Written Production (récit)

Written Section Structure and Narrative Architecture

Section II of the Higher Level paper contains four questions. Question 1 is compulsory and worth 40 marks (20 for Communication, 20 for Language). It offers an option (a) and (b) based on the Section I comprehension texts; narrative prompts usually begin with a phrase such as « Selon le texte de la Section I... ». You then answer any two tasks from Questions 2, 3, and 4 (30 marks each: 15 for Communication, 15 for Language). A narrative task can appear as Question 1(b), or inside Question 2 framed as a diary entry (journal intime).

When a récit is based on Question 1, exploit the stimulus text in your first or last sentence (for example: Comme Tibor, un garçon de ma classe adore faire des bêtises...). Prompts regularly state « votre récit peut être réel ou imaginaire », granting full freedom to invent details that suit your best vocabulary.

Every effective narrative follows a four-stage plan designed to fit a 90-word budget:

1. Le cadre (The Setting) – roughly 2 sentences (~25 words): establish time, weather, and ongoing background in the imparfait.
2. L'élément déclencheur (The Inciting Incident) – 1 to 2 sentences (~20 words): introduce the sudden turning point using a connector like soudain or tout à coup followed by the passé composé.
3. Les péripéties et le point culminant (Action and Climax) – roughly 3 sentences (~30 words): recount the immediate reactions, physical obstacles, and emotional peaks.
4. Le dénouement et la réflexion (Resolution and Reflection) – 1 to 2 sentences (~15 words): resolve the situation and reflect on the experience.

Opening Lines Bank

Having three reliable opening formulas prevents hesitation in the exam room:

• C'était un samedi matin ordinaire et il pleuvait à verse. (It was an ordinary Saturday morning and it was pouring rain.)
• Je venais de rentrer du lycée quand le téléphone a sonné. (I had just returned from school when the phone rang. Note that venir de in the imparfait expresses 'had just'.)
• Ce jour-là, je ne me doutais de rien. (That day, I suspected nothing.)

The Journal Intime Wrapper (Question 2)

If your narrative is set as a diary entry, wrap your récit in the standard diary format to secure full Communication marks:

• Top line: Le mardi 12 juin (no capital letter on the month in French).
• Opening: Cher journal,
• Body: Focus heavily on feelings and reactions alongside the events.
• Closing formula: Bon, je suis épuisé(e). Je vais me coucher. Bonne nuit, cher journal ! or simply À demain !

Past Tense Mastery: Imparfait, Passé Composé, and Plus-que-parfait

Examiners look for more than one past tense used correctly. A story told entirely in the passé composé reads like a list of actions and will not reach the top Language marks.

Think of the imparfait as the painted background scenery on a stage, and the passé composé as the specific, individual actions that take place in front of it.

The distinction is never simply 'long action versus short action'. The passé composé is required whenever an action is presented as completed within a defined timeframe: Nous avons attendu pendant une heure (We waited for an hour). In contrast, the imparfait describes the background condition: Nous attendions quand l'accident s'est produit (We were waiting when the accident happened).

Pay close attention to these two high-frequency contrasts:

• Il y avait (background state: Il y avait beaucoup de monde dans la rue) versus Il y a eu (punctual event: Soudain, il y a eu une terrible explosion).
• J'étais (ongoing condition: J'étais malade ce jour-là) versus J'ai été (completed occurrence: J'ai été surpris par sa réaction).

The Passé Simple

In Section I literary texts, you will encounter forms such as il partit (he left), elle vit (she saw), or ils furent (they were). This is the literary written past. You must recognise it in reading comprehensions, but you should never write it in your own narrative composition. Use the passé composé throughout your own script.

Dialogue and Mid-Story Tense Shifts

Do not drift into the present tense mid-story (Soudain, un chien arrive... is incorrect). Keep your narrative strictly in the past. The only place where the present tense belongs is inside direct speech. French dialogue uses a colon followed by guillemets, with punctuation placed inside: Il a crié : « Attention ! Il y a une voiture ! »

Grammar: Auxiliary Verbs, Agreements, Negation, and Pronouns

Top marks in Language require accurate manipulation of compound tenses, pronoun placement, and negative structures.

Auxiliary Verbs and the Direct Object Exception

Most verbs take avoir in compound tenses (j'ai vu, nous avons décidé). Verbs of motion in the DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP list take être, and their participles must agree in gender and number with the subject (elle est tombée, ils sont partis).

Six movement verbs — sortir, monter, descendre, rentrer, retourner, passer — take avoir when followed by a direct object, and their meaning changes:

• Je suis sorti. (I went out.) but J'ai sorti mon portable. (I took out my mobile phone.)
• Elle est montée. (She went up.) but Elle a monté l'escalier. (She walked up the stairs.)

When used with avoir, the participle does not agree with the subject.

Reflexive Verb Agreement

Reflexive verbs always use être, but the participle agrees only with a preceding direct object:

• Elle s'est coupée. (The reflexive pronoun s' is the direct object and precedes the verb, so -e is added.)
• Elle s'est lavé les mains. (Les mains is the direct object and follows the verb, so lavé remains invariable.)

Negatives and Object Pronouns in Compound Tenses

In a compound tense, ne precedes the auxiliary verb, and the second negative element sits between the auxiliary and the past participle:

• Je n'ai pas compris. (I did not understand.)
• Je n'avais jamais vu une telle scène. (I had never seen such a scene.)
• Nous n'avons rien entendu. (We heard nothing.)

Personne is an exception: it stays after the past participle when it functions as the direct object (Je n'ai vu personne), but comes first when it is the subject (Personne n'a bougé).

