Ma sœur nettoie la cafetière, puis elle range la bouilloire sur l’étagère.

Because sœur is a feminine singular noun, and French possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the speaker.

• ma = my + feminine singular noun
• mon = my + masculine singular noun

So:

• ma sœur = my sister
• mon frère = my brother

One useful extra point: before a vowel sound, French often uses mon even with a feminine noun for smoother pronunciation, as in mon amie.

Nettoie is the 3rd person singular present tense form of nettoyer.

So:

• je nettoie = I clean / I am cleaning
• tu nettoies = you clean / are cleaning
• elle nettoie = she cleans / is cleaning

This verb has a spelling change in some present-tense forms: the y changes to i before a silent ending:

• nettoyer
• je nettoie
• tu nettoies
• elle nettoie

It can mean either one, depending on context.

French uses the simple present much more broadly than English does. So elle nettoie can mean:

• she cleans
• she is cleaning

If French wants to make the ongoing action very explicit, it can use être en train de, for example elle est en train de nettoyer, but that is not necessary here.

French usually needs an article before a countable noun, where English sometimes feels more flexible.

Here:

• la cafetière = the coffee maker / coffee pot
• la bouilloire = the kettle

Both nouns are feminine singular, so they take la.

In this sentence, the article shows that these are specific objects, not just any coffee maker or kettle.

Puis means then or and then. It shows that one action happens after another.

So the sequence is:

1. she cleans the coffee maker
2. then she puts away the kettle

Compared with et:

• et just means and
• puis clearly adds the idea of next / afterward

A close alternative would be ensuite.

Because puis elle range... starts a new clause with its own conjugated verb.

In normal French, a conjugated verb usually needs an explicit subject:

• Ma sœur nettoie la cafetière
• puis elle range la bouilloire...

English can sometimes avoid repeating the subject more easily, but French generally does not here. Leaving out elle would sound unnatural in standard everyday French.

Here range comes from the verb ranger, which means:

• to put away
• to tidy
• to place in its proper spot

So elle range la bouilloire sur l’étagère means she is putting the kettle away or placing it on the shelf.

It is not the same as the common English noun or verb range.

Because sur means on or onto, and that matches the idea of placing something on the shelf.

So:

• sur l’étagère = on the shelf

Using à would not express that same physical position here. À often means at or to, but not usually on top of.

Because French uses elision before a vowel or silent h.

So:

• la étagère becomes l’étagère

This happens with both le and la:

• le ami → l’ami
• la étagère → l’étagère

It makes pronunciation smoother.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• sœur ≈ something like sir or fur, but with rounded lips
• nettoie ≈ neh-TWA
• bouilloire ≈ boo-YWAR
• étagère ≈ ay-ta-ZHAIR

A few pronunciation notes:

• sœur has a sound English does not match perfectly
• bouill- often sounds like by or byy / y
• the final -e in nettoie is not pronounced
• r in French is different from English r

Because grammatical gender in French is a property of the noun itself. These nouns are simply learned as feminine nouns:

• la cafetière
• la bouilloire
• l’étagère

That grammatical gender affects the articles and other words that go with them, such as:

• la
• une
• ma

It does not mean the objects themselves are biologically female. It is just part of French grammar.