Je nettoie le grille-pain après le petit-déjeuner.

I clean the toaster after breakfast.

Breakdown of Je nettoie le grille-pain après le petit-déjeuner.

• je: I
• le petit-déjeuner: the breakfast
• après: after
• nettoyer: to clean

Questions & Answers about Je nettoie le grille-pain après le petit-déjeuner.

Why is it je nettoie and not je nettoyer or je nettois?

Because nettoie is the conjugated form of the verb nettoyer in the present tense.

The infinitive is nettoyer = to clean.

In the present tense:

• je nettoie = I clean / I am cleaning
• tu nettoies
• il/elle nettoie
• nous nettoyons
• vous nettoyez
• ils/elles nettoient

So je nettoyer would be like saying I to clean, which does not work.

Also, this verb has a spelling change:

• before a silent ending, y often becomes i
• so nettoyer → je nettoie

Why is there le before grille-pain?

In French, nouns usually need an article, such as le, la, les, un, or une.

So French says:

• je nettoie le grille-pain

where English often says:

• I clean the toaster

Here, le means the.

French uses articles more often than English, even in cases where English might sometimes leave them out.