Le bruit de la rue me gêne quand je travaille.

In French, nouns usually need an article. So le bruit means the noise.

French often uses an article where English might be more flexible. You would normally say:

• le bruit = the noise
• un bruit = a noise

So Le bruit de la rue is the natural way to say the noise of the street or, more naturally in English, the street noise / the noise from the street.

De la rue literally means of the street, but in natural English it usually means from the street.

So:

• le bruit de la rue = the noise from the street

This is a very common French structure: noun + de + noun.

Examples:

• la porte de la maison = the door of the house
• le bruit de la pluie = the sound of the rain
• l’odeur du café = the smell of coffee

Here, de la rue tells you the source of the noise.

Because rue is a specific noun and it normally keeps its article after de.

• la rue = the street
• de + la rue = de la rue

French usually does this with ordinary nouns:

• le livre de la professeure = the teacher’s book
• le bruit de la rue = the noise of/from the street

You would only drop the article in certain special expressions, not here.

Me gêne means bothers me, disturbs me, gets in my way, or makes me uncomfortable, depending on context.

The verb is gêner.

In this sentence:

• Le bruit de la rue = the subject
• me = me
• gêne = bothers/disturbs

So literally:

• The noise of the street bothers me.

This is a very common French pattern:

• Ça me gêne = That bothers me / That makes me uncomfortable
• Tu me gênes = You’re bothering me / You’re in my way
• Le bruit me gêne = The noise bothers me

Because me is a direct object pronoun placed before the conjugated verb in a normal statement.

French object pronouns usually come before the verb:

• Il me voit = He sees me
• Tu me comprends = You understand me
• Le bruit me gêne = The noise bothers me

Gêne-moi would be an imperative, meaning Bother me or Disturb me, which is not what this sentence is doing.

The verb is gêner. The circumflex in gêne is part of the spelling of this word family.

Examples:

• gêner = to bother
• je gêne = I bother
• il/elle gêne = he/she bothers
• la gêne = discomfort / embarrassment / inconvenience

You mainly just need to memorize it. The accent does not change the grammar here; it is simply the correct spelling.

Gêne is pronounced roughly like zhen in English, with the j sound from measure or vision.

A rough guide:

• gêne ≈ zhen

The g before ê sounds like the soft French g in:

• génial
• girafe

And the final e is not pronounced.

Because the simple present tense in French often covers what English expresses as both:

• I work
• I am working

So quand je travaille can mean:

• when I work in general
• when I’m working depending on context

In this sentence, it most naturally means:

• when I’m working or
• when I work

French does not need être en train de unless you really want to emphasize that the action is in progress right now.

The present tense is used here because the sentence describes a general situation or repeated fact:

• The street noise bothers me when I work / when I’m working.

French often uses the present for habits, routines, and general truths.

Compare:

• Je travaille le matin. = I work in the morning.
• Quand je travaille, je préfère le silence. = When I work, I prefer silence.

So the present tense is completely natural here.

Yes, lorsque could be used here, but quand is more common and more everyday.

• quand = when
• lorsque = when, but often a bit more formal or literary

So:

• Le bruit de la rue me gêne quand je travaille. = very natural spoken/written French
• Le bruit de la rue me gêne lorsque je travaille. = correct, but slightly more formal

A learner should probably use quand first.

Because French often uses de where English might choose different translations depending on context.

De can mean many things, including:

• of
• from
• belonging to
• made of

So le bruit de la rue literally looks like the noise of the street, but in idiomatic English we usually say the noise from the street.

This is very normal. You should not translate de the same way every time.

Yes, but it is slightly different.

• Le bruit de la rue = the noise from the street / street noise
• Le bruit dans la rue = the noise in the street

The first focuses on the street as the source of the noise. The second focuses more on noise happening physically in the street.

Both can work, but Le bruit de la rue is very natural for outside street noise that reaches you.

Because it comes from the verb travailler.

Its present tense forms are:

• je travaille
• tu travailles
• il/elle travaille
• nous travaillons
• vous travaillez
• ils/elles travaillent

The stem looks a little unusual, but it is a regular -er verb in its endings. The spelling is just part of the verb and must be learned.

It can vary by context. Gêner is flexible.

It can mean:

• to bother
• to disturb
• to inconvenience
• to embarrass
• to be in the way of

In this sentence, disturb or bother is best:

• The street noise bothers/disturbs me when I work.

In other contexts:

• Tu me gênes. = You’re in my way / You’re bothering me.
• Cette question me gêne. = That question embarrasses me / makes me uncomfortable.

So it is a useful verb with a wider range than just annoy.

Yes. The word order is very standard French:

• Le bruit de la rue = subject
• me = object pronoun
• gêne = verb
• quand je travaille = time clause

So the structure is:

[Subject] + [object pronoun] + [verb] + [time clause]

That is why you get:

• Le bruit de la rue me gêne quand je travaille.

Not:

• Le bruit de la rue gêne me
• Me gêne le bruit de la rue
  unless you are doing something very marked or poetic.

Exactly as written: Le bruit de la rue me gêne quand je travaille sounds natural and normal.

In casual speech, someone might also say:

• Le bruit de la rue me dérange quand je travaille.
• Le bruit dans la rue me dérange quand je bosse.

Differences:

• gêne = bothers / disturbs / inconveniences
• dérange = disturbs / bothers
• je bosse = informal for I work

But your original sentence is perfectly natural and neutral.