DELF A2 Writing Practice: Write an Invitation in French
In this DELF A2 writing practice, you’ll invite a friend to lunch, explain your plans and ask for a reply. Build the sentences first, then write your own message of at least 60 words.
The invitation is the easy part. It’s remembering the time, the place and what happens after lunch that makes the message useful. We’ll put those details together, with grammar exercises and pronunciation cues you can use when you read your invitation aloud.
For the wider exam, read Is DELF A2 hard? What to expect and how to prepare.
What does DELF A2 writing involve?
The DELF A2 production écrite paper has two short writing tasks, with at least 60 words for each text, in 45 minutes altogether. You may need to describe an event or experience and write a message to invite, thank, apologise, ask or give information. Check the official DELF A2 candidate manual for the exam instructions.
This lesson works on one invitation task. Read the situation, include the information requested and use a tone that fits the person you’re writing to. A friend can receive a friendly message; a formal letter opening would sound rather overdressed for Sunday lunch.
Read the invitation task before you start
You are Alex. You want to invite your friend Camille to lunch next Sunday. Write a friendly message in French.
Vous invitez votre amie Camille à déjeuner dimanche prochain. Dans votre message : proposez une heure et un lieu ; expliquez ce que vous allez préparer ; proposez une activité après le repas ; demandez une réponse avant vendredi.
Écrivez au moins 60 mots.
Original practice prompt. Alex, Camille and all the details in this lesson are fictional.
Before worrying about an adjective, make a short list: invitation, day and time, place, food, activity afterwards, reply deadline. These are the things your reader needs to know.
Useful French sentences for inviting a friend
Use tu for Camille, your friend in this situation. Keep that choice consistent through the message. Read each model aloud, then change one detail.
Je t’invite à déjeuner chez moi dimanche prochain.À l’oreille: juh tan-veet ah day-zhuh-nay shay mwah dee-mahnsh proh-shan.I’m inviting you to lunch at my place next Sunday.
On se retrouve à midi et demi.À l’oreille: ohn suh ruh-troov ah mee-dee ay duh-mee.Let’s meet at half past twelve.
Je vais préparer une salade et un gâteau au chocolat.À l’oreille: juh veh pray-pah-ray ewn sah-lahd ay uhn gah-toh oh shoh-koh-lah.I’m going to make a salad and a chocolate cake.
Après le repas, nous allons faire une promenade dans le parc.À l’oreille: ah-preh luh ruh-pah, noo zah-lohn fehr ewn prohm-nahd dahn luh park.After the meal, we’re going to go for a walk in the park.
Est-ce que tu es libre dimanche ?À l’oreille: es kuh tew eh leebr dee-mahnsh?Are you free on Sunday?
Réponds-moi avant vendredi, s’il te plaît.À l’oreille: ray-pohn mwah ah-vahn vahn-druh-dee, seel tuh pleh.Please reply before Friday.
“À l’oreille” is approximate help for English speakers, not French spelling or IPA. The nasal vowels have no exact English equivalent. Link nous allons with a z sound: noo zah-lohn. The cues support practice; this page contains no audio recording.
Three grammar points that make the invitation work
Inviter quelqu’un à déjeuner uses à before the activity. Chez moi tells your friend it’s at your home. In the first model, t’ means “you” and comes before the verb.
For plans, the futur proche combines a present-tense form of the irregular verb aller with an infinitive: the models use je vais préparer and nous allons faire. Change aller to match the subject; keep the next verb in its infinitive form.
Time words carry practical information. Use à for a clock time, après for what happens after the meal, and avant for the reply deadline. The exercises will make you choose them.
Keep the article with the noun
Merci pour ton invitation.À l’oreille: mehr-see poor tohn-nan-vee-tah-syohn.Thank you for your invitation.
Le repas est chez moi.À l’oreille: luh ruh-pah eh shay mwah.The meal is at my place.
Je te donne mon adresse.À l’oreille: juh tuh dohn mohn-nah-dres.I’ll give you my address.
Merci pour ta réponse.À l’oreille: mehr-see poor tah ray-pohns.Thank you for your reply.
Tu vas apporter un gâteau.À l’oreille: tew vah ah-por-tay uhn gah-toh.You’re going to bring a cake.
Although adresse is feminine, we say mon adresse before its vowel sound. The noun stays feminine.
DELF A2 writing practice: build and check your sentences
Try the activities before opening their explanations. The grammar checker accepts capitalisation and punctuation differences, but asks you to correct missing accents. For word-order tasks, use every word in the bank once.
