says “these last months”, but French does say « ces derniers mois ».

« ces » is a demonstrative adjective (like “this/these” in English).

• « ces derniers mois » = these last months / these past few months
• « les derniers mois » = the last months (more neutral, less “pointing at” a specific period)

Here « ces » suggests a specific, clearly identified period of recent time, a bit like when you say “these past months” in English. It’s the most natural choice for talking about a period that feels close to now.

« des derniers mois » would be wrong here; « des » is not used before « derniers » in this time-expression.

Because « derniers » agrees in gender and number with « mois »:

• mois is masculine in French.
• It is also invariable in spelling:
  
  • singular: un mois
  • plural: des mois
    (The word looks the same, but the meaning changes.)

So the adjective must be:

• masculine plural → derniers

Other possibilities (for comparison, not correct here):

• dernière = feminine singular
• dernières = feminine plural

Since « mois » is masculine plural here, « ces derniers mois » is the correct form.

French often uses the present tense with a time expression to talk about an activity that started in the past and is still true now:

• « Ces derniers mois, je fais beaucoup de télétravail. »
  = Over the past few months (including now), I do a lot of remote work.

If you say:

• « Ces derniers mois, j’ai fait beaucoup de télétravail. »
  You place more focus on it as a completed fact; it can sound a bit more “closed off” in time.

• « Je faisais beaucoup de télétravail ces derniers mois. »
  Usually appears in a narrative context (imparfait), describing a past habit relative to another past point. It often implies that you are talking about the past from another past vantage point.

In everyday conversation about your current situation, present + time expression (as in the original sentence) is very natural.

With expressions of quantity like:

• beaucoup de (a lot of)
• peu de (little/few)
• assez de (enough)
• trop de (too much/many)

French uses just “de”, without an article:

• beaucoup de télétravail
• beaucoup de travail
• beaucoup de livres

So “du / de la / des” are not used after beaucoup.
That’s why « beaucoup du télétravail » or « beaucoup de la télétravail » are incorrect here.

In this context, « télétravail » is treated as a mass noun, like “work” in English:

• je fais beaucoup de télétravail
  = I do a lot of (remote) work.

You normally don’t say:

• ✗ un télétravail
• ✗ des télétravails

To be more specific, you would say things like:

• un jour de télétravail = one day of remote work
• deux jours de télétravail par semaine = two days of remote work per week
• un poste en télétravail = a position that’s remote

So: non-count in the sentence we’re analyzing.

Yes, there is a verb: télétravailler (to work remotely).

You can say:

• Je télétravaille beaucoup ces derniers mois.
• Ces derniers mois, je télétravaille beaucoup.

Differences in feel:

• « je fais (du / beaucoup de) télétravail »
  Emphasizes the amount of work in telework form; very common in professional contexts.

• « je télétravaille »
  Slightly more compact and colloquial; focuses on the mode of work (I am remote-working).

Both are correct and natural.

Yes. Both word orders are correct:

• Ces derniers mois, je fais beaucoup de télétravail.
• Je fais beaucoup de télétravail ces derniers mois.

Placing « ces derniers mois » at the beginning slightly emphasizes the time period; putting it at the end feels a bit more neutral. In everyday speech, both are common.

It’s normal and recommended in French to put a comma after an initial time expression:

• Ces derniers mois, je fais beaucoup de télétravail.

Without the comma, it is not wrong, but it’s less standard in writing. In careful written French, you almost always separate that initial phrase with a comma.

Key points:

• Ces derniers → there is usually a liaison:
  /se z dɛʁ.nje/
• mois → pronounced /mwa/; the final -s is silent.
• je fais → fais is pronounced /fɛ/ (same sound as “fait”).
• beaucoup → /bo.ku/; the p is silent.
• de → /də/ or more reduced /d/ in quick speech.
• télétravail → /te.le.tʁa.vaj/

So the whole sentence, in IPA, could be:

/se z dɛʁ.nje mwa ʒə fɛ bo.ku də te.le.tʁa.vaj/

Also note that « ces » sounds exactly like « ses » (his/her) and « c’est » (it is); you distinguish them only by context and spelling.

Both refer to a recent period of months, but with slightly different focuses:

• Ces derniers mois
  = these last few months / in recent months
  – Describes a block of time in the recent past, often including the present, but it doesn’t insist on the starting point.

• Depuis quelques mois
  = for a few months / since a few months ago
  – Emphasizes duration from a starting point until now.
  – It naturally goes with the present tense in French:

  • Depuis quelques mois, je fais beaucoup de télétravail.
    = I have been doing a lot of remote work for a few months.

In many contexts, you could use either, but:

• « Ces derniers mois »: more like English “in recent months”.
• « Depuis quelques mois »: more like “for the last few months” / “for several months now”, stressing ongoing duration.