Contos has 12 French story series at B1, the first intermediate level. Chapters run to 391 words and are told in the past, some in the spoken-style passé composé, some in the passé simple of written French. The plots reach back decades: a Breton lighthouse that relights, a Vermeer that may not be a Vermeer, a 2004 time capsule.
- Series
- 12
- Chapters
- 74, of which 24 are free
- Chapter length
- 270–391 words (average 321)
- Narration
- Imparfait with passé composé or passé simple, plus-que-parfait
- Settings
- Paris, Lyon, Brittany, Burgundy, Chambéry, Provence, a small island
- French
- France French
- B1L'Immeuble du 14The Building at No. 14 · Romance, MysteryLe café sentait le café et les secrets. C'était du moins ce que pensait Théo en essuyant les tasses du matin. Il écrivait des histoires dans son carnet pendant les…
- B1Les Masques de ChambéryThe Masks of Chambéry · Romance, MysteryLa neige tombait doucement sur les rues de Chambéry quand Margot ajusta son masque de velours noir. Elle n'était plus elle-même, pas ce soir. Elle était Madame…
- B1Le Gardien de la Pointe du RazThe Keeper of Pointe du Raz · MysteryCéline n'avait pas remis les pieds à Pointe du Raz depuis dix ans. Le phare se dressait toujours là, blanc et massif contre le ciel gris du Finistère, mais quelque…
- B1La Dernière MoissonThe Final Harvest · RomanceLa terrasse était parfaite. Le soleil descendait lentement derrière les collines, colorant les vignes en or pâle, et Margot serrait son verre de Bourgogne rouge…
- B1La Gardienne du LouvreThe Louvre's Keeper · Crime, MysteryBrigitte poussa la porte de la galerie hollandaise à vingt heures trente, comme elle l'avait fait des milliers de fois. L'automne frappait les vitres du musée…
- B1Les Mauvais SouvenirsThe Wrong Memories · Sci-Fi, MysteryCamille s'était réveillée à sept heures du matin avec un goût de champagne dans la bouche et l'image d'un cadre vide sur un mur blanc. Elle ne se souvenait pas…
- B1La Pharmacienne de l'ÎleThe Island Pharmacist · Crime, MysteryLe ferry de neuf heures du matin a apporté le courrier et trois touristes perdus. Mathilde Leclerc a aussi apporté sa valise bleu ciel, ses diplômes de…
- B1L'Horloge de la BrasserieThe Café Clock · Sci-Fi, RomanceMadeleine essuyait les verres depuis vingt ans sans jamais penser à l'horloge au-dessus de la table du coin. Elle avançait de onze minutes, voilà tout. Les clients…
- B1Les Deux MoitiésThe Two Halves · Comedy, FamilyMarc poussa la porte de la cuisine, et l'odeur le frappa comme un souvenir qu'il aurait voulu oublier. Quarante ans de sauce béarnaise, de cassoulet mijoté, de pain…
- B1La Lettre de la Classe de 2004The Letter from the Class of 2004 · Sci-Fi, MysteryCe samedi matin, Camille Roussel arriva dans la cour de l'école avec une liste à la main et un peu de tristesse dans le cœur. Elle habitait à Paris depuis quinze…
- B1Le Train de nuit de Mme VasseurMadame Vasseur's Night Train · Crime, MysteryIl était presque cinq heures du matin quand Hélène Vasseur se réveilla dans sa couchette, le cœur inquiet. Le train venait de quitter Lyon-Perrache, et dans le…
- B1Les Bulletins de la borne MistralThe Bulletins of the Mistral Kiosk · Sci-Fi, MysteryCe matin-là, sur la place des Platanes, il n'y avait pas un nuage. Pourtant, comme tous les jours, la vieille borne Mistral, au bout de l'arrêt de bus, a craché son…
What changes in French at B1?
