Reading

Preuve or indice? Follow the clues in a missing-bag story

Read a short B1 French story about a missing bag. Distinguish a clue from proof, learn evidence phrases and answer four reading questions.

In short

Un indice is a clue or indication; une preuve is evidence or proof used to establish something. A clue points towards an explanation. Ask what the evidence actually establishes: a receipt can show a payment, while a bag’s colour helps you recognise it.

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A blue bag beside a workshop table where people are working.
A matching colour offers un indice. Illustration: Atelier

B1 · a missing bag at a community centre

Le sac bleu

Après l’atelier, Inès ne trouve plus son sac. Sur la table, il reste une petite enveloppe bleue. « C’est peut-être un indice1, dit-elle. Mon sac est bleu aussi. » Malik regarde l’enveloppe. Elle porte le nom de Paul. « Cette couleur ne suffit pas à prouver2 que quelqu’un a déplacé ton sac. »

Inès retourne à l’accueil. Elle y retrouve un reçu3 qu’elle a laissé en arrivant. « Voilà ma preuve de paiement4 pour l’atelier ! » dit-elle. Le reçu indique son nom, la date et le montant payé. Mais il ne dit rien sur l’endroit où se trouve le sac.

Une bénévole arrive avec un sac bleu. « Il était sous une chaise, dans la petite salle. » Inès reconnaît aussitôt la poche rouge et son écharpe verte à l’intérieur. « C’est bien le mien ! » L’enveloppe de Paul était un faux indice5. La bénévole sourit : « Et maintenant, on peut ranger la salle. »

Read it in English

After the workshop, Inès cannot find her bag. A small blue envelope is left on the table. ‘Perhaps it’s a clue,’ she says. ‘My bag is blue too.’ Malik looks at the envelope. It has Paul’s name on it. ‘That colour isn’t enough to prove that someone moved your bag.’

Inès goes back to reception. There she finds a receipt she left when she arrived. ‘Here’s my proof of payment for the workshop!’ she says. The receipt shows her name, the date and the amount paid. But it says nothing about where the bag is.

A volunteer arrives with a blue bag. ‘It was under a chair in the small room.’ Inès immediately recognises the red pocket and her green scarf inside. ‘That’s mine!’ Paul’s envelope was a misleading clue. The volunteer smiles: ‘And now we can tidy the room.’

Objects in the story

Useful evidence phrases
FrenchEnglish
chercher des indiceslook for clues
apporter une preuveprovide evidence
une preuve de paiementproof of payment
des preuvesevidence / pieces of evidence
l’indice des prixthe price index

Preuve is feminine; indice is masculine. English “evidence” is usually uncountable, so des preuves translates naturally as “evidence”. In l’indice des prix, indice has a different meaning: a numerical index.

Question 1No account needed
Why does Inès first notice the envelope?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

It is the same colour as her bag.. The shared blue colour attracts her attention; the name on it is Paul’s.

Question 2No account needed
What does the receipt document?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Her payment for the workshop.. The receipt gives her name, the date and the amount paid for the workshop.

Question 3No account needed
Where was the bag?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Sous une chaise.. The volunteer says it was under a chair in the small room.

Question 4No account needed
Choose the correct noun phrase.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

un indice. Indice is masculine: un indice. Preuve is feminine: une preuve.