A night shift at the A&E [US: in the ER]

"Une garde de nuit aux urgences"
French C1 writing exercise

Journalist Manon Dubois is shadowing Dr Martin, an A&E [US: ER] doctor during a night shift at a busy hospital.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to notice that...", "to rush from one [person] to the other", "a patient", "without a single break", "a relentless pace", "this time of the night", "the A&E [US: ER]", "to realise that...", "the workload", "to go down (workload)", "an A&E [US: ER] doctor", "a night shift (hospital)", "on average", "depending on [something]", "to treat [someone] (medical)", "the severity of [a disease]", "a medical condition", "to provide the best care (medical)", "regardless of [something]", "to face [a situation]", "a life-or-death situation", "to be an inherent part of [something]".

Written by qualified French expert Céline Pickard PGCE, BA
Last updated: 2026-02-05

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: Adverbe, Le Présent (Indicatif), L'Imparfait (Indicatif)

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

- Dr Martin, I noticed that you have been rushing from one patient to the next without a single break since seven PM. Would you say that this relentless pace is normal at this time of the night? - Absolutely! When I started working at the A&E [US: in the ER] about ten years ago, I very quickly realised that the workload never really went down. As an A&E [US: ER] doctor, I rarely sit down for more than five minutes, especially during a night shift. - So, on average, how many patients will you have seen at the end of your shift? - Depending on the nights of course, by seven AM, I will have treated about a dozen patients. - I was observing you while you were talking with your last patient, you seemed very calm despite the severity of her medical condition. - I need to remain as calm as possible to provide the best care to my patients, regardless of the working conditions. - Do you often face life-or-death situations? - Unfortunately, this is an inherent part of our job in the A&E [US: ER]. - Thank you for your time! I hope you can rest a bit before your next shift.

Clever stuff happening!