Quand nous avons beaucoup d’invités, les enfants débarrassent les verres pendant que les adultes parlent.

Because this sentence describes a habitual situation: something that generally happens whenever the family has many guests.

In French, when you talk about a repeated or general action after quand, you often use the present tense:

• Quand nous avons beaucoup d’invités... = When we have a lot of guests...

If you said Quand nous aurons beaucoup d’invités, that would usually point to a specific future occasion:

• Quand nous aurons beaucoup d’invités demain... = When we have a lot of guests tomorrow...

So here, avons fits the idea of a general routine.

After beaucoup, French normally uses de / d’ before a noun:

• beaucoup de gens
• beaucoup de livres
• beaucoup d’invités

The form d’ is just de shortened before a vowel sound, because invités begins with i.

Beaucoup des invités is possible in some contexts, but it means many of the guests, referring to a specific known group. That is not the meaning here.

So:

• beaucoup d’invités = a lot of guests
• beaucoup des invités = many of the guests

Here, débarrasser means to clear away, to remove, or to take away.

So:

• les enfants débarrassent les verres = the children clear away the glasses

In a meal context, this often means taking the glasses off the table after or during the meal.

Be careful: débarrasser can have slightly different uses depending on context. For example:

• débarrasser la table = clear the table
• débarrasser les assiettes = clear away the plates
• débarrasser quelqu’un de quelque chose = rid someone of something

In French, nouns usually need an article. So you normally say:

• les verres = the glasses

French often uses the definite article where English might use a more general form. Here it refers to the glasses involved in the situation, most likely the ones on the table.

Saying just verres by itself would not be normal in this sentence.

Because the sentence describes a customary action or general routine.

French uses the present tense for things that happen regularly:

• Quand nous avons beaucoup d’invités, les enfants débarrassent les verres pendant que les adultes parlent.

This is like saying:

• Whenever we have a lot of guests, the children clear the glasses while the adults talk.

So the present tense here does not mean only right now. It can also express habits and repeated situations.

Use pendant que before a clause with its own verb.

Here we have:

• pendant que les adultes parlent

This works because les adultes parlent is a full clause.

Use pendant before a noun:

• pendant le repas = during the meal
• pendant la soirée = during the evening

So:

• pendant que les adultes parlent = while the adults are talking
• pendant le repas = during the meal

Because the subject is les adultes, which is plural.

French verbs must agree with their subject:

• l’adulte parle = the adult speaks
• les adultes parlent = the adults speak

The same happens with les enfants débarrassent:

• l’enfant débarrasse
• les enfants débarrassent

Even though many verb endings in French are not strongly pronounced, they still matter in writing.

Here, les refers to the people involved in this family situation as a known group:

• les enfants = the children
• les adultes = the adults

French often uses the definite article to talk about categories or groups that are understood from context.

If you said des enfants or des adultes, it would sound more like some children or some adults, which is less natural here.

So les enfants and les adultes fit the idea of the children and the adults in the household/group.

Yes, very close. In this sentence, quand and lorsque would both mean when:

• Quand nous avons beaucoup d’invités...
• Lorsque nous avons beaucoup d’invités...

Both are correct, but quand is usually more common and more everyday.

So lorsque may sound a little more formal or literary in some contexts, but the meaning here would be basically the same.

Yes, but it would mean something slightly different.

• débarrassent les verres = they clear away the glasses
• débarrassent la table = they clear the table

The original sentence is more specific: the children are taking away the glasses in particular.

If you change it to la table, the meaning becomes broader: they are clearing the table as a whole.

In natural English, while the adults are talking sounds more idiomatic here.

French uses the simple present:

• les adultes parlent

But in English, in this kind of scene, we often prefer the progressive:

• while the adults are talking

So the French present tense can correspond to either:

• the adults talk
• the adults are talking

The best English choice depends on context, and here are talking sounds more natural.