B1 is where French stories start to read like novels, and novels are told in the past. Every B1 chapter leans on the imparfait for background, what was going on or what someone was like, but the main events come in one of two tenses, depending on the series and sometimes on the chapter. Some use the passé composé, as people do when they tell a story out loud:
Le ferry de neuf heures du matin a apporté le courrier et trois touristes perdus.
The nine o'clock ferry brought the post and three lost tourists.
La Pharmacienne de l'Île, chapter 1. A apporté is the passé composé you already know from A2.
Brigitte poussa la porte de la galerie hollandaise à vingt heures trente, comme elle l'avait fait des milliers de fois.
Brigitte pushed open the door of the Dutch gallery at half past eight in the evening, as she had done thousands of times.
La Gardienne du Louvre, chapter 1. Poussa is the passé simple, the literary past; l'avait fait is the plus-que-parfait, for something further back still.
You only need to recognise the passé simple, not use it, and most forms give themselves away: poussa is pousser, arriva is arriver. The French stories overview has a short list of the irregular ones worth learning by sight.
Where does the subjunctive come in?
At the tense moments. B1 characters warn, insist and plead, and those are exactly the sentences that need the subjunctive. In La Dernière Moisson, Margot is at a reunion in a Burgundy vineyard, hiding an engagement ring, when a message arrives from the man in Paris:
Il faut que tu saches la vérité avant que quelqu'un d'autre te la dise.
You need to know the truth before someone else tells you.
La Dernière Moisson, chapter 2. Il faut que and avant que both take the subjunctive: saches from savoir, dise from dire.
You will also meet the past conditional, the tense of regret: a new pharmacist on the island says something at the café qu'elle n'aurait pas dû dire, that she shouldn't have said. Don't stop to analyse each one. Recognise the shape, keep reading, and tap when the meaning really hangs on it.
- Note the cast early. A B1 chapter can introduce four or five people in its first paragraphs. Jot down a name and one fact for each.
- Read to the full stop. Long French sentences often hold their verb back until late. Don't decide you are lost halfway through.
- Give a series two chapters. Characters and places carry over, so chapter 2 is nearly always easier than chapter 1.
Which B1 French story should I start with?
- For a classic mystery: Le Gardien de la Pointe du Raz, in which a journalist goes home to Brittany when an automated lighthouse lights up on its own, or La Gardienne du Louvre, about a museum guard who senses that the museum's Vermeer is no longer quite right.
- For a locked-room theft: Le Train de nuit de Mme Vasseur, in which a retired schoolteacher's garnet brooch disappears between Paris and Nice and she questions her fellow passengers herself.
- For romance: La Dernière Moisson, four friends' last summer at a Burgundy vineyard, or Les Masques de Chambéry, in which a teacher reinvents herself for a winter masquerade.
- For sci-fi: Les Mauvais Souvenirs, in which a woman wakes up with a stranger's memories, or L'Horloge de la Brasserie, a Lyon café whose clock runs eleven minutes fast.
- For family comedy: Les Deux Moitiés, a brother and sister with half of their mother's recipe book each.
Coming up from A2? The A2 French stories make a good warm-up. Finding B1 comfortable? Move on to the B2 French stories.
Frequently asked questions
What is B1 level in French?
B1 is the first intermediate level of the CEFR. A B1 reader can follow a straightforward story on a familiar subject, including one told in the past, without knowing every word. Contos moves you up to B1 once you know 1,500 French words.
How long are B1 French chapters?
From 270 to 391 words in the free chapters, 321 on average.
Do I have to learn the passé simple?
Only to recognise it. French speakers almost never say it aloud, but it is the normal past tense of novels, and most of the B1 series use it. Most forms look like the infinitive with a new ending, and any you don't know can be tapped.
Are the B1 French stories free?
Chapters 1 and 2 of all 12 B1 series are free, 24 chapters in all, in the browser or the iPhone and iPad app. The rest of each series is part of Contos Premium.