1. Build the invitation
Put these eight words in order. Type one complete sentence.
dimanche / chez / Je / déjeuner / prochain / moi / à / t’invite
Answers and explanation 1
Je t’invite à déjeuner chez moi dimanche prochain.À l’oreille: juh tan-veet ah day-zhuh-nay shay mwah dee-mahnsh proh-shan.I’m inviting you to lunch at my place next Sunday.
Keep t’invite together, and use à before déjeuner. In this word-order task, the bank gives one practised sentence. Other invitations can also be natural French.
2. Build a question
Put these six words in order. Ask whether your friend is free on Sunday.
dimanche / que / es / Est-ce / libre / tu
Answers and explanation 2
Est-ce que tu es libre dimanche ?À l’oreille: es kuh tew eh leebr dee-mahnsh?Are you free on Sunday?
Est-ce que introduces the question; the subject and verb stay in the order tu es.
3. Choose the missing preposition
Use à, après, avant or chez. You will use one word twice.
Answers and explanation 3
Je t’invite à déjeuner.À l’oreille: juh tan-veet ah day-zhuh-nay.I’m inviting you to lunch.
On se retrouve à midi et demi.À l’oreille: ohn suh ruh-troov ah mee-dee ay duh-mee.Let’s meet at half past twelve.
Le repas est chez moi.À l’oreille: luh ruh-pah eh shay mwah.The meal is at my place.
Après le repas, nous allons faire une promenade.À l’oreille: ah-preh luh ruh-pah, noo zah-lohn fehr ewn prohm-nahd.After the meal, we’re going to go for a walk.
Réponds-moi avant vendredi.À l’oreille: ray-pohn mwah ah-vahn vahn-druh-dee.Reply before Friday.
The two uses of à do different jobs: one introduces the invited activity, the other introduces the time. Keep the accent on à and après.
4. Make five plans in the futur proche
For each sentence, type the correct form of aller and the infinitive in brackets. The blank needs two words.
Answers and explanation 4
Je vais préparer une salade.À l’oreille: juh veh pray-pah-ray ewn sah-lahd.I’m going to make a salad.
Tu vas apporter un gâteau.À l’oreille: tew vah ah-por-tay uhn gah-toh.You’re going to bring a cake.
Nous allons déjeuner chez moi.À l’oreille: noo zah-lohn day-zhuh-nay shay mwah.We’re going to have lunch at my place.
Camille va arriver à midi.À l’oreille: kah-meel vah ah-ree-vay ah mee-dee.Camille is going to arrive at noon.
Vous allez prendre un café après le repas.À l’oreille: voo zah-lay prahndr uhn kah-fay ah-preh luh ruh-pah.You’re going to have a coffee after the meal.
Aller is irregular: the subject controls its form. The action that follows stays in the infinitive. Link nous allons and vous allez with a z sound.
5. Connect two ideas
Complete each sentence with parce que or mais. Use each once.
Answers and explanation 5
Le repas est chez moi parce que le restaurant est fermé.À l’oreille: luh ruh-pah eh shay mwah par-suh kuh luh res-toh-rahn eh fehr-may.The meal is at my place because the restaurant is closed.
Je suis libre dimanche, mais je travaille samedi.À l’oreille: juh swee leebr dee-mahnsh, meh juh trah-vai sahm-dee.I’m free on Sunday, but I work on Saturday.
Parce que gives a reason. Mais introduces a contrast. A connector should show the relationship between your ideas.
6. Change vous to tu
You are writing to your friend. Rewrite the whole question using tu.
Answers and explanation 6
Tu peux venir dimanche ?À l’oreille: tew puh vuh-neer dee-mahnsh?Can you come on Sunday?
The irregular verb pouvoir changes with the subject: vous pouvez becomes tu peux. Both questions are natural; this activity practises the friendly tu form.
7. Say that you cannot come
Put the whole sentence into the negative with ne… pas. Keep the infinitive.
Answers and explanation 7
Je ne peux pas venir samedi.À l’oreille: juh nuh puh pah vuh-neer sahm-dee.I can’t come on Saturday.
In this written form, ne… pas surrounds the conjugated verb peux. The infinitive venir comes after it. Everyday speech often drops ne; keep both parts for this writing exercise.
8. Read the reply and catch the changed detail
Use Camille’s message, not your original plan, to answer the two questions.
