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Matching game

DELF B1 oral interaction: match the reply to the conversation goal

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Match six French interaction replies to their precise conversation goals, separating clarification, negotiation, confirmation and repair.

In short

Identify the job your reply must do before choosing polite wording. A clarification asks for missing meaning; a negotiation proposes a change; a confirmation restates agreement; a repair corrects earlier wording. A polite sentence can still leave the practical question unanswered.

Adults clarifying room and timing arrangements at a reception desk.
Choose wording that performs the needed conversational action. Teaching illustration: Atelier

The matching activity gives complete reply lines with their own clues. Pay attention to whether the speaker asks, proposes, recaps or corrects. These are independent examples. You do not need to imagine a whole unseen conversation to identify the explicit purpose of each line.

What does each reply do?

Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.

The same politeness can serve different goals

Pourriez-vous préciser l’adresse ?

Could you specify the address?

Pourriez-vous livrer à une autre adresse ?

Could you deliver to another address?

Both questions use pourriez-vous, but the first asks for information and the second requests a different arrangement. Politeness does not determine the action. Read the verb and the information or change being requested.

Correct wording or change the plan?

J’ai dit salle B, mais je voulais dire salle D repairs the speaker’s earlier statement. It does not necessarily announce that an agreed venue has changed. By contrast, pouvons-nous déplacer la réunion dans la salle D ? proposes a change. Context and explicit wording tell you which action is intended.

Question 1No account needed
You do not know which calendar date “next week” refers to. What goal comes first?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Clarification.. You need to resolve the ambiguous reference before confirming.

Question 2No account needed
Which reply confirms rather than negotiates?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Je récapitule : mardi à 15 h.. Je récapitule restates the arrangement rather than proposing a different one.

Question 3No account needed
Why can “Merci beaucoup” be insufficient after a request for your availability?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Because it does not say when you are available.. The response may be polite but does not supply the requested practical detail.

For a role-play, pause briefly to label the next job: clarify, propose, confirm or repair. Then say one sentence that completes it. This makes the exchange responsive instead of filling it with courteous lines that do not move the task forward.

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