A dreadful teenager

"Un ado terrible"
French C1 writing exercise

Philippe recalls his bad behaviour as a teenage boy.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to instill [something] in [someone] (education)", "a teenage boy", "to get into trouble", "to defy [someone] (rules)", "to sneak out", "to party with [someone]", "to ask [someone] for permission", "to be cross with [someone]", "to ground [someone]", "to be sent [somewhere]", "the (school) headmaster", "towards [someone]", "stern", "a reprimand", "to drive [someone] to despair", "tocarry on [doing]", "to behave", "to calm down".

Written by qualified French expert Céline Pickard PGCE, BA
Last updated: 2023-11-16

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: L'Imparfait (Indicatif), Pronom d'objet direct, Pronom d'objet indirect

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

Despite the good manners that my parents were trying to instill in me, as a teenage boy, I always found a way to get into trouble! I would regularly defy my parents' explicit instructions to stay home by sneaking out without them knowing. Unfortunately, one evening, my mum went in my room while I was out partying with my friends without having asked them for permission. I had never seen them so cross with me and they grounded for me for a whole month. The worst was at school where I would be sent to the headmaster's office because of my insolent behaviour towards the teachers. I recall the headmaster's stern look and his reprimands as if it was yesterday! He'd explained (to me) that I would drive my parents to despair if I were to carry on behaving in that manner. Luckily, after that speech, I calmed down before it was too late!

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