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Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?
Which of these tools do you keep in the kitchen drawer?

Breakdown of Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

tu
you
dans
in
de
of
ces
these
garder
to keep
la cuisine
the kitchen
le tiroir
the drawer
l'outil
the tool
lesquels
which
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Questions & Answers about Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

What does lesquels mean here?

Lesquels means which ones.

It is a pronoun, so it stands in for a noun that is already understood. Here, it stands for outils.

So:

  • Lesquels de ces outils… ? = Which of these tools… ?
  • Literally: Which ones among these tools… ?

Because outils is masculine plural, the form is lesquels.

Why is it lesquels and not quels?

Because lesquels replaces the noun, while quels goes directly before a noun.

Compare:

  • Quels outils gardes-tu… ? = Which tools do you keep… ?
  • Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu… ? = Which of these tools do you keep… ?

So:

  • quels
    • noun
  • lesquels = pronoun, no noun directly after it

You would not say lesquels outils.

Why is lesquels masculine plural?

It agrees with the noun it refers to: outils.

Outil is masculine, and outils is plural, so the matching form is lesquels.

The full set is:

  • lequel = which one? (masculine singular)
  • laquelle = which one? (feminine singular)
  • lesquels = which ones? (masculine plural)
  • lesquelles = which ones? (feminine plural)

Even though English just says which one / which ones, French shows gender and number.

Why do we say lesquels de ces outils?

This pattern means which ones among these tools or which of these tools.

The de is used when you are choosing from a known group.

So:

  • lesquels de ces outils = which of these tools
  • lesquels by itself = which ones

This is a very common structure in French.

What does ces mean?

Ces means these or those, depending on context.

It is the plural form of the French demonstrative adjective:

  • ce / cet = this, that
  • cette = this, that
  • ces = these, those

In this sentence, ces outils means these tools.

French does not always sharply separate this/these from that/those the way English does; context usually makes it clear.

Why is it gardes-tu instead of tu gardes?

Because this sentence uses inversion, a common way to form a direct question in standard French.

Statement:

  • Tu gardes lesquels de ces outils dans le tiroir de la cuisine.

Question with inversion:

  • Lesquels de ces outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

In inversion, the verb and subject pronoun switch places and are joined by a hyphen:

  • gardes-tu

This structure is common in:

  • written French
  • careful or formal spoken French

In everyday speech, people often prefer:

  • Tu gardes lesquels de ces outils dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?
  • Lesquels de ces outils est-ce que tu gardes dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?
What tense is gardes-tu?

It is the present tense of garder.

Here it usually means something like:

  • Which of these tools do you keep in the kitchen drawer?

The French present can cover meanings that English expresses with the simple present, and sometimes also with other present-time phrasing depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural English translation is the simple present: do you keep.

What does garder mean here?

Here garder means to keep or to store.

Depending on context, garder can also mean things like:

  • to keep
  • to hold onto
  • to watch over
  • to look after

But in this sentence, with dans le tiroir, it means to keep/store in a drawer.

Why is it dans le tiroir?

Dans means in or inside.

So:

  • dans le tiroir = in the drawer

That is the natural preposition because the tools are located inside the drawer.

What does de la cuisine mean in le tiroir de la cuisine?

Literally, it is the drawer of the kitchen, but in natural English we usually say the kitchen drawer or the drawer in the kitchen.

French often uses de where English uses a noun as an adjective.

So:

  • le tiroir de la cuisine = the kitchen drawer / the drawer in the kitchen

It does not necessarily mean strict ownership. It usually means association or location.

Is this sentence natural in everyday French?

Yes, but it sounds a bit more standard or formal because of the inversion gardes-tu and the use of lesquels.

A more conversational version would often be:

  • Tu gardes lesquels de ces outils dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

Or:

  • Lesquels de ces outils est-ce que tu gardes dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

All three are correct, but they differ in style:

  • gardes-tu = more formal/standard
  • est-ce que tu gardes = neutral and common
  • tu gardes… ? = very common in speech
How is gardes-tu pronounced?

The final -s of gardes is normally silent.

So gardes-tu is pronounced roughly like gard tu.

Important points:

  • gardes sounds like garde
  • the s is written because it belongs to the tu form of the verb
  • the hyphen is grammatical, not a sign that you pronounce the s

So the spelling changes for grammar, but the pronunciation stays simple.

Could the sentence also be written with Quels outils...?

Yes.

You could say:

  • Quels outils gardes-tu dans le tiroir de la cuisine ?

That means Which tools do you keep in the kitchen drawer?

The version with lesquels de ces outils is a little more specific because it clearly refers to a known set: these tools.

So the difference is:

  • Quels outils... ? = which tools?
  • Lesquels de ces outils... ? = which of these tools?