A1StoryEveryday life1 min

Le train pour Lyon

Three hours on the train, with rain at the start and sun in the middle.

A text about times and weather, and the first in which someone speaks to a stranger. Notice il in il pleut: it means nobody. French needs a subject even when there is none — just like the “it” in “it is raining”.

Le train pour Lyon part à sept heures vingt. Julien arrive à la gare à sept heures cinq. Il achète le billet au guichet et cherche la voie trois.

Il pleut et la gare est froide. Un homme vend du café dans un petit magasin. Julien boit un café et regarde l’horloge.

Dans le train il s’assied près de la fenêtre. Dehors il voit des champs verts, une rivière et une montagne au loin. Après une heure le ciel s’ouvre et le soleil arrive.

Une dame demande si la place à côté est libre. Julien dit oui. Ils parlent du temps, du prix des billets et de la pluie de novembre.

À dix heures le train arrive à Lyon. Julien prend la valise et sort de la gare. La ville est pleine de monde et la rivière n’est pas loin.

Words: 140
Sentences: 15
Words per sentence: 9.3
in the vocabulary: 100 %
measured level: A2
Reading time: 1 min

The words from A1 up in this text

Not the hard words in general, but those at your level: 30 of the 56 of the 76 words in this text are at A1 or above. You will know everything else by the time you get here.

acheter
to buy
A1
arriver
to arrive
A1
boire
to drink
A1
chercher
to look for
A1
cinq
five
A1
dehors
outside
A1
demander
to ask for
A1
dire
to say, to tell
A1
dix
ten
A1
froid
cold
A1
la dame
the lady
A2
la fenêtre
the window
A1
la gare
the railway station
A1
la montagne
the mountain
A1
la place
the square
A1
la pluie
the rain
A1
la rivière
the river
A1
la valise
the suitcase
A2
la ville
the town
A1
la voie
the platform
A1
le billet
the ticket
A1
le café
the coffee
A1
le champ
the field
A1
le ciel
the sky
A1
le côté
the side
A1
le guichet
the ticket window
A2
le magasin
the shop
A1
le monde
the world, people
A1
le prix
the price
A1
le soleil
the sun
A1

The word lists for this text

The words in this text appear in 13 lists on this site; the number after each says how many come from that list. Having read the text, you have just needed these very words — and can practise exactly them.

Irregular verbs 8 Weather and seasons 8 Numbers and time 8 The most important verbs 6 The town and the way there 6 Words for everything 5 Colours and qualities 3 Travel and transport 3 Food and drink 2 Clothes 2 Person and family 2 Living and the household 2 Greetings and politeness 1

Comprehension questions

4 questions on the text. With each answer the sentence it comes from appears — a question whose answer you cannot find in the text tests nothing.

1. À quelle heure part le train ?

2. Où Julien achète-t-il le billet ?

3. Quel temps fait-il quand Julien arrive à la gare ?

4. Que demande la dame ?