Après les cours, j’achète des feutres et de la colle, parce que j’en ai besoin pour demain.

Après les cours literally means after classes / after lessons. In French, les cours often refers to the school classes themselves, not just the building.

• après les cours = after class / after classes
• après l’école = after school

Both can be correct, but they are not always exactly the same. Après les cours focuses more on the classes ending, while après l’école can sound a bit broader and refers more to the school day in general.

French often uses the plural les cours to talk about someone’s scheduled classes or lessons as a whole.

For example:

• J’ai cours = I have class
• Après les cours = after classes / after school

Even if English often says after class in the singular, French commonly uses the plural here.

French avoids having two vowel sounds next to each other in many common situations. Since je comes before a verb starting with a vowel sound (achète), je becomes j’.

So:

• je achète ❌
• j’achète ✅

This is called elision.

This is a stem-changing verb. The infinitive is acheter, but in some forms the e changes to è so the pronunciation stays natural.

Examples:

• j’achète
• tu achètes
• il/elle achète
• nous achetons
• vous achetez
• ils/elles achètent

This is a very common pattern in French verbs.

Because the two nouns are being treated differently:

• des feutres = some markers
  This is the plural indefinite article, used with countable things.
• de la colle = some glue
  This is the partitive article, used with uncountable substances.

So French distinguishes between:

• things you can count: un feutre, deux feutres, des feutres
• things seen as a substance or mass: de la colle

In this context, des feutres usually means markers, felt-tip pens, or colored markers, depending on context.

The singular is:

• un feutre

French school-supply vocabulary does not always match English word-for-word, so feutre is often broader than just one exact English item.

Because the sentence means some glue, not the glue.

• la colle = the glue
• de la colle = some glue

French usually needs a determiner before a noun. When talking about an unspecified amount of an uncountable thing, French uses the partitive article:

• du
• de la
• de l’
• des

So de la colle is the natural way to say some glue.

Parce que means because and introduces the reason.

So:

• J’achète des feutres et de la colle = I’m buying markers and glue
• parce que j’en ai besoin pour demain = because I need them/some for tomorrow

It is the standard everyday way to give a reason in French.

Avoir besoin de means to need or more literally to have need of.

So:

• avoir besoin de quelque chose = to need something

When the thing needed has already been mentioned, French often replaces de + noun with en.

Here, en stands for something like:

• des feutres et de la colle

So:

• J’ai besoin des feutres et de la colle = I need the markers and glue
• J’en ai besoin = I need some / I need them

English does not have a direct equivalent of this en, so it can feel strange at first.

No. Avoir besoin takes de, not a direct object.

Since the expression is:

• avoir besoin de quelque chose

you replace de quelque chose with en, not with le / la / les.

So:

• J’en ai besoin ✅
• Je les ai besoin ❌

This is a very common point for English speakers, because English simply says I need them, but French structures it differently.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different in feel.

• j’en ai besoin demain = I need them tomorrow
• j’en ai besoin pour demain = I need them for tomorrow

Pour demain often suggests for use by tomorrow, for tomorrow’s class, or for something happening tomorrow. It points to a deadline or purpose.

In this sentence, pour demain is very natural because the speaker is buying supplies needed for the next day.

Yes. The expression avoir besoin de does not change because the thing needed is singular or plural in English.

• J’ai besoin d’un feutre.
• J’ai besoin de feutres.
• J’ai besoin de colle.
• J’en ai besoin.

The pronoun en can refer to:

• one thing
• several things
• an amount of something

So it works fine even though des feutres et de la colle includes more than one item.

A natural pronunciation would link several words together smoothly:

• Après les cours → the s of les is usually pronounced as a z sound before cours
• j’achète → sounds like zhah-shet
• des feutres et de la colle → des is often pronounced day here; et is usually a simple ay
• j’en ai besoin → the sounds flow together a lot
• pour demain → demain has a nasal vowel at the end

One important point is that spoken French connects words much more than English does, so this sentence will sound more fluid than its spelling suggests.

Usually yes, but the grammar is different.

English:

• I need markers and glue.

French often expresses that idea with:

• J’ai besoin de feutres et de colle.

So besoin is a noun meaning need, and avoir besoin de literally means to have need of. In everyday translation, though, it is usually best understood simply as to need.

Yes, but car is usually more formal or written in tone.

• parce que = because, normal and everyday
• car = because / for, often a bit more formal or explanatory

In a casual sentence about buying school supplies, parce que is the most natural choice.