Sans essuie-glaces, il est difficile de conduire pendant une tempête.

Sans means without.

So Sans essuie-glaces means Without windshield wipers.

French often uses sans + noun to express the absence of something:

• sans argent = without money
• sans problème = without a problem / no problem
• sans lunettes = without glasses

It is a very common and natural structure.

After sans, French usually uses the noun without an article when speaking generally.

So:

• sans essuie-glaces = without windshield wipers
• sans voiture = without a car
• sans eau = without water

Using sans des essuie-glaces would sound incorrect here.

If you want to be more specific, French can sometimes use an article after sans, but not in a basic general sentence like this.

Literally, essuie-glaces is made from:

• essuie = wipes
• glaces = panes/windows

So it literally means something like window-wiper.

In modern French, un essuie-glace means a windshield wiper, and des essuie-glaces means windshield wipers.

It is hyphenated because it is a compound noun.

Many French compound nouns are written with a hyphen:

• un porte-monnaie = wallet
• un ouvre-boîte = can opener
• un essuie-glace = windshield wiper

So the hyphen is just part of the standard spelling.

It is plural because a vehicle normally has more than one windshield wiper, so French naturally uses the plural in this context.

• sans essuie-glaces = without windshield wipers

You may also notice that in French, even when speaking generally, the plural is often used for things that normally come in pairs or sets.

This il does not mean he.

It is an impersonal il, similar to English it in sentences like:

• It is difficult to drive
• It is important to study

So:

• il est difficile de conduire = it is difficult to drive

This is a very common French pattern:

• Il est facile de comprendre = It is easy to understand
• Il est important de partir tôt = It is important to leave early

Here, difficile de + infinitive is used because the structure is impersonal:

• Il est difficile de conduire = It is difficult to drive

With il est + adjective + de + infinitive, de is the normal choice.

By contrast, à conduire is common when a noun comes before the adjective:

• Cette voiture est difficile à conduire = This car is difficult to drive

So both exist, but they are used in different sentence patterns.

Because after il est difficile de, French uses the infinitive to express the action in a general way.

So:

• de conduire = to drive

This is similar to English:

• It is difficult to drive

Other examples:

• Il est agréable de marcher ici. = It is pleasant to walk here.
• Il est dangereux de courir. = It is dangerous to run.

Pendant means during.

So:

• pendant une tempête = during a storm

It tells you when the action happens.

Other examples:

• pendant la nuit = during the night
• pendant le cours = during the lesson
• pendant l’hiver = during the winter

Yes, durant is possible here.

• pendant une tempête
• durant une tempête

Both mean during a storm.

However, pendant is generally more common in everyday French. Durant can sound a little more formal, depending on context.

Une tempête means a storm, in a general sense.

The sentence is talking about the general situation of driving during any storm, not one specific storm already known to the listener.

• une tempête = a storm
• la tempête = the storm

If you said la tempête, it would suggest a specific storm that both speakers know about.

In this sentence, yes, conduire is understood as to drive a vehicle, especially because of essuie-glaces.

On its own, conduire can have broader meanings, such as:

• to drive
• to lead
• to conduct

But here the context clearly points to driving a car or other vehicle.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Sans essuie-glaces, conduire pendant une tempête est difficile.
• Il est difficile de conduire dans une tempête sans essuie-glaces.
• Conduire pendant une tempête sans essuie-glaces est difficile.

These all express roughly the same idea.

The original version sounds natural and balanced because it starts with the condition Sans essuie-glaces and then gives the main statement il est difficile de conduire...

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• essuie ≈ eh-swee
• glaces ≈ glass

So essuie-glaces is roughly eh-swee-glass.

A few helpful points:

• the s in glaces is not pronounced
• the final e in essuie is not strongly pronounced
• the hyphen does not change pronunciation; it just joins the compound noun

If you want to sound more natural, try saying it smoothly as one unit: eh-swee-glass