Nous prenons la perceuse pour percer deux trous au-dessus de l’étagère.

Because prendre is an irregular verb.

In the present tense, it goes:

• je prends
• tu prends
• il/elle/on prend
• nous prenons
• vous prenez
• ils/elles prennent

So the nous form is prenons, not prendons. This is something you simply have to memorize with prendre.

Yes. Nous prenons literally means we take.

In this sentence, English might also say we get, we pick up, or we use, depending on context. French still uses prendre very naturally here.

So Nous prenons la perceuse can mean:

• We take the drill
• We pick up the drill
• We use the drill

French usually uses articles more often than English does.

So where English might say:

• We take a drill
• We take the drill

French often says:

• Nous prenons la perceuse

Here, la perceuse means the drill. It suggests a specific drill, or simply the drill being used in the situation.

Also, perceuse is a feminine noun, so it takes la.

They come from the same idea, but they are different parts of speech:

• la perceuse = the drill (the tool, a noun)
• percer = to drill / to pierce / to make a hole (a verb)

So in the sentence:

• Nous prenons la perceuse = We take the drill
• pour percer = to drill / in order to make

This is a very common pattern in French: a noun and a related verb can look similar.

Pour + infinitive is a very common way to express purpose in French.

So:

• pour percer = to drill
• more literally: in order to drill

The structure is:

• pour
  • infinitive verb

Examples:

• Je vais au magasin pour acheter du pain. = I’m going to the store to buy bread.
• Nous prenons la perceuse pour percer deux trous. = We take the drill to drill two holes.

Because after a number in French, you normally use the noun directly, without des or another plural article.

So:

• un trou = one hole
• deux trous = two holes
• trois trous = three holes

You do the same with many countable nouns:

• deux livres = two books
• quatre chaises = four chairs

Au-dessus de means above or over.

In this sentence:

• au-dessus de l’étagère = above the shelf

It is a fixed expression:

• au-dessus de = above
• en dessous de = below / underneath

Au-dessus is usually written with a hyphen. Then it is followed by de before the thing being referred to:

• au-dessus de la table
• au-dessus du lit
• au-dessus de l’étagère

Because French avoids two vowel sounds crashing together.

Étagère begins with a vowel sound, so de la becomes de l’.

So:

• de la table
• de la chaise
• but de l’étagère
• de l’école

This is called elision.

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

• lay-ta-zhair

More roughly:

• l’ sounds like lay
• é sounds like ay
• gère has the soft French j sound, like the s in measure

So l’étagère is approximately:

• lay-ta-zhair

If you want it in IPA, it is approximately:

• /letaʒɛʁ/

It can sound repetitive to an English speaker, but it is completely normal in French.

The sentence uses:

• la perceuse = the drill
• percer = to drill / to make a hole

French often allows this kind of repetition where English might choose slightly different wording.

A very literal structure is:

• We take the drill to drill two holes

That is natural in French.

Yes, absolutely.

In everyday spoken French, on is often used instead of nous.

So:

• Nous prenons la perceuse = correct, a bit more formal or neutral
• On prend la perceuse = very common in everyday speech

Both mean we take the drill in this context.

The sentence follows a very typical French pattern:

• Nous prenons la perceuse
  subject + verb + object

• pour percer deux trous
  purpose phrase: to drill two holes

• au-dessus de l’étagère
  location: above the shelf

So the whole structure is:

subject + verb + object + purpose + location

This is very close to English word order, which makes the sentence easier to understand.

Percer has a broader meaning than just using a drill.

It can mean:

• to pierce
• to punch through
• to bore/drill
• to make a hole

So depending on context:

• percer un trou = to make/drill a hole
• percer le mur = to drill into the wall
• percer la peau = to pierce the skin

Here, because of la perceuse, the meaning is clearly to drill.