Object pronouns are placed directly before the auxiliary verb, inside the negative structure:

• Je l'ai aperçu. (I caught sight of him.)
• Elle m'a tout expliqué. (She explained everything to me.)
• Je ne lui ai rien dit. (I said nothing to him/her.)

Syllabus Sequencing Structures and Connector Bank

The syllabus names five structures for telling and sequencing a story in the past. Getting two of them right is one of the quickest ways to raise your Language mark.

1. Après avoir / être + past participle (After having done):

Requires a past infinitive. Match the auxiliary used in compound tenses and apply agreement if using être.

• Après avoir fermé la porte, j'ai couru. (After having closed the door, I ran.)
• Après être sortie du magasin, elle a appelé un taxi. (After leaving the shop, she called a taxi.)
• Après s'être réveillé, il a sauté du lit. (After waking up, he jumped out of bed.)

1. Avant de + infinitive (Before doing):

Used when the subject of both actions is identical.

• Avant d'ouvrir la porte, j'ai hésité. (Before opening the door, I hesitated.)

1. Avant que + subjunctive (Before someone else does something):

Used when the subject changes between clauses. Use clear irregular subjunctive forms to show grammatical mastery (soit, fasse, puisse, vienne, aille).

• Nous sommes rentrés avant qu'il ne fasse nuit. (We went home before it got dark.)
• Il s'est enfui avant que la police ne puisse intervenir. (He fled before the police could intervene.)

1. En + present participle (While / On doing):

Formed from the present nous stem + -ant. Indicates simultaneous action performed by the exact same subject.

• En entendant ce cri, j'ai sursauté. (On hearing that scream, I jumped.)

1. Pendant que + indicative (While):

Used when two continuous actions happen at the same time or involve two different subjects.

• Pendant que je cherchais mes clés, mon frère appelait les secours. (While I was looking for my keys, my brother was calling the emergency services.)

Connector Bank for Récit

Use three or four of these across your narrative to ensure smooth pacing:

• Setting the scene: ce jour-là (that day), il y a deux ans (two years ago), au début (at first).
• Moving the story on: d'abord (first), ensuite / puis (then), peu après (shortly afterwards), quelques minutes plus tard (a few minutes later), au bout d'une demi-heure (after half an hour), entre-temps (meanwhile).
• The turning point: soudain / tout à coup (suddenly), c'est alors que... (it was then that...), à ce moment-là (at that moment), sans prévenir (without warning).
• Closing: enfin / finalement (finally), heureusement / malheureusement (luckily / unfortunately), depuis ce jour-là (ever since that day).

Expressing Feelings, Reactions, and Upgraded Verbs

Section 1.8 of the syllabus highlights expressing feelings, attitudes, and reactions. Rather than merely stating j'avais peur, use expressive exclamations, physical reactions, and precise action verbs.

Exclamations

Short, natural exclamations immediately raise the authenticity of personal writing:

• Quelle horreur ! (How awful!)
• Quelle honte ! (How embarrassing!)
• Quel soulagement ! (What a relief!)
• Sans blague ! (You are joking! / No kidding!)

Feelings with an Infinitive

• J'étais ravi(e) de revoir mes amis. (I was delighted to see my friends again.)
• Je n'arrivais pas à en croire mes yeux. (I could not believe my eyes.)
• J'ai regretté d'avoir parlé trop vite. (I regretted having spoken too fast.)
• J'espérais que personne ne m'avait vu. (I hoped nobody had seen me.)

Showing Physical Signs of Emotion

• Blanc(he) comme un linge (As white as a sheet, e.g. J'étais blanc comme un linge.)
• Le cœur battant à tout rompre (Heart pounding violently)
• Les mains tremblantes (With trembling hands)
• Le souffle coupé, je me suis immobilisé. (Breathless, I froze.)
• J'étais mort(e) de honte / rouge comme une tomate. (I was mortified / scarlet.)
• J'étais plié(e) en deux de rire. (I was doubled up laughing.)

Upgraded Narrative Verbs

Swap predictable verbs for descriptive alternatives:

• Instead of aller vite → se précipiter (to rush) or s'enfuir (to flee)
• Instead of dire fort → s'écrier (to cry out) or hurler (to shriek)
• Instead of dire bas → murmurer (to whisper / murmur)
• Instead of regarder → apercevoir (to catch sight of) or scruter (to peer into / scrutinise)
• Instead of avoir très peur → avoir la peur de sa vie (to have the fright of one's life)

Key terms

Récit

A narrative composition recounting a past event or incident, assessed equally on communicative fulfilment and linguistic accuracy.

Imparfait

The descriptive past tense used for scene-setting, weather, background atmosphere, ongoing mental states, and habitual actions.

Passé composé

The compound past tense used for completed, punctual actions that drive the chronological sequence of events forward.

Plus-que-parfait

The pluperfect tense (imparfait of auxiliary + past participle), used to describe an action completed prior to the main narrative timeline.

Communication

The marking criterion assessing narrative structure, fulfilment of the exam prompt, logical sequence, and exploitation of stimulus material.

Language

The marking criterion assessing grammatical correctness, accuracy of past tenses and agreements, range of vocabulary, and sentence structures.

Gérondif

A verbal form consisting of en + present participle (-ant), expressing an action simultaneous to the main verb performed by the same subject.

Infinitif passé

A compound infinitive structure using après avoir or après être + past participle, translating as 'after having done'.

Élément déclencheur

The inciting incident or unexpected plot trigger that abruptly disrupts the opening scene.

Journal intime

A personal diary format requiring a date heading, 'Cher journal', emotional reflections, and an informal bedtime sign-off.