Describe a character’s feelings in French: three short scenes

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 18 October 2026 · About the library

Read three French scenes and choose between ravie, inquiète, déçue and soulagée. Practise agreement and explain a reaction with a detail from the text.

B1
4 margin notes
Translation included
Questions at the end
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In short

Name the feeling and connect it to an event: Léa est déçue parce que la visite est annulée. If you are interpreting an action, semble marks that reading: Nabil semble inquiet. Check the adjective’s agreement with the character.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

A woman sits near a French apartment window smiling with quiet delight at her phone, its screen turned away, no writing. — Maya is ravie that her friend is coming. Illustration: Atelier

Des nouvelles, une attente, une surprise

Maya reçoit un message

Maya lit le message de son amie. « Je viens samedi ! » Elle sourit et répond aussitôt : « Je suis ravie¹ ! On va enfin passer le week-end ensemble. » Elle attend cette visite depuis plusieurs semaines.

Nabil attend une réponse

Nabil doit donner sa réponse avant midi. Il regarde l’heure, relit son message et vérifie encore son téléphone. Son collègue n’a toujours pas répondu. Il semble inquiet², mais il dit seulement : « J’attends sa confirmation. »

Léa change de programme

Léa espérait participer à la visite de samedi. Elle apprend que la visite est annulée. « Quel dommage ! Je suis vraiment déçue³ », dit-elle. Puis son amie l’appelle : une autre visite est prévue dimanche, et il reste deux places. Léa les réserve et dit : « Ouf, je suis soulagée⁴ ! Nous allons quand même pouvoir y aller. »

Read it in English

Maya reads that her friend is coming on Saturday. She smiles and says she is delighted. She has been waiting for this visit for several weeks.

Nabil must reply before midday. He checks the time and his phone again; his colleague has still not replied. He seems worried but only says he is waiting for confirmation.

Léa is disappointed that Saturday’s visit is cancelled. Her friend finds two places on Sunday’s visit. Léa books them and says she is relieved: they can go after all.

One adjective, four forms

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
ravi	ravie	ravis	ravies
inquiet	inquiète	inquiets	inquiètes
déçu	déçue	déçus	déçues
soulagé	soulagée	soulagés	soulagées

Maya est ravie de revoir son amie.

Maya is delighted to see her friend again.

Use de before the infinitive. Parce que introduces a full clause: Maya est ravie parce que son amie vient samedi.

Maya and Léa name their feelings directly. For Nabil, the narrator gives an interpretation with semble. His repeated checks support that reading, while his quoted words only state that he is waiting. Keep semble if you summarise that part of the scene.