Je ferme le logiciel avant d’éteindre l’ordinateur.

Because ferme is the main verb of the sentence, so it is conjugated to match je: je ferme.

After avant de, French normally uses the infinitive when the subject is the same as the subject of the main verb. Here, the person who closes the software and the person who turns off the computer are both je, so French says:

• Je ferme... avant d’éteindre...

not

• Je ferme... avant j’éteins...

So the structure is:

• avant de + infinitive
• before + verb in English, often translated naturally as before turning off or before I turn off

Avant de means before when it is followed by a verb in the infinitive.

So:

• avant de partir = before leaving
• avant de manger = before eating
• avant d’éteindre l’ordinateur = before turning off the computer

It is a very common structure in French.

Because French avoids two vowel sounds in a row here. De becomes d’ before a word starting with a vowel or silent h.

So:

• de + éteindre → d’éteindre
• de + ouvrir → d’ouvrir
• de + arriver → d’arriver

This is called elision.

For the same reason: le becomes l’ before a vowel sound.

So:

• le + ordinateur → l’ordinateur
• le + ami would not happen, because ami is masculine and becomes l’ami
• la + école → l’école

Again, this is elision.

French uses articles much more often than English does. In English, you might say I close software in some contexts, but in French you normally need an article with a countable noun like logiciel or ordinateur.

So French says:

• le logiciel
• l’ordinateur

In this sentence, the definite article suggests a specific software program and a specific computer, or simply the familiar/default one in context.

They are not interchangeable.

• fermer = to close

  • fermer le logiciel = to close the software/program
  • fermer la porte = to close the door

• éteindre = to turn off / switch off

  • éteindre l’ordinateur = to turn off the computer
  • éteindre la lumière = to turn off the light

So in this sentence, French uses one verb for closing the program and another for shutting down the machine.

It can mean either, depending on context.

French present tense often covers both:

• I close
• I am closing

So Je ferme le logiciel could mean:

• a habitual action: I close the software
• an action happening now: I’m closing the software

Context tells you which is meant.

Yes, but it is a different structure.

If the subject is the same, French usually prefers avant de + infinitive:

• Je ferme le logiciel avant d’éteindre l’ordinateur.

If you use avant que, you need a full clause with a subject and a verb, and that verb normally goes in the subjunctive:

• Je ferme le logiciel avant que j’éteigne l’ordinateur.

That version is grammatical, but it sounds heavier and is less natural here because the subject is the same in both actions. So avant de + infinitive is the normal choice.

Yes. Logiciel is the standard French word for software.

Depending on context, English speakers might think of software, program, or application. In French:

• logiciel = software / program
• application or appli = app

So fermer le logiciel is perfectly natural for close the software/program.

A rough pronunciation is:

• éteindre ≈ ay-TAN-dr

More precisely in IPA, it is /etɛ̃dʁ/.

A few helpful points:

• the first é sounds like ay in say but shorter
• ein gives a nasal vowel, so there is no clear n sound
• the final re is not pronounced like English ree; the r is French

You do not pronounce every written letter the way an English speaker might expect.

A rough guide is:

Je ferme le logiciel avant d’éteindre l’ordinateur
≈ zhuh ferm luh lo-zhee-syel ah-vahn day-tan-dr lor-dee-na-tur

A few notes:

• Je sounds like zhuh
• ferme ends with a soft consonant sound
• logiciel is roughly lo-zhee-syel
• avant has a nasal an
• d’éteindre links smoothly after avant
• l’ordinateur is roughly lor-dee-na-tur

If you want to sound natural, focus especially on the smooth linking and the nasal vowels in avant and éteindre.