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A2 French story: the viewing shows a room the advert never mentioned

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read an A2 French flat-viewing story where an unmentioned storage room changes a visitor’s decision. Follow the rooms, measurements and explicit qui, que and où references.

In short

The extra space is a storage room, not another bedroom. Léa discovers it during the viewing, measures it and sees a way to store her theatre materials. That resolves the main reason she hesitated, so she decides to submit an application for the flat.

A visitor and agent look into a small walk-in storage room with shelves, boxes, folded fabric and theatre scenery.
The extra room offers storage space that the advert did not mention. Illustration: Atelier

The advertisement and the viewing do not give Léa exactly the same information. Read for the practical detail she needs, the question that reveals it and the decision that follows. The relative clauses keep the person, room and object references connected.

A2 · A viewing adds one practical detail

La porte du couloir

Léa cherche un appartement où elle peut vivre et ranger le matériel de son association de théâtre. Elle a plusieurs boîtes de tissus et des décors1 pliables. L’annonce qu’elle regarde décrit une chambre, un séjour et une cuisine. Sur les photos, le séjour lui semble agréable, mais un peu petit pour tout son matériel.

Elle organise quand même une visite2. Dans l’appartement, l’agent qui l’accueille lui montre d’abord la cuisine et la chambre. Puis ils passent dans le couloir. Léa remarque une porte étroite que les photos ne montraient pas. « Qu’est-ce qu’il y a derrière ? », demande-t-elle.

L’agent ouvre la porte. C’est un petit débarras3 sans fenêtre, avec des étagères4 sur deux murs. Il précise que cet espace fait partie de l’appartement proposé. Ce n’est pas une chambre supplémentaire : c’est un endroit où l’on peut ranger des affaires.

Léa mesure la largeur d’une étagère avec son mètre. Ses boîtes de tissus peuvent y tenir. Elle demande aussi les dimensions du sol pour ses décors pliables. L’agent lui laisse noter les mesures et prendre une photo de la pièce.

Avant la visite, Léa hésitait à cause du rangement5. Maintenant, elle voit une solution concrète. Elle décide de déposer une demande6 pour cet appartement. Elle garde cependant les mesures dans son carnet pour vérifier tranquillement, chez elle, la taille de toutes ses boîtes.

Read it in English

Léa is looking for a flat where she can live and store the equipment for her theatre association. She has several boxes of fabric and folding scenery. The advert she is looking at describes a bedroom, living room and kitchen. In the photos, the living room looks pleasant but rather small for all her equipment.

She arranges a viewing anyway. In the flat, the agent who welcomes her first shows the kitchen and bedroom. Then they enter the corridor. Léa notices a narrow door that the photos did not show. “What’s behind it?” she asks.

The agent opens the door. It is a small windowless storage room with shelves on two walls. He specifies that this space is part of the offered flat. It is not an extra bedroom: it is somewhere to store things.

Léa measures the width of a shelf with her tape measure. Her fabric boxes can fit there. She also asks for the floor dimensions for her folding scenery. The agent lets her note the measurements and take a photo of the room.

Before the viewing, Léa was hesitating because of storage. Now she sees a concrete solution. She decides to submit an application for the flat. However, she keeps the measurements in her notebook to check all her boxes’ sizes calmly at home.

Question 1No account needed
What was not described in the advert?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

The storage room behind the narrow door. The advert lists bedroom, living room and kitchen; the débarras is discovered at the viewing.

Question 2No account needed
What use does the agent explicitly give for the extra space?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Storage for belongings. He says it is not an extra bedroom and describes it as storage.

Question 3No account needed
What does Léa decide after measuring the space?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

To submit an application and check her boxes at home. The final paragraph gives both the application decision and the later measurement check.

Qui, que and où attach information to a noun

Three references in the story
ExtractNoun it describesAdded information
L’agent qui l’accueilleL’agentThe person welcoming her
Une porte que les photos ne montraient pasUne porteThe door absent from the photographs
Un endroit où l’on peut ranger des affairesUn endroitWhat can be done in that place

The decision follows a specific need rather than the mere presence of an extra door. Léa’s fabric boxes fit on the measured shelf, and she records the remaining dimensions. Those actions explain why the new information matters to her evaluation.

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