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Je prends aussi des vis et un tournevis pour réparer l’étagère du salon.

Je prends aussi des vis et un tournevis pour réparer l’étagère du salon.
I am also taking screws and a screwdriver to fix the shelf in the living room.
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Questions & Answers about Je prends aussi des vis et un tournevis pour réparer l’étagère du salon.

Why is it je prends and not je prendre?

Because je prends is the conjugated form of the verb prendre in the present tense.

  • prendre = the infinitive, meaning to take
  • je prends = I take / I am taking

French needs a conjugated verb in a normal sentence, just like English needs I take, not I to take.

A useful point: the French present tense often covers both:

  • I take
  • I’m taking

So Je prends aussi... can naturally mean I also take... or I’m also taking..., depending on context.

Why is aussi after the verb?

In French, short adverbs like aussi often come after the conjugated verb in a simple tense.

So:

  • Je prends aussi... = I also take...

This word order is very normal in French.

Compare:

  • Je mange souvent ici. = I often eat here.
  • Il parle bien français. = He speaks French well.

English and French do not always place adverbs in the same spot, so this is something learners often need to get used to.

Why do we use des vis but un tournevis?

Because the sentence is talking about:

  • more than one screw → des vis
  • one screwdriver → un tournevis

Here:

  • un = a for a singular masculine noun
  • des = some / plural indefinite article

So:

  • une vis = a screw
  • des vis = some screws
  • un tournevis = a screwdriver

Also, tournevis is masculine, so it takes un.

Is vis singular or plural here? It looks the same either way.

Here, vis is plural because of the article des.

The tricky part is that vis is spelled the same in the singular and the plural:

  • une vis = a screw
  • des vis = screws

So the article tells you whether it is singular or plural. The pronunciation is also the same in both forms.

Why is réparer in the infinitive after pour?

Because pour is being used to express purpose: in order to do something.

When the subject is the same, French normally uses:

  • pour + infinitive

So:

  • Je prends ... pour réparer l’étagère
    = I’m taking ... to repair the shelf

This is very common in French:

  • Je viens pour aider. = I’m coming to help.
  • Elle appelle pour demander un renseignement. = She’s calling to ask for information.
Why do we say l’étagère instead of la étagère?

Because étagère begins with a vowel sound, and French usually shortens le or la to l’ before a vowel or silent h. This is called elision.

So:

  • la étagère ❌
  • l’étagère ✅

Also, étagère is a feminine noun, so its full article would be la:

  • la table
  • la chaise
  • la étagère → becomes l’étagère
What does du salon mean exactly, and why not de le salon?

Du is the contraction of de + le.

So:

  • de le ❌
  • du ✅

Because salon is a masculine singular noun:

  • le salon = the living room

So:

  • l’étagère du salon literally means the shelf of the living room
  • in natural English, that is usually the living room shelf or the shelf in the living room

French often uses de + noun where English uses a noun before another noun.

Why does French say l’étagère du salon instead of stacking nouns like English does?

Because French usually does not combine nouns the way English does.

English often says:

  • the living room shelf
  • the kitchen table
  • the office chair

French usually prefers:

  • l’étagère du salon
  • la table de la cuisine
  • la chaise du bureau

So instead of putting one noun directly before another, French commonly uses de, du, de la, or des.

Is tournevis literally related to tourner and vis?

Yes. Tournevis is a compound word built from the idea of:

  • tourner = to turn
  • vis = screw

So a tournevis is literally something like a screw-turner, which matches the English word screwdriver in function.

This can help you remember the word:

  • vis = screw
  • tournevis = screwdriver
How is prends pronounced? The ending looks strange.

Prends is pronounced roughly like pran with a nasal vowel: /pʁɑ̃/.

Important points:

  • the final d and s are silent
  • the en makes a nasal sound
  • the pr at the start is pronounced together

So although it is spelled prends, it is much shorter in pronunciation than an English speaker might expect.

How is the whole sentence pronounced?

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

Je prends aussi des vis et un tournevis pour réparer l’étagère du salon.

Approximate IPA: /ʒə pʁɑ̃ osi de vis e œ̃ tuʁnəvis puʁ ʁepaʁe letaʒɛʁ dy salɔ̃/

A rough English-friendly guide: zhuh pran oh-see day veess ay uh(n) toor-nuh-veess poor ray-pah-ray lay-tah-zhair dew sah-lo(n)

A few helpful notes:

  • je often sounds very light
  • prends has a nasal vowel
  • vis and the end of tournevis both pronounce the s
  • l’étagère has an è sound like eh
  • salon ends with a nasal vowel, so the final n is not fully pronounced like English n
Can prendre here sound more like take, get, or bring in English?

Yes. Even though prendre literally means to take, the most natural English translation can change with context.

In a sentence like this, Je prends aussi des vis et un tournevis... could sound natural in English as:

  • I’m also taking some screws and a screwdriver...
  • I’m also getting some screws and a screwdriver...
  • sometimes even I’m bringing..., depending on the situation

So the French verb stays prendre, but the best English wording depends on what is happening around the sentence.