Breakdown of L’électricienne laisse son numéro au serrurier, au cas où ils devraient revenir le même jour.
Questions & Answers about L’électricienne laisse son numéro au serrurier, au cas où ils devraient revenir le même jour.
Why is it l’électricienne and not la électricienne?
Why is électricienne feminine, but serrurier is masculine?
Why does it say son numéro and not sa numéro, if the electrician is a woman?
Because French possessive adjectives agree with the thing possessed, not with the owner.
Here, the possessed thing is numéro, which is a masculine noun:
So son numéro means her number, even though son is the masculine possessive form.
What does laisser son numéro mean exactly?
It is a very common expression meaning to leave one’s number, usually a phone number.
So:
- L’électricienne laisse son numéro au serrurier
= The electrician leaves her number with / gives her number to the locksmith.
It does not mean she is physically abandoning a written number somewhere; it is just the normal way to say this.
Why is it au serrurier?
Why is there a comma before au cas où?
Because au cas où introduces an extra idea like in case. In writing, it is often separated by a comma, especially when it comes after the main clause.
This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:
- She leaves her number with the locksmith, in case...
The comma is natural here, though punctuation can vary a bit depending on style.
What does au cas où mean, and how is it used?
Au cas où means in case.
It introduces a possible situation:
- au cas où il pleuvrait = in case it rained / in case it should rain
- au cas où ils devraient revenir = in case they had to come back
It is a fixed expression, and one important thing about it is that standard French normally uses the conditional after it.
Why is it devraient and not doivent or devaient?
Because after au cas où, standard French normally uses the conditional.
So:
Here devraient is the conditional present of devoir.
This does not mean the same as a plain future or present. It expresses a possibility, not a fact.
Very roughly:
- ils doivent revenir = they have to come back / they must come back
- ils devaient revenir = they were supposed to come back / they had to come back
- ils devraient revenir = they might have to come back / should have to come back
After au cas où, the conditional is the standard choice.
Is devraient revenir like the English should come back?
Not exactly in the everyday advice sense of should.
In English, should often means ought to, but here French devraient after au cas où means something more like:
- if they happened to need to come back
- in case they had to come back
- in case they should need to come back
So it expresses a possible future necessity, not advice.
Who does ils refer to?
Ils most naturally refers to the people already mentioned, especially if they might both need to return.
In this sentence, it likely means the electrician and the locksmith.
French uses ils for a mixed-gender group, even if one person is female and one is male.
- one woman + one man → ils
- two women → elles
So even though the electrician is female, ils is correct because the group includes a man.
Why is it ils and not elles?
Why use revenir here?
Revenir means to come back or to return.
It is very natural here because the idea is that they may need to come back again to the same place. French often uses revenir in this kind of situation.
You may also know retourner, which can also mean to return/go back, but revenir is especially common for come back.
What does le même jour mean exactly?
Why is it le même jour and not un même jour?
Could au serrurier mean with the locksmith rather than to the locksmith?
Yes. In English, both can work depending on the situation.
- She leaves her number to the locksmith sounds a bit unnatural in English.
- She leaves her number with the locksmith is more idiomatic.
- She gives her number to the locksmith is also very natural.
In French, laisser son numéro à quelqu’un is the normal structure.
Is the sentence formal or everyday French?
It is perfectly normal, standard French. Nothing in it is especially formal or literary.
A native speaker could easily say or write this in everyday life, especially in a work or service context. The only point that learners often notice as slightly more grammar-sensitive is the use of the conditional after au cas où, which is standard French.
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