Obtenir des renseignements
Getting information
Getting information
Asking for information aloud is one of the most common things you do in real life: at a station, a town hall, a bank, on the phone. At B1 you are expected to do more than fire off a single question. You open politely, you ask a clear question, and when the answer is not enough you reformulate to dig deeper. This lesson gives you the question strategies and the reformulation moves that make you sound in control.
Associez chaque expression française à sa traduction.
Match each French phrase to its English meaning.
- se renseigner sur
- Pourriez-vous me dire...
- un justificatif
- le délai
- Autrement dit, ...
Quelle ouverture est la plus polie dans un cadre officiel ?
Which opener is the most polite for an official setting?
Vous voulez reformuler pour vérifier votre compréhension. Quelle expression convient ?
You want to reformulate to check you understood. Which phrase fits?
Three ways to ask a question
French has three registers of question. Intonation (just raise your voice) is informal: Le train part à quelle heure ? Est-ce que is neutral and very safe: Est-ce que le train part bientôt ? Inversion is formal and scores well at the oral: À quelle heure part le train ? For getting information from an official, mix neutral and formal forms.
| un renseignement | a piece of information |
| se renseigner sur | to find out about / to enquire about |
| Je voudrais savoir si... | I would like to know whether... |
| Pourriez-vous me dire... | Could you tell me... |
| Auriez-vous l'heure de... | Would you have the time of... |
| Comment puis-je... | How can I... |
| À quoi sert... | What is ... for |
| le guichet | the ticket counter / window |
| les horaires | the timetable / opening hours |
| une démarche | a procedure / an administrative step |
| un justificatif | a supporting document / proof |
| le délai | the deadline / time frame |
Complétez la question indirecte polie.
Complete the polite indirect question.
Pourriez-vous me dire à quelle heure ____ le prochain train ?
Complétez avec le mot qui introduit une question fermée indirecte.
Fill in the word that introduces an embedded yes/no question.
Je voudrais savoir ____ je dois apporter un justificatif.
Remettez les mots dans l'ordre pour former une demande polie.
Put the words in order to form a polite request.
Opening politely
Never start with the bare question. Soften it with an opener: Excusez-moi de vous déranger, then j'aurais une question / je voudrais me renseigner sur... The conditional (voudrais, pourriez, auriez) is the politeness engine of the whole exchange. It signals respect and instantly raises your register.
Construisez la question formelle avec l'inversion.
Build the formal question using inversion.
Traduisez en français (registre formel).
Translate into French (formal).
Could you be more specific?
Traduisez en français.
Translate into French.
In other words, I have to pay first?
Reformulating to get more
When the first answer is vague, do not give up: reformulate. Check you understood (Si je comprends bien, ...), ask for a precise point (C'est-à-dire ? / Concrètement, ...), or rephrase your own question (Autrement dit, ...). These moves keep the conversation going and are exactly what examiners reward at B1.
| C'est-à-dire ? | Meaning? / That is to say? |
| Concrètement, ... | In concrete terms, ... |
| Autrement dit, ... | In other words, ... |
| Si je comprends bien, ... | If I understand correctly, ... |
| Vous voulez dire que... ? | Do you mean that...? |
| Pouvez-vous préciser ? | Could you be more specific? |
| Et dans ce cas, ... | And in that case, ... |
Écoutez et tapez la reformulation que vous entendez.
Listen and type the reformulation you hear.
Écoutez et tapez la question polie que vous entendez.
Listen and type the polite question you hear.
Quelle question est correctement formée ?
Which question is correctly formed?