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A1 French reading: who owns the red scarf?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Read a short French photograph scene with word notes and a translation. Match people to clothes, follow a borrowed scarf and answer four questions.

In short

In this reading, Farah wears the red scarf, but it belongs to her aunt. Watch the difference between porter (to wear), prêter (to lend) and rendre (to give back).

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

An aunt photographs Farah in a red scarf beside her brother in a garden.
Farah porte the scarf, but her aunt owns it. Illustration: Atelier

A1 · a family photograph

L’écharpe rouge

Sur la photo

Sur la photo, trois personnes sont dans un jardin : Farah, son frère Hugo et leur tante1. Farah porte2 un manteau noir et une écharpe rouge. Hugo porte une veste bleue. Leur tante porte un grand pull gris.

L’écharpe rouge est à3 leur tante. Elle la prête4 à Farah parce qu’il fait froid. Leur tante tient5 l’appareil photo d’Hugo dans sa main.

Après la promenade, Farah rend6 l’écharpe à sa tante. Hugo pose son appareil sur la table. Farah aime beaucoup cette photo : c’est leur première promenade ensemble dans ce jardin.

Read it in English

In the photograph, three people are in a garden: Farah, her brother Hugo and their aunt. Farah is wearing a black coat and a red scarf. Hugo is wearing a blue jacket. Their aunt is wearing a large grey jumper.

The red scarf belongs to their aunt. She lends it to Farah because it is cold. Their aunt is holding Hugo’s camera in her hand.

After the walk, Farah gives the scarf back to her aunt. Hugo puts his camera on the table. Farah likes this photograph a lot: it is their first walk together in this garden.

Question 1No account needed
Who is wearing the red scarf in the photograph?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Farah.. The first paragraph names Farah as the person wearing the red scarf.

Question 2No account needed
Who owns the red scarf?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Their aunt.. The second paragraph explicitly says the scarf belongs to their aunt.

Question 3No account needed
Who owns the camera that the aunt is holding?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Hugo.. The camera is identified as Hugo’s, even though the aunt is holding it.

Question 4No account needed
What happens to the scarf after the walk?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Farah returns it to her aunt.. The last paragraph says that Farah gives the scarf back to her aunt.

How do French colour adjectives agree?

Four nouns with their colours
ClothingMeaningPerson wearing it
un manteau noira black coatFarah
une écharpe rougea red scarfFarah
une veste bleuea blue jacketHugo
un grand pull grisa large grey jumperTheir aunt

Une veste is feminine, so bleu becomes bleue. Une écharpe rouge keeps rouge: that colour has the same masculine and feminine singular form. In leur tante, leur refers to Farah and Hugo together, while tante names one aunt.

Say the difference in two sentences

Farah porte l’écharpe de sa tante. Après la promenade, elle rend l’écharpe à sa tante.

Farah is wearing her aunt’s scarf. After the walk, she gives the scarf back to her aunt.

Read these aloud, then cover them and describe what Farah does.

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