Le conducteur regarde si le pare-brise est propre.

Here, regarde si means looks/checks to see whether.

So:

• regarde = looks / checks
• si = whether/if

Together, Le conducteur regarde si le pare-brise est propre means something like The driver checks whether the windshield is clean.

In French, regarder si... is a very common way to say check whether... or see if....

Yes. In this sentence, si means if/whether and introduces an indirect yes/no question.

The idea is:

• Is the windshield clean?
• The driver checks whether/if it is clean.

So si is correct because the clause is basically a yes/no question turned into part of a larger sentence.

Compare:

• Le conducteur regarde si le pare-brise est propre. = The driver checks whether the windshield is clean.
• Le conducteur sait que le pare-brise est propre. = The driver knows that the windshield is clean.

Use si for whether/if, and que for that.

French uses articles much more regularly than English.

So:

• le conducteur = the driver
• le pare-brise = the windshield

Even in cases where English might sound more natural with a or sometimes no article in a different context, French often still wants one.

Here, le can refer to:

• a specific driver in the situation, and
• the windshield associated with that vehicle.

French often prefers the definite article when the thing is understood from context.

Conducteur means driver in a general, neutral sense.

Chauffeur can also mean driver, but it often suggests someone whose job is driving, or in some contexts a chauffeur in English.

So in a basic sentence about someone driving a vehicle, conducteur is a very natural word.

Examples:

• Le conducteur de la voiture = the driver of the car
• Un chauffeur de taxi = a taxi driver

Because pare-brise is a fixed compound noun in French.

It literally comes from the idea of something that protects against breaking wind/air impact, but you do not need to analyze it literally when learning it. Just treat pare-brise as the normal word for windshield/windscreen.

Many common French compound nouns use a hyphen, for example:

• pare-brise = windshield
• arc-en-ciel = rainbow
• pomme de terre = potato, though this one has spaces instead

So the hyphen is just part of the spelling of the word.

Because propre is agreeing with le pare-brise, which is singular.

In this case, the adjective form is:

• masculine singular: propre
• feminine singular: propre
• masculine plural: propres
• feminine plural: propres

So for a singular noun, propre stays propre.

Examples:

• Le pare-brise est propre. = The windshield is clean.
• La vitre est propre. = The window is clean.
• Les vitres sont propres. = The windows are clean.

This is one of those adjectives whose masculine and feminine singular forms look the same.

Good question. Propre has more than one meaning.

Here, propre means clean:

• Le pare-brise est propre. = The windshield is clean.

But propre can also mean own when used after another noun or pronoun:

• ma propre voiture = my own car
• son propre bureau = his/her own office

So the meaning depends on context.

In your sentence, because it follows être and describes the condition of the windshield, it clearly means clean.

Because regarder emphasizes the action of looking/checking, while voir is more about simply seeing.

• regarder = to look at, watch, check
• voir = to see

In this sentence, the driver is actively checking the windshield, so regarde makes sense.

Compare:

• Il regarde si le pare-brise est propre. = He checks whether the windshield is clean.
• Il voit que le pare-brise est propre. = He sees that the windshield is clean.

So regarder si suggests an active inspection.

Yes, absolutely.

• Le conducteur regarde si le pare-brise est propre.
• Le conducteur vérifie si le pare-brise est propre.

Both are correct.

The difference is nuance:

• regarde si = looks to see if
• vérifie si = checks/verifies whether

Vérifier sounds a little more explicitly like to check.
Regarder is slightly more visual and everyday.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

luh kon-duk-TUR ruh-GARD see luh par-BREEZ eh PROPR

A few helpful notes:

• conducteur ends with a sound like -teur in many French words.
• regarde has a French r, not an English one.
• pare-brise is pronounced roughly par-breez.
• est is pronounced eh here.
• propre ends with a soft consonant cluster; the final e is not pronounced.

You may also hear smooth linking in natural speech, but beginners do not need to force liaisons everywhere.

Mostly yes.

The structure is:

• Le conducteur = subject
• regarde = verb
• si le pare-brise est propre = subordinate clause

So it follows a pattern close to English:

• The driver checks whether the windshield is clean.

Inside the subordinate clause:

• le pare-brise = subject
• est = is
• propre = clean

French and English are quite similar here, which makes this sentence beginner-friendly.

No, not as written.

Le conducteur regarde si le pare-brise est propre specifically means The driver checks whether the windshield is clean.

That is because si introduces the idea of whether/if.

If you wanted to say The driver looks at the clean windshield, you would say something more like:

• Le conducteur regarde le pare-brise propre. — but this sounds unnatural in many contexts
• more naturally: Le conducteur regarde le pare-brise, qui est propre.
• or simply: Le conducteur regarde le pare-brise.

So the presence of si is what makes the meaning checks whether... rather than just looks at...