In this kind of sentence, secrétariat usually refers to an administrative office, school office, department office, or secretarial department, not necessarily a political secretariat in the English sense.
So du secrétariat often means something like:
The exact English translation depends on context.
Vérifier is the infinitive, meaning to check or to verify.
In the sentence, the verb is conjugated to match the subject l'employé, which is third person singular: he/she checks.
Present tense of vérifier:
So l'employé du secrétariat vérifie... means the employee checks...
Because dossier is a masculine noun.
In French, possessive adjectives agree with the gender and number of the thing possessed, not with the owner.
So:
Even if the speaker is female, it is still mon dossier, because dossier is masculine.
Yes, employé is the masculine form. The feminine form is employée.
Because this sentence has l', you cannot tell from the article alone whether it is masculine or feminine, since both become l' before a vowel:
In writing, the final -e in employée shows the feminine form.
Because this is a normal straightforward French statement, and French word order is often similar to English in basic sentences:
So the structure is:
The employee + checks + my file
This is one reason the sentence feels relatively familiar to English speakers.
Not exactly, but it is closely related.
du secrétariat literally means of/from the office/administrative department, and it identifies which employee we mean.
Depending on context, English might translate it in several ways:
So the French phrase is not always translated word-for-word.
The accent in vérifie is an accent aigu: é.
It shows that the vowel is pronounced like ay in a short, clear way, not like a silent e.
So:
both keep that é sound at the start.
A rough pronunciation of vérifie for an English speaker is:
The accent is part of the spelling and should not be omitted in correct French writing.
A rough guide for an English speaker is:
L'employé du secrétariat vérifie mon dossier
lahm-plwah-yay duh suh-cray-tah-ree-ah veh-ree-fee mohn doh-see-ay
A few helpful notes:
If you want to sound more natural, it is best to hear the sentence spoken by a native speaker and repeat it as a chunk.
Sometimes yes, but the nuance can change.
For an administrative file, vérifie is very natural if someone is checking that the information is correct or complete.
So vérifie mon dossier suggests reviewing or verifying the file, while contrôle mon dossier can sound a bit more formal or more like inspection.