Le voyageur consulte le tableau des départs.

Because French usually needs an article before a noun.

• le voyageur = the traveler
• le tableau = the board

In English, articles are sometimes dropped, but in French they are used more regularly. So Voyageur consulte tableau would be incorrect.

Voyageur means traveler. It is a general word for someone who is traveling.

It is not exactly the same as passager, which usually means passenger in a vehicle such as a train, bus, or plane.

So:

• voyageur = traveler
• passager = passenger

In a station context, both can sometimes make sense, but voyageur is a bit broader.

Because consulte is the conjugated form of the verb consulter in the present tense.

The subject is le voyageur, which is he / the traveler, so French uses the il/elle/on form:

• consulter = to consult / to check
• je consulte = I consult
• tu consultes = you consult
• il/elle consulte = he/she consults

So Le voyageur consulte... means The traveler checks/consults...

Yes, literally it means consults, but in this context a more natural English translation is often checks or looks at.

So Le voyageur consulte le tableau des départs could mean:

• The traveler checks the departures board
• The traveler looks at the departures board

French uses consulter more naturally in this kind of situation than English uses consult.

Because des here is the contraction of de + les.

• les départs = the departures
• de les départs becomes des départs

So:

• le tableau des départs = literally the board of the departures
• in natural English: the departures board

French often uses this structure where English uses a noun placed before another noun.

Because a departures board shows multiple departures, not just one.

• départ = departure
• départs = departures

So le tableau des départs means the departures board, the board listing many trains, flights, or buses leaving.

French usually does not stack nouns together the way English does.

English often says:

• departure board
• train station
• coffee cup

French usually connects nouns with de:

• tableau des départs
• gare de train or more naturally gare
• tasse à café or tasse de café, depending on meaning

So tableau des départs is the normal French structure.

Yes, the basic order is the same:

• Le voyageur = subject
• consulte = verb
• le tableau des départs = object

So it follows a standard subject + verb + object pattern, just like English:

• The traveler checks the departures board

A rough pronunciation guide is:

luh vwa-ya-ZHUR kohn-SULT luh ta-BLO day day-PAR

A few helpful notes:

• voyageur: the g sounds like the s in measure
• tableau: the final -eau sounds like oh
• des before départs is pronounced day
• final consonants are often silent, so the s in départs is not usually pronounced

Yes, it matters because French articles and some adjectives must agree with gender.

In this sentence:

• voyageur is masculine singular
• tableau is masculine singular
• départs is masculine plural

That is why you see:

• le voyageur
• le tableau
• des départs

If the subject were feminine, you might have:

• La voyageuse consulte le tableau des départs.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• regarde = looks at
• consulte = checks / consults / refers to

So:

• Le voyageur regarde le tableau des départs = The traveler looks at the departures board
• Le voyageur consulte le tableau des départs = The traveler checks the departures board

Consulte suggests checking for information, not just looking.

You would use du départ if you mean of the departure.

• le départ = the departure
• du = de + le

So:

• le tableau du départ would mean the board/sign for the departure
• le tableau des départs means the departures board

In real life, the plural version is much more common in stations and airports.