Nous visitons un appartement au rez-de-chaussée, juste à côté de la cave.

Because visitons is already a fully conjugated verb in the present tense.

• visiter = to visit
• nous visitons = we visit / we are visiting

In French, the simple present tense often covers both English meanings:

• We visit
• We are visiting

So Nous visitons un appartement can mean We are visiting an apartment in this context.

French does not use être + verb the way English uses to be + -ing.

Grammatically, yes, visiter means to visit. But in context, it can sound more natural in English as:

• to look around
• to tour
• to view

So Nous visitons un appartement might naturally be translated as:

• We are viewing an apartment
• We are touring an apartment

This is especially common when talking about real estate.

Because appartement is a masculine noun in French.

So you say:

• un appartement = an apartment

Not:

• une appartement

A good habit is to learn nouns together with their article:

• un appartement
• une cave

That helps you remember gender more easily.

Au rez-de-chaussée means on the ground floor.

This is a very common French expression:

• rez-de-chaussée = ground floor

So:

• un appartement au rez-de-chaussée = an apartment on the ground floor

A useful cultural note: in French-speaking countries, rez-de-chaussée is the street-level floor. That often corresponds to what British English calls the ground floor.

Because à + le contracts to au in French.

So:

• à + le = au

Here, rez-de-chaussée is treated as a masculine noun, so:

• à le rez-de-chaussée → au rez-de-chaussée

This kind of contraction is very common:

• au cinéma = at/to the cinema
• au bureau = at/to the office

Because rez-de-chaussée is a fixed compound expression.

French often uses hyphens in compound nouns, especially older established ones. You should learn rez-de-chaussée as one complete chunk meaning ground floor.

It is best not to try to translate it word-for-word in normal use; just remember the whole expression.

À côté de means next to or beside.

Adding juste makes it stronger:

• à côté de = next to
• juste à côté de = right next to / just next to

So:

• juste à côté de la cave = right next to the cellar/basement/storage room

This is a very common location expression.

Because à côté de is a fixed expression in French.

You cannot usually say just à côté la cave. You need de:

• à côté de la cave = next to the cellar

The same thing happens with many French expressions that require a specific preposition. So it is best to memorize the whole phrase:

• à côté de

not just à côté

Because cave is a feminine noun.

So:

• de + la cave = de la cave

If the noun were masculine singular, you would usually get du:

• de + le = du

Compare:

• à côté de la cave = next to the cellar
• à côté du garage = next to the garage

Usually, no. In everyday French, une cave often means:

• cellar
• basement storage room
• sometimes a wine cellar

In a building or apartment context, la cave usually refers to a basement or storage space, not a natural cave in a mountain.

So here, la cave is probably a cellar or basement storage area.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• ray-duh-shoh-say

More approximately in IPA:

• /ʁɛ d(ə) ʃo.se/

A few points:

• the z in rez is not strongly pronounced like English z
• chaussée sounds roughly like shoh-say
• the final -ée gives an ay sound

If you want to sound natural, try saying it smoothly as one expression: au rez-de-chaussée

La cave uses the definite article la, so literally it means the cellar.

In context, that often means a cellar that is already understood from the situation, for example:

• the building’s cellar
• the apartment’s cellar area
• a known storage room nearby

French often uses definite articles in places where English might still sound natural with the, so la cave is perfectly expected here.

Yes. The French present tense can express both:

• a general action: We visit
• an action happening now: We are visiting

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

In this sentence, because it describes a specific apartment and its location, the most natural reading is:

• We are visiting/viewing an apartment on the ground floor, right next to the cellar.