A surprise gift

"Un cadeau surprise"
French B2 writing exercise

Gaspard remembers a special gift he made for his mother when he was a boy.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to sneak in", "the woods", "wild flowers", "to gather a bouquet", "to run back [somewhere]", "a nanny", "to steal", "a satin ribbon", "a sewing kit", "the laundry room", "to tie", "a bow (knot)", "to surprise [someone]".

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE
Last updated: 2023-01-12

I’ll give you some sentences to translate into French

  • I’ll show you where you make mistakes
  • I’ll keep track of what you need to practise
  • Change my choices if you want
Start the exercise
How the test works
You’ll practise: Préposition, L'Imparfait (Indicatif), Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif)

Here's a preview of the text for the writing challenge, when you're ready click the start button above:

I loved my mother with all my heart, and I wanted her to know it. So one day when she had gone to town, I snuck into the woods behind our house. I knew where to find pretty wild flowers, and I had gathered a beautiful bouquet before running back into the house without my nanny noticing my absence. I had also managed to steal a pink satin ribbon from the sewing kit that she kept in the laundry room. Hidden in my bedroom, I'd tied the flowers with a pretty bow. I'd then waited for her to come home. I can still see her smile when I surprised her.

Clever stuff happening!