Explaining a procedure in French

Level A2

Explaining a procedure in French

You are showing someone how to open a door with a key. Learn one procedure: take the key, put it in the lock, turn it and open the door.

Bring back familiar forms

Je prends la clé means “I’ll take the key”; Je la prends means “I’ll take it”. La before clé is “the”; la before prends replaces the feminine noun clé. We will keep naming the key in the instructions so you can concentrate on the steps.

You have met instructions without a subject, such as allez, “go”. Here we use vous commands for one person addressed politely or several people. We also recover ne around a verb: here the negative is ne…pas, “do not”, rather than ne…plus, “no longer”.

The key, the lock and the actions

La clé = the key; la porte = the door; la serrure = the lock; le sac = the bag. Dans means “in”. Ouvrir means “to open”, prendre “to take”, mettre “to put” and tourner here “to turn/rotate” the key, rather than turn into a street.

D’abord = first; ensuite = next; enfin = finally, the last step here. Listen to these cards, then listen for the same words in the model.

Ask how, then give the steps

Comment on ouvre la porte ? means “How do we open the door?” Comment asks how; on here refers generally to the person doing the task, rather than a particular “we”. It still takes a singular verb: on ouvre. In this everyday question, on stays before the verb, as in a statement. Comment already marks it as a question; a final rise is possible but not required.

The other person answers with four actions in order. Je la prends confirms “I’ll take it”. Listen to the dialogue and follow the key from the hand to the lock.

Give a vous instruction

Ouvrir is the infinitive; ouvre is the form after on; ouvrez gives the instruction “open”. Prenez means “take”, mettez “put” and tournez “turn”. These instructions omit vous; the verb itself has the vous form. In these verbs it matches the present-tense vous form without the subject. No need to form an imperative from the infinitive by a universal rule.

D’abord introduces taking the key. Ensuite introduces putting it in the lock; turning it comes next. Enfin marks opening the door as the final action. Unlike English, French changes the verb form for the listener.

D’abord / Ensuite / Enfin, prenez / mettez / ouvrez …

Say what not to do

Put ne before these command verbs and pas after them: Ne prenez pas cette clé, “Don’t take this key”. Cette means “this” with a feminine noun: this is the wrong key, distinct from the one in the model. Ne mettez pas la clé dans le sac means “Don’t put the key in the bag”: keep it available for the lock.

Before ouvrez, ne becomes n’: N’ouvrez pas la porte, “Don’t open the door”. This is a contrast to the final positive command, not an extra step of the procedure.

Recognition only: Donnez-la-moi means “Give it to me”, with la referring to the key and moi meaning “to me”. Notice the two pronouns after the verb, linked by hyphens. You do not need to produce this combination or learn a pronoun-order chart here.

Ne / N’ verbe pas …

Your turn: the same door

Before reading the answers, explain the same procedure using vous commands. Start with “first”: take the key. Use “next”: put it in the lock. Then turn it. Finish with “finally”: open the door. Finally tell the person not to put the key in the bag. All the words and forms are above.

Compare your five sentences with the examples in order and listen to check the verb forms. The last negative is a reminder about keeping the key ready, not another procedure.

Keep the three forms apart

The table is a silent reminder, not an audio exercise. On keeps a subject in the question; a command has no subject: ouvrez, prenez, mettez. To prohibit these actions, use ne/n’…pas. D’abord, ensuite and enfin make the order clear. Practise the same door again before changing the context.

Action: infinitiveWith onInstruction: vous form
ouvriron ouvreouvrez
prendreon prendprenez
mettreon metmettez
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