Robbery at the bakery

"Vol à la boulangerie"
French B2 writing exercise

Here's a local news article about a robbery.

Pay attention to the hints!

Some vocabulary you may want to look up before or during this exercise: "to start a shift", "to expect what...", "to be about to [do]", "bread dough", "the back room (shop)", "to find oneself face-to-face with", "a robber/thief", "to break into a place", "despite", "mother of three", "a till [US:cash register]", "an offender", "to manage to", "to escape", "an accomplice", "an investigation", "to be in the hands of", "a witness", "to come forward".

Written by qualified French expert Céline Pickard PGCE, BA
Last updated: 2023-01-04

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), Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire

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

On Monday October 14, at quarter to six in the morning, when Maryse Lépine, a local baker, arrived to start her shift as usual, she didn't expect what she was about to discover! Before turning the ovens on and preparing the bread dough, she went into the back room and found herself face to face with a young robber who had broken into the bakery. Despite the danger, the baker and mother of three stayed calm and while the thief was trying to open the till [US: cash register], she called the police and told them what was happening. Unfortunately, the offender managed to escape thanks to an accomplice who was waiting for him outside on a motorbike. The investigation is now in the hands of the gendarmes who are asking potential witnesses to come forward.

I'll be right with you...