Je garde le parapluie près de l'entrée quand il pleut.

Garder is the normal verb for to keep, to leave, or to store/keep something in a place.

So:

• Je garde le parapluie... = I keep the umbrella...

French does not use a structure like I am keep here. You just use the present tense of garder:

• je garde
• tu gardes
• il/elle garde

Also, garder can have a few related meanings depending on context, such as to keep, to watch over, or to hold on to.

In French, nouns usually need an article much more often than in English.

So French says:

• le parapluie = the umbrella

Even when English might sometimes say I keep an umbrella nearby or just I keep umbrella nearby in a shorthand way, French normally wants an article:

• un parapluie = an umbrella
• le parapluie = the umbrella

Here, le suggests a specific umbrella, or simply the umbrella as the usual one being referred to.

Yes, it could, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Je garde le parapluie... = I keep the umbrella...
• Je garde un parapluie... = I keep an umbrella...

With le, it sounds like a specific umbrella is already known or understood.

With un, it sounds more general or indefinite: just an umbrella.

So both are possible depending on context, but the original sentence points to a particular umbrella.

Près de means near or close to.

Examples:

• près de l'entrée = near the entrance
• près de la porte = near the door
• près de moi = near me

This is a fixed expression: près de + noun/pronoun.

So you should learn it as a chunk:

• près de = near

Because près normally uses de before the thing you are near.

So the structure is:

• près de + noun

That gives:

• près de l'entrée = near the entrance

You cannot normally say près l'entrée in standard French.

Compare:

• près de la fenêtre = near the window
• près du mur = near the wall
• près de l'entrée = near the entrance

Because entrée begins with a vowel sound, and French usually shortens la or le before a vowel.

So:

• la entrée becomes l'entrée

This is called elision.

Other examples:

• l'école = the school
• l'homme = the man
• l'idée = the idea

Since entrée is a feminine noun, the full article would be la, but before the vowel it becomes l'.

Yes, entrée is feminine.

You can tell in this sentence because the article is underlyingly la, which becomes l' before a vowel:

• la entrée -> l'entrée

You would also see the feminine clearly in other contexts:

• une entrée
• cette entrée

So if you want to remember it, learn it as:

• l'entrée or une entrée

not just the bare noun by itself.

Because French usually needs an explicit subject before the verb.

The verb pleuvoir (to rain) is used impersonally, so French uses il as a dummy subject:

• il pleut = it is raining / it rains

This il does not refer to a real person or thing. It works like English it in it is raining.

So:

• quand il pleut = when it rains

Pleut is the present tense of pleuvoir.

French often uses the present tense to describe:

• habits
• general truths
• repeated actions

So:

• Je garde le parapluie près de l'entrée quand il pleut.

means something like:

• I keep the umbrella near the entrance when it rains
• Whenever it rains, I keep the umbrella near the entrance

This is a habitual action, so the present tense is natural.

Because quand means when, while si means if.

• quand il pleut = when it rains
• si il pleut / s'il pleut = if it rains

These are close in meaning sometimes, but not identical.

In the original sentence, quand suggests a regular or expected situation: whenever it rains.

If you said:

• Je garde le parapluie près de l'entrée s'il pleut

that would mean more like: I keep the umbrella near the entrance if it rains

That sounds more conditional and tied to a possible situation, not as strongly habitual.

It can suggest any of those in English depending on context.

In this sentence, garder most naturally means something like:

• I keep
• I leave
• I keep stored
• I keep handy

So Je garde le parapluie près de l'entrée suggests that the umbrella is kept there as a usual arrangement.

French garder is broader than a single English verb, so the best translation depends on context.

The basic order is very straightforward:

• Je = subject
• garde = verb
• le parapluie = direct object
• près de l'entrée = place expression
• quand il pleut = time/condition clause

So literally:

• I keep the umbrella near the entrance when it rains.

French word order here is close to English: subject + verb + object + place + time/condition.

In normal speech, you would hear the links and reductions quite smoothly.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

• Je garde le parapluie près de l'entrée quand il pleut
• approximately: zhuh gard luh pa-ra-plwee preh duh lon-tray kahn teuh pluh

A few useful notes:

• je often sounds very light
• le parapluie flows together smoothly
• de l'entrée sounds like duh lon-tray
• quand il pleut may sound connected, with quand il flowing together

If you are learning pronunciation, try saying it in chunks:

• Je garde le parapluie
• près de l'entrée
• quand il pleut

Yes, you could, but the meaning is a little different.

• près de l'entrée = near the entrance
• à côté de l'entrée = next to / beside the entrance

So à côté de is usually more specific and closer physically, while près de is a bit broader.

Both are natural, but près de l'entrée is a very normal choice for near the entrance.