Le contrôleur technique vérifie le freinage et inspecte l’échappement.

It means the vehicle inspector or the roadworthiness inspector in this context.

A few useful notes:

• contrôleur = inspector / checker / controller
• technique = technical

So the literal meaning is something like the technical inspector, but in everyday French this often refers to someone carrying out a vehicle safety inspection.

Also, contrôleur is a masculine noun here, which is why the sentence starts with Le.

In French, most adjectives usually come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• un contrôleur technique = a technical inspector

This is the normal word order:

• noun: contrôleur
• adjective: technique

English often puts adjectives before nouns, but French often puts them after.

Because technique is already the correct masculine singular form in this case.

French adjectives change to agree with the noun they describe, but some adjectives have the same form in masculine and feminine singular.

So here:

• un contrôleur technique
• une inspection technique

In both cases, technique stays technique.

Because it is the present tense form for il/elle/on or any singular noun.

The verb is vérifier = to check / to verify.

Present tense:

• je vérifie
• tu vérifies
• il/elle vérifie
• nous vérifions
• vous vérifiez
• ils/elles vérifient

Since Le contrôleur technique is a singular subject, French uses vérifie.

They are close in meaning, but they are not exactly identical.

• vérifier often means to check, to make sure, or to verify
• inspecter means to inspect, often more carefully or formally

So the sentence suggests slightly different actions:

• vérifie le freinage = checks the braking
• inspecte l’échappement = inspects the exhaust

French often uses near-synonyms like this to sound natural and precise.

Because le freinage refers to the braking system or the act/performance of braking, not just the physical brake parts.

Compare:

• les freins = the brakes
• le freinage = braking / braking system / braking performance

In a vehicle inspection context, le freinage sounds more technical and general. It is about how the braking works overall, not just the brake components as objects.

Because French uses elision before a vowel sound.

Since échappement starts with a vowel sound, le becomes l’:

• le + échappement → l’échappement

This happens very often in French:

• l’école
• l’hôtel
• l’ami
• l’échappement

It makes pronunciation smoother.

It means the exhaust or the exhaust system of a vehicle.

It comes from the verb échapper = to escape, so historically it is the part where gases escape from the engine.

In car-related French, l’échappement normally refers to the vehicle’s exhaust system.

Because French uses articles much more often than English does.

In English, you might say:

• checks braking
• inspects the exhaust

But in French, it is very natural to say:

• vérifie le freinage
• inspecte l’échappement

Even when talking about something in a general or technical sense, French often keeps the definite article.

Because the same subject applies to both verbs.

So:

• Le contrôleur technique vérifie le freinage et inspecte l’échappement.

means:

• The inspector checks the braking and inspects the exhaust.

French, like English, does not need to repeat the subject if it is the same for both actions.

You could repeat it, but it would sound unnecessary:

• Le contrôleur technique vérifie le freinage et le contrôleur technique inspecte l’échappement.

That is grammatically possible, but unnatural.

contrôleur is pronounced roughly like:

• kon-troh-lur

A few points:

• ô shows a closed o sound
• the ending -eur is like the French sound heard in words such as sœur or chauffeur
• the final r is the French r, pronounced in the throat

The accent in contrôleur helps show the spelling and pronunciation, and it should be written correctly.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

luh kon-troh-lur tek-neek vay-reef luh freh-nahzh ay an-spekt lay-sha-puh-mon

A few pronunciation tips:

• Le is often light and quick: luh
• contrôleur technique flows together smoothly
• vérifie sounds like vay-reef
• freinage ends with the sound -zh
• l’échappement links smoothly after inspecte
• the final -ent in échappement is not pronounced like English ent

If you want to sound natural, focus on smooth rhythm rather than pronouncing every letter.

Yes. It is in the present tense.

French present tense can mean:

• what is happening now
• what someone does habitually
• a general fact

So this sentence could mean:

• what the inspector is doing right now, or
• what a technical inspector generally does as part of the job

French present tense often covers both ideas, just like English simple present can in the right context.