Il faut fixer le miroir dans la salle de bains avant que la nouvelle locataire arrive.

Il faut is a very common French expression meaning it is necessary, one must, or you have to.

In this sentence, Il faut fixer le miroir... means something like:

• We need to fix the mirror...
• The mirror has to be fixed...
• Someone has to fix the mirror...

French often uses il faut when the speaker wants to express a general necessity without naming the person المسؤول/ responsible.

A related pattern is:

• Il faut + infinitive = it is necessary to do something
  • Il faut partir. = We have to leave.

If you want to say who must do something, French often uses:

• Il faut que + subject + verb
  • Il faut que tu partes. = You have to leave.

Yes, fixer can mean to fix, but here it most likely means to attach, to secure, or to mount the mirror.

So depending on context, fixer le miroir could mean:

• put the mirror up on the wall
• fasten it properly
• secure it in place

If you specifically meant repair the mirror, French might use a different verb depending on the problem, such as:

• réparer = repair
• remettre en place = put back in place
• refixer = reattach

So fixer here suggests the mirror needs to be properly installed or secured.

Le miroir means the mirror, while un miroir means a mirror.

Using le suggests that the speaker and listener already know which mirror is meant — probably the mirror in that bathroom.

So:

• fixer le miroir = fix the mirror
• fixer un miroir = fix/install a mirror

French often uses the definite article when referring to a specific object already understood from the situation.

Dans la salle de bains means in the bathroom.

Breakdown:

• dans = in
• la salle de bains = the bathroom

French uses dans for being physically inside a place.

Examples:

• dans la cuisine = in the kitchen
• dans la voiture = in the car
• dans la salle de bains = in the bathroom

So this phrase simply tells you where the mirror is.

The standard expression is la salle de bains, literally the room of baths.

Even though English says bathroom in the singular, French normally uses bains in the plural in this fixed expression.

So the usual form is:

• la salle de bains = bathroom

You may also hear:

• la salle de bain

This exists in modern usage too, but salle de bains is the more traditional and widely taught form.

Use avant que when it is followed by a new subject and a conjugated verb.

Here we have:

• avant que la nouvelle locataire arrive

The subject after avant que is la nouvelle locataire, and arrive is a conjugated verb.

Use avant de when the subject stays the same and the next verb is an infinitive.

Compare:

• Il faut partir avant que Marie arrive.
  = We have to leave before Marie arrives.

• Il faut partir avant d’arriver en retard.
  = We have to leave before arriving late.

So in your sentence, avant que is necessary because a different subject follows.

Yes. After avant que, French normally uses the subjunctive.

So in:

• avant que la nouvelle locataire arrive

arrive is the present subjunctive of arriver.

This is a very common point for learners because for many -er verbs, the il/elle form of the present subjunctive looks exactly the same as the present indicative:

• indicative: elle arrive
• subjunctive: qu’elle arrive

So the form looks the same, but the grammar is different.

Why subjunctive here? Because avant que introduces something that has not happened yet.

Locataire means tenant.

In this sentence, it refers to a woman, so French shows that with:

• la = feminine article
• nouvelle = feminine form of nouveau/nouvelle
• locataire = noun meaning tenant

Interesting point: locataire often has the same spelling for masculine and feminine, but the article and adjective show the gender.

Compare:

• le nouveau locataire = the new male tenant
• la nouvelle locataire = the new female tenant

So even though locataire itself doesn’t change here, the rest of the phrase makes it clearly feminine.

Yes. In more formal French, you may see:

• avant que la nouvelle locataire n’arrive

That ne is called a ne explétif. It does not make the sentence negative.

So these both mean the same thing:

• avant que la nouvelle locataire arrive
• avant que la nouvelle locataire n’arrive

The version without ne is very common in everyday modern French, especially in speech.

A natural pronunciation would be roughly:

Il faut fixer le miroir dans la salle de bains avant que la nouvelle locataire arrive.

Approximate pronunciation: eel fo feek-say luh mee-rwar dahn la sal duh ban ah-vahn kuh la noo-vel lo-ka-ter a-reev

A few useful notes:

• Il faut → the t in faut is normally silent.
• fixer → sounds like feek-say
• miroir → roughly mee-rwar
• dans → nasal vowel, not pronounced like English dan
• bains → also nasal
• avant que → que is pronounced kuh
• locataire → roughly lo-ka-ter
• arrive → a-reev

In normal speech, the rhythm is smooth, and French speakers will not pronounce every final consonant.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Il faut = it is necessary / we have to
• fixer = to fix / attach
• le miroir = the mirror
• dans la salle de bains = in the bathroom
• avant que = before
• la nouvelle locataire = the new tenant
• arrive = arrives / should arrive

So the structure is:

Il faut + infinitive + object + place + avant que + subject + verb

That is a very useful model you can reuse:

• Il faut nettoyer la cuisine avant que les invités arrivent.
• Il faut finir le travail avant que le chef revienne.

It is a common way to say that something needs to be done before another event happens.