Write a 50–70-word French absence note with one limitation, one activity still possible and an exact contact window. Practise a polite request for the class documents.
State the limitation with je ne peux pas, then the remaining possibility with je peux. Add an exact contact window: Je suis disponible entre quatorze et seize heures. This note says the writer cannot attend Tuesday’s class but can read the notes and reply by email that afternoon.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
The note distinguishes attending class from reading the notes at home and replying by email. Illustration: Atelier
The teacher needs to know that you are absent today, where to send the documents and when you can reply. The task supplies Tuesday, reading the notes at home and a two-hour email window. Include each detail in a short, polite message.
A1 · Original practical writingNot an official exam paper
Vous vous appelez Camille. Vous êtes malade aujourd’hui, mardi. Vous ne pouvez pas venir au cours, mais vous pouvez lire les notes chez vous. Vous pouvez répondre aux courriels entre 14 h et 16 h aujourd’hui. Écrivez un message de 50 à 70 mots à votre professeure. Demandez les documents par courriel et ne donnez pas de date de retour.
(50 mots minimum)
As Camille, write 50–70 words to your teacher. You cannot attend Tuesday’s class, can read notes at home and can answer emails today from 14:00 to 16:00. Ask for the documents by email; give no return date.
Your answer
Nothing you write is saved or sent. Copy it before you leave.
Read a model answer
Bonjour Madame, je suis malade aujourd’hui, mardi, et je ne peux pas venir au cours. Je peux lire les notes à la maison. Pouvez-vous m’envoyer les documents par courriel, s’il vous plaît ? Je peux répondre à vos messages entre quatorze et seize heures aujourd’hui. Merci pour votre aide et votre compréhension. Camille.
Review your draft
Keep the action after peux in the infinitive
Je peux lire names what remains possible. Je ne peux pas venir names the limitation. Lire and venir stay in the infinitive after peux. Moving ne… pas to the wrong action would change the message: je ne peux pas lire would remove the activity the task specifically says you can still do.
Je ne peux pas venir, mais je peux lire les documents.
I cannot come, but I can read the documents.
Available for email does not mean available for class
The reply window concerns courriels, not attendance in the classroom. Entre quatorze et seize heures gives a two-hour period that day. Keep aujourd’hui attached to it so the teacher does not interpret the availability as a daily schedule or a promised return tomorrow.
A clear absence note gives the impact, the remaining activity and the contact arrangement. Finish with a short thanks, such as Merci pour votre aide, then sign your name.
