To describe a routine, say what you do in the order you do it, and use a time or a sequence word to show each step. A good answer reads like a short story of your day, not a list of actions.
This skill sits at the start of everyday routines and arrangements. It appears in speaking conversations, in writing tasks about your week, and in listening texts where someone talks about their day.
How does a clear routine answer work?
A clear answer has three parts. First, sequence words that tell the listener what comes next: d’abord (first), ensuite (then), puis (then), après (after), enfin (finally).
Second, times and frequency: à sept heures, vers midi, le samedi, tous les jours. Third, verbs in the present tense, a good number of them reflexive.
A reflexive verb has a pronoun that matches its subject. Se lever becomes je me lève, tu te lèves, elle se lève, nous nous levons, ils se lèvent. Before a vowel or a silent h, the pronoun shortens: je m’habille, elle s’habille.
Times follow à: à six heures et demie (half past six), à huit heures moins le quart (quarter to eight), à dix heures et quart (quarter past ten).
Worked example
Question: Décris une journée normale de la semaine.
D’abord, je me réveille à six heures et demie. Ensuite, je me lave et je m’habille. Puis je prends le petit-déjeuner avec ma sœur. Après le petit-déjeuner, je vais à l’école à pied. Enfin, le soir, je fais mes devoirs et je me couche vers dix heures.
Here is why it works.
Step 1, the frame: four sequence words, d’abord, ensuite, puis, enfin, with après inside a time phrase. No word is repeated.
Step 2, the reflexive verbs: je me réveille, je me lave, je m’habille, je me couche. Each has the right pronoun, and m’habille is shortened before the vowel.
Step 3, the times: à six heures et demie and vers dix heures anchor the start and the end of the day.
Step 4, the detail: avec ma sœur and à pied give the answer a personal touch for very little extra effort.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to drop the reflexive pronoun, because the English verb has no equivalent.
Mistaken answer: D’abord, je lève à sept heures. Ensuite, je lave et j’habille.
The student knew the verbs but treated them like English “get up” and “wash”.
The correction is Je me lève à sept heures. Ensuite, je me lave et je m’habille. Without me, je lève is not a French way to say you get up. A quick check helps: whenever the action is done to yourself, look for the pronoun.
Check yourself
Write your answer first, then open each solution.
1. Complete: “Le dimanche, ma mère ___ (se lever) à huit heures.”
Show answer
The subject is ma mère, which stands for elle, so the pronoun is se: Le dimanche, ma mère se lève à huit heures.
2. Put these three sentences in the order of a normal day: (a) Enfin, je me couche. (b) D’abord, je me réveille. (c) Ensuite, je prends une douche.
Show answer
The sequence words give the order: (b), (c), (a). D’abord comes first, ensuite is the middle step and enfin closes the day.
3. Write in French: “My brothers wash before dinner.”
Show answer
Plural subject, reflexive verb: Mes frères se lavent avant le dîner. Se doucher would also work: Mes frères se douchent avant le dîner.
Where this leads next
Once a routine feels natural, learn how to say that one step has changed in explain a change to a plan. Test the whole module later with the integrated practice set.
Some students can write a routine on paper but lose the sequence when they have to say it aloud. That is the kind of gap our teachers look for in online one-to-one French tuition.