Quand le bébé pleure, sa mère cherche la tétine.

Quand means when here. It introduces a time clause:

• Quand le bébé pleure = When the baby cries

In this sentence, quand is being used as a conjunction, linking the action of the baby crying to the mother's action.

It is not a question word here. Compare:

• Quand le bébé pleure, sa mère cherche la tétine. = When the baby cries, his/her mother looks for the pacifier.
• Quand le bébé pleure-t-il ? = When does the baby cry?

Le bébé means the baby, while un bébé means a baby.

French often uses the definite article when referring to a specific person or thing already understood in the situation. Here, it is a particular baby, not just any baby in general.

So:

• le bébé = the baby
• un bébé = a baby

Pleure is the present tense form of the verb pleurer (to cry) for il / elle / on.

Conjugation of pleurer in the present:

• je pleure
• tu pleures
• il/elle/on pleure
• nous pleurons
• vous pleurez
• ils/elles pleurent

So le bébé pleure literally means the baby cries or the baby is crying, depending on context.

French often uses the simple present where English may use either:

• the baby cries
• the baby is crying

French does not need a separate am/is/are + -ing form here.

In French, possessive adjectives like son / sa / ses agree with the gender and number of the thing possessed, not with the owner.

Here, mère is a feminine singular noun, so French uses sa:

• sa mère = his mother / her mother

It does not tell you whether the baby is male or female. It only tells you that mère is feminine.

Compare:

• son père = his father / her father
• sa mère = his mother / her mother
• ses parents = his parents / her parents

Sa mère means his/her mother, so it shows a relationship to the baby. It is more natural here because the mother belongs to the situation being described.

• sa mère = his/her mother
• la mère = the mother

Using la mère would sound more detached, as if you were just identifying a woman as the mother, not emphasizing that she is the baby's mother.

Cherche comes from chercher, which usually means to look for.

So:

• sa mère cherche la tétine = his/her mother looks for the pacifier

A very common mistake is to think chercher means to search in the sense of searching a place. It usually means to try to find something.

Examples:

• Je cherche mes clés. = I’m looking for my keys.
• Elle cherche son téléphone. = She’s looking for her phone.

Because in French, chercher takes a direct object. You do not use a preposition like pour after it when you mean look for.

So French says:

• chercher quelque chose = to look for something

Correct:

• Elle cherche la tétine.

Not correct:

• Elle cherche pour la tétine.

This is different from English structure, so it is something learners often have to memorize.

La tétine means the pacifier, referring to a specific one that is understood from the context, probably the baby's usual pacifier.

French often uses the definite article when the object is known or expected in the situation.

Compare:

• la tétine = the pacifier
• une tétine = a pacifier

If you said une tétine, it could sound more like some pacifier / any pacifier rather than the one the baby normally uses.

Tétine usually means pacifier in this context.

Depending on region and context, English translations may vary:

• pacifier — common in American English
• dummy — common in British English
• sometimes soother

Be aware that tétine can also mean a teat or nipple in some contexts, but in a sentence about a baby crying and the mother looking for it, pacifier/dummy is the natural meaning.

The comma separates the introductory time clause from the main clause:

• Quand le bébé pleure, = time clause
• sa mère cherche la tétine. = main clause

This is similar to English:

• When the baby cries, his mother looks for the pacifier.

The comma helps readability. In French, this kind of comma is very common when the subordinate clause comes first.

Yes. The French present tense often covers both meanings.

Depending on context, le bébé pleure can mean:

• the baby cries — habitual or general meaning
• the baby is crying — happening right now

So the full sentence can be understood as either:

• When the baby cries, his/her mother looks for the pacifier.
• When the baby is crying, his/her mother looks for the pacifier.

English makes a stronger distinction between cries and is crying than French does here.

Yes. You can also say:

• Sa mère cherche la tétine quand le bébé pleure.

This still means His/her mother looks for the pacifier when the baby cries.

The version with Quand... first puts the time situation first and may sound a little more natural if you want to emphasize the condition or timing.

You would change the articles, possessives, and verb forms as needed.

For example:

• Quand les bébés pleurent, leur mère cherche les tétines. = When the babies cry, their mother looks for the pacifiers.

Key changes:

• le bébé → les bébés
• pleure → pleurent
• sa mère → leur mère if there is one mother for them
• la tétine → les tétines

This helps show how articles and verb forms change in French.