Quand il pleut, je mets le linge sur l’étendoir, avec la housse du canapé.

In French, weather verbs usually use an impersonal subject: il.

So French says:

• il pleut = it is raining / it rains
• il neige = it is snowing
• il fait froid = it is cold

This il does not refer to a real person or thing. It is just the grammatical subject that French requires.

Here, quand is best understood as when in a general or habitual sense, which often comes out naturally in English as whenever.

So the sentence is not necessarily about one specific moment. It suggests a repeated situation:

• Quand il pleut, je mets... = When / Whenever it rains, I put...

Because both verbs are in the present tense, the idea is habitual.

French uses the present tense here to describe a habit or general routine.

• Quand il pleut = when it rains
• je mets le linge sur l’étendoir = I put the laundry on the drying rack

So this is like saying:

• Whenever it rains, I do this

It is not about one single rainy moment. It is about what the speaker عادة does in that situation.

No. This is an important difference from English.

In English, we often say:

• When it rains tomorrow, I’ll...

But in French, if you mean a future event, you normally use the future after quand as well:

• Quand il pleuvra, je mettrai le linge sur l’étendoir.

So:

• Quand il pleut... = whenever / when it rains in general
• Quand il pleuvra... = when it rains in the future

Because Quand il pleut is an introductory clause placed before the main clause.

French often uses a comma in this structure:

• Quand il pleut, je mets...

It helps separate the time clause from the main statement. In a short sentence, the comma is sometimes omitted, but using it is very normal and clear.

Because French only shortens je to j’ before a vowel sound or a mute h.

So:

• j’aime
• j’habite

But:

• je mets
• je prends
• je fais

Since mets begins with m, you keep je in full.

Le linge often means laundry or washing in everyday French.

Depending on context, it can refer to:

• clothes to be washed
• clothes that have been washed
• household fabric items such as sheets, towels, covers, etc.

In this sentence, le linge most naturally means the laundry or the washing that is being put on the drying rack.

Un étendoir is a drying rack or clothes airer: the thing you hang or lay laundry on so it can dry.

It is different from some related words:

• un sèche-linge = a tumble dryer / clothes dryer
• un séchoir can mean a drying device or drying room, but it is less likely to be the everyday word for a clothes rack in this context

So l’étendoir is the object you use to air-dry clothes indoors or outdoors.

Because in French, laundry is commonly said to be put on the drying rack:

• mettre le linge sur l’étendoir
• étendre le linge sur l’étendoir

Even if some items hang from it rather than sit flat on top of it, sur is the normal preposition here.

A slightly fuller version would be:

• je mets le linge à sécher sur l’étendoir
  = I put the laundry on the drying rack to dry

Yes, it is understandable and natural enough. But French also has a very common verb specifically for hanging out laundry:

• étendre le linge

So a very natural alternative would be:

• Quand il pleut, j’étends le linge sur l’étendoir...

You could also say:

• je mets le linge à sécher sur l’étendoir

All of these are good; étendre le linge is simply a bit more specific and idiomatic.

It means together with the sofa cover.

So the idea is that the speaker puts the laundry on the drying rack, including the sofa cover.

However, this part can feel slightly ambiguous, because avec can loosely attach to the whole action. If you want to make the meaning extra clear, you could say:

• ..., y compris la housse du canapé = including the sofa cover

For example:

• Quand il pleut, je mets le linge sur l’étendoir, y compris la housse du canapé.

That sounds a little more explicit.

Because de + le contracts to du in French.

So:

• de le → du
• de les → des

That gives:

• la housse du canapé = the cover of the sofa / the sofa cover

Compare:

• la porte du garage
• le toit du bâtiment

But with a feminine noun, there is no contraction:

• la porte de la maison

French uses articles more often than English does.

In this sentence:

• le linge = the laundry
• l’étendoir = the drying rack
• la housse = the cover
• du canapé = of the sofa

English often drops articles where French keeps them, especially with everyday objects or general categories. In French, using the article here sounds normal and expected.

So even if English might say something like I put laundry on a drying rack, French often prefers the article:

• je mets le linge sur l’étendoir

Because le becomes l’ before a vowel.

Since étendoir begins with é, you get:

• le étendoir → l’étendoir

This is called elision.

The same thing happens with:

• l’école
• l’homme
• l’idée

It makes pronunciation smoother.