By the end of this lesson you'll be able to tell a short story in French, setting the scene and then moving through what happened.
Three parts
A simple story has three parts, and you can use the tenses from the lesson on choosing between the two past tenses to build them.
- The scene: when and where, the weather, who was there. Use the imparfait.
- The events: what happened, one after the other. Use the passé composé.
- The ending: how it finished. Use the passé composé again.
Connecting words
These words show the order of events. You already know un jour (one day) and soudain (suddenly) from the lesson on choosing between the two past tenses.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ce jour-là | suh zhoor-LAH | that day |
| d'abord | dah-BOR | first |
| ensuite | ahn-SWEET | next, then |
| puis | pwee | then |
| tout à coup | too-tah-KOO | suddenly, all of a sudden |
| enfin | ahn-FAN | finally, at last |
D'abord, ensuite, puis and enfin mark the steps in order. Ensuite and puis are close in meaning, so you can use both to avoid repeating yourself. Soudain and tout à coup announce a surprise.
Un jour and ce jour-là work well near the start. Ce jour-là often introduces the scene, in the imparfait, and un jour often introduces the first event, in the passé composé.
Ce jour-là, il neigeait.
That day, it was snowing.
Un jour, Karim a trouvé un chat.
One day, Karim found a cat.
D'abord, j'ai pris un café.
First, I had a coffee.
Puis nous avons regardé un film.
Then we watched a film.
Tout à coup, Marie a crié.
All of a sudden, Marie shouted.
Enfin, le bus est arrivé.
At last, the bus arrived.
The connector usually goes first in the sentence, and it's often followed by a comma. Perdre (to lose, participle perdu) comes from the lesson on -ir and -re verbs. Here's one more verb you'll need for the stories.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| trouver | troo-VAY | to findParticiple: trouvé. |
A model story
Read this story, and notice how it moves from the scene to the events.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Ce jour-là, il faisait chaud. | That day, it was hot. |
| Nous étions à la plage. | We were at the beach. |
| D'abord, nous avons mangé. | First, we ate. |
| Ensuite, nous avons joué au ballon. | Next, we played ball. |
| Soudain, j'ai perdu mon téléphone ! | Suddenly, I lost my phone! |
| Puis Léa a trouvé le téléphone. | Then Léa found the phone. |
| Enfin, nous sommes rentrés. | Finally, we went home. |
The first two sentences set the scene, so they're in the imparfait. Everything after that is a separate event, so it's in the passé composé.
Your second story
Now you try. Here are the jumbled pieces of a different story, which you'll find in the practice below: someone has a cold morning, and they lose their keys. Put the sentences in order, starting with the scene, and let the connectors guide you.
Then write your own, about a day when something went wrong. Aim for six or seven sentences, and try to use at least four connectors.
En français
- Qu'est-ce que tu as fait samedi ? (What did you do on Saturday?)
- D'abord, je suis allée au marché. (First, I went to the market.)
- Il faisait beau ? (Was the weather nice?)
- Oui. Ensuite, j'ai vu Paul. Puis, tout à coup, il a neigé ! (Yes. Next, I saw Paul. Then, all of a sudden, it snowed!)
- Et enfin ? (And finally?)
- Enfin, nous sommes rentrés. (Finally, we went home.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on the French school system looks at what school is like in France. After that, the review of this unit asks you to write a childhood story.