AtelierLe journal · French, understood
English

Language

The course

Updated

Graded story

A1 French reading: two friends exchange their appointment cards

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read a present-tense A1 card mix-up with seven glosses. Use each friend’s name and birth month to identify the appointment reminder and follow its return.

In short

Lina Moreau’s card says mars; Inès Martin’s says mai. They accidentally take each other’s appointment cards, notice the names and birth months, then swap them back. Track the name on each card and its final folder to follow the exchange.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Two people exchange blank cards over a café table beside open black and green document folders.
The black and green folders help track the returned cards; the story supplies each owner’s name and birth month. Illustration: Atelier

Follow the name before the folder colour. Lina first holds Inès’s card, so possession at that moment does not establish ownership. The two printed clues agree: Lina with March, Inès with May. Seven glosses support the present-tense reading.

A1 · Two reminders exchanged

La carte de mars et la carte de mai

Lina Moreau et Inès Martin quittent l’accueil avec les cartes1 de leurs prochains rendez-vous. Elles posent les deux cartes sur une petite table pour mettre leurs manteaux. Lina prend une carte et Inès prend l’autre. Puis elles vont ensemble au café, juste à côté. Les rendez-vous sont pour le mois prochain.

Au café, Lina lit2 la carte dans son sac. Elle voit le nom « Inès Martin » et le mois de naissance3 « mai ». « Cette carte n’est pas à moi », dit-elle. « Je m’appelle Lina Moreau et je suis née en mars. » Inès regarde la carte qu’elle tient. Le nom est « Lina Moreau », et le mois indiqué est « mars ».

Les deux amies comprennent : chacune a la carte de l’autre4. Inès rend la carte de mars à Lina. Lina lui donne la carte de mai. Maintenant, chacune regarde son propre5 nom. Lina range sa carte dans son dossier6 noir. Inès met la sienne dans son dossier vert. « La prochaine fois, on vérifie le nom avant de partir », dit Lina. Inès répond : « Oui, et le mois de naissance confirme la bonne7 carte ! »

Read it in English

Lina Moreau and Inès Martin leave reception with the cards for their next appointments. They put both cards on a small table to put on their coats. Lina takes one card and Inès takes the other. Then they go together to the café next door. The appointments are for next month.

At the café, Lina reads the card in her bag. She sees the name “Inès Martin” and the birth month “May.” “This card isn’t mine,” she says. “My name is Lina Moreau and I was born in March.” Inès looks at the card she is holding. The name is “Lina Moreau,” and the month shown is “March.”

The two friends understand: each has the other’s card. Inès returns the March card to Lina. Lina gives her the May card. Now each looks at her own name. Lina puts her card in her black folder. Inès puts hers in her green folder. “Next time, we’ll check the name before leaving,” says Lina. Inès replies, “Yes, and the birth month confirms the right card!”

The names, birth months and final folders
FriendBirth monthFinal folder
Lina Moreaumarsnoir
Inès Martinmaivert
Question 1No account needed
Which birth month belongs to Lina in this story?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

March. Lina explicitly says she was born in mars, matching the card with her full name.

Question 2No account needed
Whose card does Lina first read at the café?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Inès Martin’s. The first card in Lina’s bag is printed with Inès Martin and mai.

Question 3No account needed
Where is Lina’s card at the end?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

In Lina’s black folder. After the exchange, Lina places her own card in her dossier noir.

Mars and mai are different month names, and neither takes an ordinary initial capital inside a French sentence. The full names are the strongest explicit ownership clue in the story. Use the month as a confirming detail, then follow the exchange to the final folder.

Keep going