Gap-fill
French A1 gap-fill: Sunday at the animal shelter
A short French story about volunteering at an animal shelter. Fill present-tense verbs: nourrir, nettoyer, promener, jouer, adopter. Check and read the translation.
- A1
- 11 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
This story practises the present tense of everyday verbs, including -er verbs (promener, jouer, donner), -ir verbs (nourrir, choisir) and nettoyer (je nettoie). Use the infinitive hint and the subject.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
| Pronoun | finir |
|---|---|
| je | finis |
| tu | finis |
| il / elle | finit |
| nous | finissons |
| vous | finissez |
| ils / elles | finissent |
Un dimanche au refuge
Le dimanche matin, Paul (aller) au refuge pour animaux. Il (être) bénévole depuis un an. D'abord, il (nettoyer) les cages des chats.
Ensuite, Paul et Sophie (nourrir) les chiens. Les chiens (attendre) devant la porte et (aboyer) de joie.
À dix heures, Paul (promener) Rocky, un vieux chien très calme. Sophie (jouer) avec deux chatons dans la salle.
À midi, une famille (arriver). Les enfants (choisir) un chat noir. Ils l'(adopter) ! Paul est triste, mais surtout très content.
Read it in English
On Sunday mornings, Paul goes to the animal shelter. He has been a volunteer for a year. First, he cleans the cats' cages.
Then Paul and Sophie feed the dogs. The dogs wait by the door and bark with joy.
At ten, Paul walks Rocky, an old, very calm dog. Sophie plays with two kittens in the room.
At noon, a family arrives. The children choose a black cat. They adopt it! Paul is sad, but above all very happy.
Spelling notes
- Nettoyer and aboyer change y to i before a silent ending: il nettoie, ils aboient.
- Promener takes a grave accent: il promène.
- Choisir and nourrir add -iss- in the plural: ils choisissent, ils nourrissent.
Volunteering is very common in France: about one adult in four gives time to an association. Animal shelters often need help with walks, cleaning and socialising cats and dogs, and some take volunteers from sixteen with parental agreement.
Être bénévole means to volunteer; un refuge (or la SPA, the French equivalent of the RSPCA) is an animal shelter. Adopter un animal is the usual phrase, as in English.