Si le magasin est encore ouvert, je vais y retourner avant le dîner.

Si means if.

So Si le magasin est encore ouvert means If the store is still open.

In French, si is the normal word for introducing a condition:

• Si j’ai le temps, je viendrai. = If I have time, I’ll come.
• Si tu veux, on peut partir. = If you want, we can leave.

One important note: after conditional si, French does not use the future tense in this kind of sentence. That leads to the next common question.

In French, after si for a real future condition, you usually use the present tense, not the future.

So French says:

• Si le magasin est encore ouvert, j’irai...
• Si le magasin est encore ouvert, je vais...

Even though English often says If the store is still open, referring to the future, French still uses est.

A useful pattern to remember:

• si + present, then future / near future / imperative / present

Examples:

• Si tu viens, on mangera ensemble.
• Si tu viens, on va manger ensemble.
• Si tu viens, appelle-moi.

So si le magasin est encore ouvert is completely normal French.

Here, encore means still.

So:

• Le magasin est encore ouvert = The store is still open.

Encore can have different meanings depending on context:

• still: Il dort encore. = He’s still sleeping.
• again: Dis-le encore. = Say it again.
• more / another: Encore du pain ? = More bread?

In this sentence, encore clearly means still, because it describes the store’s continuing state of being open.

Ouvert is the past participle of ouvrir, but in this sentence it is functioning like an adjective meaning open.

Since magasin is masculine singular, ouvert stays in the masculine singular form:

• le magasin est ouvert = the store is open

Compare:

• la porte est ouverte = the door is open
• les magasins sont ouverts = the stores are open
• les portes sont ouvertes = the doors are open

So ouvert agrees with the noun it describes.

Both are possible.

• je vais retourner = I’m going to go back
• je retournerai = I will go back

The sentence uses the near future (aller + infinitive), which is extremely common in everyday French. It often feels a bit more immediate or conversational.

So these are both natural:

• Si le magasin est encore ouvert, je vais y retourner avant le dîner.
• Si le magasin est encore ouvert, j’y retournerai avant le dîner.

The version with je vais is very common in spoken French.

Y replaces a place already mentioned — here, le magasin.

Instead of repeating au magasin, French uses y:

• Je vais retourner au magasin.
• Je vais y retourner. = I’m going to go back there.

So y usually means:

• there
• to it
• in it / at it, depending on the verb and context

In this sentence, it means to the store / there.

Because French object pronouns like y usually go before the infinitive when you have a construction like aller + infinitive.

So:

• Je vais y retourner.
• Je vais en acheter.
• Je vais lui parler.

Not:

• Je vais retourner y.

A good rule: With a conjugated verb + infinitive, pronouns usually go right before the infinitive if they belong to that infinitive.

Here, y belongs with retourner, so it goes before retourner:

• y retourner = to go back there

They are related, but not exactly the same.

• retourner = to go back / return
• revenir = to come back

In this sentence, the idea is go back to the store, so retourner works well.

Revenir usually emphasizes coming back to the speaker’s location or point of reference:

• Je reviens à la maison. = I’m coming back home.
• Je retourne au magasin. = I’m going back to the store.

If the speaker is not at the store and plans to go there again, retourner is the natural choice.

In French, meals often take an article:

• le déjeuner
• le dîner
• le petit déjeuner

So avant le dîner means before dinner.

French often uses the definite article where English does not:

• Je prends le petit déjeuner. = I eat breakfast.
• après le dîner = after dinner
• avant le déjeuner = before lunch

So even though English says before dinner, French normally says avant le dîner.

Yes. Magasin is a general word for a store or shop.

Depending on context, it can be translated as:

• store
• shop

Examples:

• un magasin de vêtements = a clothing store / clothes shop
• un grand magasin = a department store

So in this sentence, the store is a very natural translation, but the shop could also work depending on the variety of English.

A natural spoken grouping would be:

Si le magasin est encore ouvert / je vais y retourner / avant le dîner.

You’ll often hear si clauses said as one chunk, followed by the main clause.

A few pronunciation notes:

• Si sounds like see
• magasin has the final nasal sound -sin
• encore is pronounced roughly ahn-kor
• ouvert ends with a pronounced t
• y is pronounced like ee
• dîner has a long ee sound

Also, in natural speech, je vais is often pronounced very smoothly, almost like one unit.