Annotate a French writing brief: audience, actions, facts and limits
Mark a B1 French prompt, read its availability table and turn four kinds of annotation into a short message plan. Includes a worked example and quiz.
In short
Give four things different marks: the audience, the requested actions, the fixed facts and the limits. Keep each instruction verb with its object. Then turn your marks into a few notes that tell you what to write.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
Read the whole brief before marking it
Votre amie Léa organise une rencontre samedi, mais plusieurs participants ne sont pas disponibles. Écrivez-lui pour proposer une autre date et expliquer votre choix. Appuyez-vous uniquement sur le tableau des disponibilités. Demandez-lui de confirmer la nouvelle date.
Your friend Léa is organising a meeting on Saturday, but several participants are unavailable. Write to her to suggest another date and explain your choice. Use only the availability table. Ask her to confirm the new date.
| Date | Léa | Nora | Samir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 8 June | Available | Unavailable | Unavailable |
| Sunday 9 June | Available | Available | Available |
| Monday 10 June | Unavailable | Available | Available |
| Mark | Exact words in the brief | Decision for your draft |
|---|---|---|
| Circle the audience | Votre amie Léa | Use a friendly message and address Léa with tu. |
| Underline actions | proposer une autre date ; expliquer votre choix ; demander de confirmer | Plan a proposal, a reason and a confirmation question. |
| Box fixed facts | samedi ; plusieurs participants ne sont pas disponibles | Keep the Saturday problem; use the table to identify who is unavailable. |
| Star a limit | uniquement sur le tableau des disponibilités | Choose from the table; use availability as your reason. |
The word plusieurs tells you that several people are unavailable. The table names them: Nora and Samir. Uniquement narrows the reason you can give. Sunday works because all three people are available; an extra story about work or family would go beyond this brief.
How do you annotate a French writing brief?
| Job | Short note | Possible wording |
|---|---|---|
| Address | Léa; friend | Salut Léa ! |
| Problem | Saturday: Nora + Samir unavailable | Nora et Samir ne sont pas disponibles samedi. |
| Proposal | Sunday 9 June | Je te propose le dimanche 9 juin. |
| Reason | Everyone available | Nous sommes tous disponibles ce jour-là. |
| Question | Léa to confirm | Peux-tu confirmer cette date ? |
Compare the map with the brief once more. The proposal is yours to make; Léa’s confirmation is still to come. Each row has one job, so a missing action is easy to spot before you write the full message. Save the final sentence-by-sentence check for the task-fit page linked below.