Breakdown of Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se détendre le soir.
Questions & Answers about Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se détendre le soir.
In French, many verbs that describe things you do to yourself are reflexive, formed with se + verb.
- se détendre = to relax (oneself) / to unwind
- détendre quelque chose = to loosen / relax something (a direct object)
Examples:
- Je me détends le soir. = I relax in the evening.
- Cette musique détend les enfants. = This music calms/relaxes the children.
In your sentence, she is relaxing herself, so French uses the reflexive form: se détendre.
Pour se détendre literally means “in order to relax”.
After pour when you express purpose (why you do something), French uses the infinitive:
- pour + infinitive = to / in order to + verb
Examples:
- Je viens pour t’aider. = I’m coming to help you.
- Elle apprend le français pour voyager. = She’s learning French to travel.
So:
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se détendre le soir.
= She also installs a meditation app in order to relax in the evening.
Le soir on its own is the normal way to say “in the evening / at night (as a general habit)”.
- le matin = in the morning
- l’après-midi = in the afternoon
- le soir = in the evening
- la nuit = at night
No extra preposition is needed.
Nuances:
- le soir = in the evenings / at night (general time)
- ce soir = this evening (specific)
- dans la soirée = sometime during the evening (more about within that time span, often for one particular day)
In the sentence, she uses the app generally in the evenings, so le soir is the natural choice.
In French, every noun has a grammatical gender. Application is feminine, so it takes une:
- une application = a(n) application
- l’application = the application
You simply have to memorize the gender of nouns, but some patterns help:
- Many words ending in -tion are feminine:
la nation, la conversation, la situation, l’application.
Since application matches that pattern, it is feminine → une application.
Here de méditation is acting like a noun complement, describing the type of application:
- une application de méditation = a meditation app
In this structure, French normally uses just de + noun without an article when you mean “X of Y type”:
- une tasse de café = a cup of coffee
- un livre de grammaire = a grammar book
- un cours de yoga = a yoga class
Using de la méditation would sound like you’re specifying “an application of the meditation”, which is odd here. You just want the category/type, so de méditation is correct.
Yes. Une appli is the colloquial, shortened form of une application, very common in everyday speech:
- J’ai téléchargé une appli de méditation.
- Tu connais cette appli ?
Both are correct:
- une application de méditation → more neutral / a bit more formal
- une appli de méditation → casual, spoken French
Both verbs are used with apps, but they describe different actions:
- télécharger = to download (from the internet to your device)
- installer = to install / set up (make it ready to use on your device)
In practice, when people add a new app to their phone, they often say:
- J’ai téléchargé une application. = I downloaded an app.
- J’ai installé une application. = I installed an app.
Many speakers use télécharger loosely to cover both steps, but installer is more precise for the installation action.
Installe is the present tense, 3rd person singular of the regular -er verb installer.
Conjugation (present of installer):
- j’installe
- tu installes
- il / elle / on installe
- nous installons
- vous installez
- ils / elles installent
Tense and meaning:
- Elle installe… = She installs / She is installing… (present tense)
In French, the simple present covers both English “she installs” and “she is installing”, depending on context.
Yes, the position of aussi can slightly change the emphasis.
Your sentence:
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation…
→ Emphasis on the action: She also installs a meditation app (in addition to doing other things).
Other possible positions:
Elle aussi installe une application de méditation…
→ Emphasis on the person: She too installs a meditation app (someone else does it, and she does it as well).Elle installe une application de méditation aussi.
→ Possible, especially in speech, but a bit heavier at the end; often still understood as “She also installs…”.
The most natural and neutral in writing for “She also installs…” is the original:
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation…
Yes, you can say both, but there are nuances:
- se détendre → the most natural, standard verb for “to relax / unwind”.
- se relaxer → also used, often influenced by English “to relax”; more colloquial in some regions.
Both are correct in modern French:
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se détendre le soir.
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se relaxer le soir.
If you want the safest, most idiomatic choice, se détendre is slightly better.
In this sentence, le soir means “in the evenings / at night in general”, not just this evening.
- Elle installe aussi une application de méditation pour se détendre le soir.
→ She uses it as part of an evening routine, habitually.
For this evening specifically, you would say:
- ce soir = this evening, tonight
Example: Elle va installer une application de méditation ce soir. = She’s going to install a meditation app tonight.