Je garde la râpe à côté du fouet dans la cuisine.

I

Breakdown of Je garde la râpe à côté du fouet dans la cuisine.

• dans: in
• garder: to keep
• la cuisine: the kitchen

Questions & Answers about Je garde la râpe à côté du fouet dans la cuisine.

Why is it je garde? Does garder really mean to keep here?

Yes. In this sentence, garder means to keep, to store, or to keep something in a certain place.

So Je garde la râpe... means that this is where I keep the grater, often as a usual habit.

Be careful: garder can also mean to watch over or to guard in other contexts, but here it clearly means keep/store.

Why does French use la râpe instead of une râpe?

La râpe uses the definite article because the speaker is talking about a specific grater, not just any grater.

French often uses the definite article where English might use the, my, or sometimes no article at all, depending on context.

Compare:

• Je garde la râpe... = I keep the grater...
• Je garde une râpe... = I keep a grater...
• Je garde ma râpe... = I keep my grater...

So la here sounds natural if the object is already known or understood.

What does à côté de mean?