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

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.

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.

À côté de means next to or beside.

It is a fixed expression:

• à côté de la table = next to the table
• à côté du fouet = next to the whisk

It is very common in French for physical location.

Because de + le contracts to du in French.

So:

• à côté de + le fouet becomes à côté du fouet

This kind of contraction is required:

• de + le = du
• de + les = des

But there is no contraction with feminine singular:

• à côté de la cuillère

And no contraction before a vowel sound:

• à côté de l’assiette

That is the most natural word order here.

French often puts the main object first and then adds location details after it:

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

So the sentence builds step by step:

1. what I do
2. what object I mean
3. where it is in relation to another object
4. the larger place

You could move dans la cuisine earlier for emphasis, but the original order is very normal.

In normal use, it describes the overall location of the situation: the grater is kept next to the whisk, and this is all in the kitchen.

Like in English, there is a slight structural ambiguity if you analyze it very strictly, but in real life the meaning is clear from context.

If someone wanted to be extra explicit, they could rephrase, but this sentence is perfectly natural as it is.

The nouns are:

• la râpe = feminine
• le fouet = masculine
• la cuisine = feminine

That is why the articles are:

• la
• du = de + le
• la

Gender in French usually has to be memorized with the noun, so it is best to learn each word together with its article.

Râpe is pronounced roughly like rahp in English, but with a French r.

A more precise pronunciation is /ʁɑp/.

The circumflex in â is part of the spelling. In modern French, it often does not change pronunciation very dramatically, though it can reflect an older spelling or a slightly more open vowel in some words. For a learner, the important thing is to recognize the word and pronounce it as one syllable: râpe.

Fouet is pronounced roughly fweh.

A more precise pronunciation is /fwɛ/.

Important points:

• it is one syllable
• the t is silent
• the beginning fou- sounds like fw

So du fouet is pronounced roughly du fweh.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• à côté du fouet = next to the whisk, right beside it
• près du fouet = near the whisk, close to it but not necessarily directly beside it

So à côté de is more exact, while près de is a little broader.