Ma copine préfère les jours sans averse, mais moi, j’aime écouter la pluie tomber sur le préau.

Because copine is a feminine noun, and in French the possessive adjective agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

• ma copine = my female friend / my girlfriend
• mon copain = my male friend / my boyfriend

So even if the speaker is male, he still says ma copine because copine is feminine.

Also, copine can mean either:

• girlfriend
• female friend

The exact meaning depends on context.

Not always. Copine can mean:

• female friend
• girlfriend

French uses the same word for both in many contexts. If the meaning is romantic, context usually makes that clear.

Compare:

• une copine = a female friend / a girlfriend
• ma copine often very commonly means my girlfriend, but it can still mean my female friend depending on the situation.

The accent in préfère is part of the verb’s spelling in this form.

The infinitive is préférer = to prefer.

In the present tense:

• je préfère
• tu préfères
• il/elle préfère
• nous préférons
• vous préférez
• ils/elles préfèrent

You can see the vowel changes in some forms:

• é becomes è in many singular forms and the ils/elles form
• but stays é in nous and vous

This is a very common spelling/pronunciation pattern in French verbs like préférer.

French usually needs an article where English often does not.

So:

• les jours = days / the days
• j’aime les pommes = I like apples
• les chiens sont fidèles = dogs are loyal

Here, les jours sans averse means days without showers / rainy bursts, referring to that type of day in general.

English often drops the article in this kind of sentence, but French normally keeps it.

After sans (without), French usually uses a noun without an article when speaking generally.

So:

• sans sucre = without sugar
• sans problème = without a problem / no problem
• sans averse = without a shower / without any shower

Using une would sound more specific, as if you meant one particular shower. Here the idea is general: days that do not have rain showers.

The singular after sans is often used in a general, category-like sense.

So sans averse means something like:

• without any rain shower
• free of showers

French often does this with nouns after sans:

• sans erreur = without mistakes / error-free
• sans difficulté = without difficulty
• sans bruit = without noise

That said, sans averses could also be possible in some contexts, but sans averse sounds more like a general description of the kind of day.

Mais moi adds contrast and emphasis.

The sentence first says:

• Ma copine préfère les jours sans averse
  = My girlfriend prefers days without showers

Then:

• mais moi
  = but me / but as for me

This highlights the difference between the two people’s preferences.

In natural English, you would usually translate the feeling rather than the exact words:

• but I like...
• but as for me, I like...
• but I, personally, like...

So moi is not required for basic grammar here, but it makes the contrast stronger.

The comma marks a pause and helps show emphasis.

• mais moi, j’aime...

This structure is very common in French when a stressed pronoun like moi, toi, lui, etc. is used for contrast or topic emphasis.

Examples:

• Lui, il ne vient pas. = As for him, he isn’t coming.
• Moi, j’adore ça. = Me, I love that.

So the comma reflects the spoken rhythm:

• mais moi / pause / j’aime...

Because aimer is directly followed by an infinitive in French.

• j’aime écouter = I like listening / I like to listen
• j’aime lire = I like reading / I like to read
• j’aime marcher = I like walking / I like to walk

There is no preposition between aimer and the infinitive.

So you do not say:

• j’aime à écouter in this normal meaning

The simple pattern is:

• aimer + infinitive

This is a very common French pattern:

• écouter + noun + infinitive

It means you are listening to something doing an action.

So:

• écouter la pluie tomber = to listen to the rain fall
• regarder les enfants jouer = to watch the children play
• entendre quelqu’un chanter = to hear someone sing

Here:

• écouter = to listen to
• la pluie = the rain
• tomber = fall

A useful way to understand it is:

• la pluie is the thing being listened to
• and it is also the thing that is falling

English often uses to:

• listen to the rain fall

French does not need that extra to here.

Again, French usually uses an article where English may not.

So French says:

• la pluie = the rain
• le vent = the wind
• la neige = the snow

Even when speaking generally, French often keeps the article with natural phenomena.

So:

• j’aime écouter la pluie
  not usually
• j’aime écouter pluie

Préau is a noun meaning a covered outdoor area, often at a school, like a roofed playground space or sheltered courtyard.

It is a masculine noun, so:

• le préau = the covered area / the shelter / the covered playground

The article le is needed because French normally uses an article before a singular countable noun in this kind of phrase.

So:

• sur le préau = onto/on the covered area or its roof

Depending on context, English might translate this more naturally as:

• on the covered playground
• on the shelter roof
• on the awning-like covered area

Because sur means on or onto, while dans means in or inside.

Here the image is that the rain is falling onto the préau, probably onto its roof or surface.

So:

• sur le préau = on the covered structure / onto its roof
• dans le préau = inside the covered area

Since the sentence talks about listening to rain fall, sur makes sense because it focuses on the sound of rain hitting the structure.

Yes. In French, je becomes j’ before a vowel sound.

So:

• je aime becomes j’aime
• je écoute becomes j’écoute
• je habite becomes j’habite

This is called elision. It is required in normal French spelling.

No. This is a very common mistake for English speakers.

In French:

• écouter is a direct transitive verb
• it takes its object without a preposition

So:

• écouter la pluie = to listen to the rain
• écouter la radio = to listen to the radio
• écouter quelqu’un = to listen to someone

But:

• parler à quelqu’un = to speak to someone
• téléphoner à quelqu’un = to call someone

So with écouter, do not add à.

Yes. They are related, but not identical.

• la pluie = rain in general
• une averse = a shower, a brief burst of rain

So the sentence contrasts:

• days without sudden rain showers with
• the speaker enjoying the sound of rain falling

That is why both words appear:

• averse gives the idea of a type of weather event
• pluie refers more generally to the rain itself

This is a nice vocabulary distinction and sounds very natural in French.