Getting through the préfecture: Showing your convocation at the front desk
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Key Phrases
J'ai un rendez-vous à dix heures.
I have an appointment at ten o'clock.
Et une pièce d'identité, s'il vous plaît ?
And a form of ID, please?
Où est la salle d'attente ?
Where is the waiting room?
Skills You'll Learn
Making an appointment and stating the time
Prendre un rendez-vous et donner l'heure
Providing identification documents at a counter
Fournir des documents d'identité à un guichet
Asking for directions inside an administrative building
Demander son chemin dans un bâtiment administratif
Lesson Roleplay
Imagine you're at a government office in France for a ten o'clock appointment. You want to check in at the front desk and find out where to wait.
Bonjour madame. J'ai un rendez-vous à dix heures.
Hello, ma'am. I have an appointment at ten o'clock.
Bonjour monsieur. Vous avez votre convocation ?
Hello, sir. Do you have your appointment letter?
Oui, la voici.
Yes, here it is.
Merci. Et une pièce d'identité, s'il vous plaît ?
Thank you. And a form of ID, please?
Voilà mon passeport.
Here's my passport.
Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases
Un rendez-vous
uhn rahn-day-VOO
An appointment
💬 Rendez-vous is one fixed word for an appointment, and both final letters are silent: (rahn-day-voo).
See breakdown →J'ai un rendez-vous
zhay ay uhn rahn-day-VOO
I have an appointment
💬 J' is je squeezed before a vowel. It only appears joined to the next word, as in j'ai. Never alone.
🇫🇷 This is the natural opening line at the préfecture front desk. Say it right after Bonjour.
See breakdown →À dix heures
ah dees UR
At ten o'clock
💬 The x of dix links into heures as a z sound: (dee-zur). Alone, dix ends in an s sound.
See breakdown →J'ai un rendez-vous à dix heures.
zhay ay uhn rahn-day-VOO ah dees UR
I have an appointment at ten o'clock.
🇫🇷 Préfecture slots are hard to get and strictly timed. Arrive early, because turning up late can mean losing the appointment.
See breakdown →Vous avez votre convocation ?
voo ah-VAY vot-ruh kohn-voh-kah-SYOHN
Do you have your appointment letter?
💬 Convocation isn't a ceremony. It's the official letter summoning you to a set time and place.
🇫🇷 Bring it printed. Staff often want the paper copy, not a phone screen.
See breakdown →Oui, la voici.
wee lah vwah-SEE
Yes, here it is.
💬 la stands in for la convocation. For a masculine thing like a passport, it becomes le voici.
See breakdown →Une pièce d'identité
ewn PYESS dee ee-dahn-tee-TAY
A form of ID
💬 Pièce usually means a room or a coin. Here it means an official document.
🇫🇷 A passport or residence permit titre de séjour "residence permit" is what they expect here.
See breakdown →S'il vous plaît
s eel voo pleh
Please
Et une pièce d'identité, s'il vous plaît ?
eh ewn PYESS dee ee-dahn-tee-TAY s eel voo pleh
And a form of ID, please?
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