Le digicode ne fonctionne pas toujours, alors la concierge préfère vérifier la porte le soir.

Digicode is a very common French word for a keypad entry system or door code panel, especially in apartment buildings.

It is a masculine noun, so it takes le:

• le digicode
• un digicode

In French, noun gender is grammatical, so you usually just have to learn it with the article.

Ne ... pas is the standard way to make a verb negative in French.

Here, the verb is fonctionne (works / is working), and the negative wraps around it:

• Le digicode fonctionne. = The keypad works.
• Le digicode ne fonctionne pas. = The keypad does not work.

So in this sentence:

• ne comes before the conjugated verb
• pas comes after it

That is the normal pattern for basic negation.

Because the meaning is different.

• ne fonctionne pas toujours = doesn’t always work
• ne fonctionne jamais = never works

So pas toujours means not always, which suggests it works sometimes, but not reliably.

This is an important difference:

• Il ne pleut pas toujours ici. = It doesn’t always rain here.
• Il ne pleut jamais ici. = It never rains here.

In ne ... pas toujours, the idea is not always.

French keeps that idea together by placing toujours after pas:

• ne fonctionne pas toujours = does not always work

If you tried to move things around, you could change the meaning or make the sentence sound unnatural.

So here, pas toujours functions as a unit meaning not always.

Here, alors means so, therefore, or as a result.

It connects the two ideas:

• the keypad does not always work
• so the concierge prefers to check the door in the evening

So:

• ..., alors ... = ..., so ...

Depending on context, alors can also mean then, but here it clearly means so / therefore.

Because la concierge refers to a female concierge / caretaker / building attendant.

French often changes the article to show gender:

• le concierge = the male concierge
• la concierge = the female concierge

The noun itself can stay very similar, but the article tells you whether the person is male or female.

Because préférer is followed directly by an infinitive when you say you prefer to do something.

Pattern:

• préférer + infinitive

Examples:

• Je préfère attendre. = I prefer to wait.
• Elle préfère vérifier la porte. = She prefers to check the door.

Unlike English, where we often say prefer to check, French does not need a word like to in front of the infinitive in this structure.

Because préfère is the conjugated verb for elle / la concierge in the present tense.

The infinitive is préférer = to prefer.

Present tense:

• je préfère
• tu préfères
• il / elle préfère
• nous préférons
• vous préférez
• ils / elles préfèrent

So in the sentence, the subject is la concierge, which is she, so we use préfère.

This is a spelling change that happens in many French verbs like préférer.

The infinitive is:

• préférer

But in some conjugated forms, the second é changes to è:

• je préfère
• tu préfères
• il/elle préfère
• ils/elles préfèrent

This helps reflect the pronunciation.

So the change from préférer to préfère is a normal conjugation pattern, not a different word.

Because la porte is the direct object of vérifier.

She is checking the door, so French uses the noun directly after the verb:

• vérifier la porte = to check the door

You would not use à here.

Compare:

• ouvrir la porte = open the door
• fermer la porte = close the door
• vérifier la porte = check the door

Le soir means in the evening or at night, depending on context.

In this sentence, it suggests a habitual time—something she prefers to do in the evening.

French often uses le + time expression to mean generally / regularly at that time:

• le matin = in the morning
• l’après-midi = in the afternoon
• le soir = in the evening

So:

• le soir = in the evening / at night, as a usual time
• ce soir = tonight

That is an important distinction.

Because ce soir means tonight, referring to one specific evening.

But le soir means in the evening in general, or every evening / regularly in the evening, depending on context.

So:

• La concierge préfère vérifier la porte le soir. = She prefers to check the door in the evening.
• La concierge préfère vérifier la porte ce soir. = She prefers to check the door tonight.

The original sentence sounds like a general preference or routine, not a one-time event.

It is often used for machines, devices, and systems, like here:

• Le digicode fonctionne. = The keypad works.

But it can also be used more broadly for things that work, function, or operate well:

• Cette méthode fonctionne. = This method works.
• Le système fonctionne bien. = The system works well.
• Leur relation ne fonctionne plus. = Their relationship no longer works.

So it is a very useful verb, not limited to physical machines.