Salut Alex ! Merci pour ton invitation. Je peux venir dimanche. Je travaille le matin, alors je vais arriver vers 13 heures. Je vais apporter un gâteau. À dimanche ! Camille
Answers and explanation 8
1. 13 h. Camille’s reply changes the arrival time: she is working in the morning. Vers makes the time approximate.
Je vais arriver vers 13 heures.À l’oreille: juh veh ah-ree-vay vehr trehz uhr.I’m going to arrive around one o’clock.
2. Un gâteau. It is the thing Camille says she will bring.
Je vais apporter un gâteau.À l’oreille: juh veh ah-por-tay uhn gah-toh.I’m going to bring a cake.
Before Sunday, Alex should confirm that the later arrival works. An invitation starts an exchange; the reply can change the plan.
Now write your own DELF A2 invitation
Return to the task at the top: invite Camille for Sunday lunch, explain your plans and ask for a reply before Friday. Write at least 60 words. Keep the model closed while you try.
The counter helps you check length. It does not mark your writing or check that you answered every part of the task. Nothing is submitted or saved; your text clears when you reload the page.
Read your message as Camille
A clear extra detail is more useful than repeating the invitation to reach the word count. You could explain how to get there, what your friend can bring or why you chose that day.
A DELF A2 invitation example, with an explanation
Show one possible message
Salut Camille,
Comment vas-tu ? Je t’invite à déjeuner chez moi dimanche prochain, à midi et demi. J’habite au 12, rue des Lilas, à Tours. Je vais préparer une salade et un gâteau au chocolat. Après le repas, nous allons faire une promenade dans le parc. Tu peux venir en bus ; l’arrêt est juste devant la maison. Est-ce que tu es libre ? Réponds-moi avant vendredi, s’il te plaît.
À bientôt !
Alex
Why this message answers the task
- The invitation gives Sunday, 12:30 and a place.
- The writer explains what they will prepare and proposes a walk after lunch.
- The reply deadline is before Friday.
- A greeting, consistent tu forms and a friendly ending fit a message to a friend.
- The address and bus stop give useful extra information. Your own message can use different relevant details.
This is one possible answer, not a script to memorise. Different natural messages can answer the same task. The grammar checker above cannot assess this open writing task.
Read the model aloud: meaning and pronunciation
Salut Camille,À l’oreille: sah-lew kah-meel.Hi Camille,
Comment vas-tu ?À l’oreille: koh-mahn vah tew?How are you?
Je t’invite à déjeuner chez moi dimanche prochain, à midi et demi.À l’oreille: juh tan-veet ah day-zhuh-nay shay mwah dee-mahnsh proh-shan, ah mee-dee ay duh-mee.I’m inviting you to lunch at my place next Sunday, at half past twelve.
J’habite au 12, rue des Lilas, à Tours.À l’oreille: zhah-beet oh dooz, rew day lee-lah, ah toor.I live at 12 rue des Lilas, in Tours.
Je vais préparer une salade et un gâteau au chocolat.À l’oreille: juh veh pray-pah-ray ewn sah-lahd ay uhn gah-toh oh shoh-koh-lah.I’m going to make a salad and a chocolate cake.
Après le repas, nous allons faire une promenade dans le parc.À l’oreille: ah-preh luh ruh-pah, noo zah-lohn fehr ewn prohm-nahd dahn luh park.After the meal, we’re going to go for a walk in the park.
Tu peux venir en bus ; l’arrêt est juste devant la maison.À l’oreille: tew puh vuh-neer ahn bews; lah-reh eh zhewst duh-vahn lah meh-zohn.You can come by bus; the stop is right in front of the house.
Est-ce que tu es libre ?À l’oreille: es kuh tew eh leebr?Are you free?
Réponds-moi avant vendredi, s’il te plaît.À l’oreille: ray-pohn mwah ah-vahn vahn-druh-dee, seel tuh pleh.Please reply before Friday.
À bientôt !À l’oreille: ah byan-toh!See you soon!
Change the invitation, then try again
This time, invite a friend for a coffee at a café on Saturday afternoon. Choose a meeting time and place, suggest what to do afterwards and ask whether they are free. Write at least 60 words without copying the lunch model.
For more work on building sentences and answering questions, try the DELF A2 self-introduction exercises. To practise a different exchange, use the train-station role-play and quiz.
When you’re ready for the whole writing paper, use France Éducation international’s official DELF A2 sample papers and writing assessment grids. Practise both writing tasks, not only invitations.