Apologizing for a change of plans | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: While adjusting plans with a friend, one person apologizes for an unexpected change and they choose another day..

EN → FR / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use Apologizing for a change of plans to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Désolé, je dois changer notre plan.

day-zoh-LAY, zhuh dwa SHON-zhay nohtr plahn. I'm sorry, I need to change our plan.
B

C'est bien que tu me l'aies dit avant mon départ.

say BYEHN kuh tü muh leh DEE ah-VAHN mohn day-PAHR. I'm glad you told me before I left.
A

Quelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé.

kelk SHOHZ dee-nah-tahn-DEW eh ah-ree-VAY. Something unexpected came up.
B

Ce n'est pas grave. Nous pouvons choisir un autre jour.

suh neh pah grahv. noo poo-VOHN shwah-ZEER uhn NOHTR zhoor. That's all right. We can choose another day.
A

Est-ce que ça t'irait plus tard cette semaine ?

ess-kuh sah tee-RAY plew TAR set suh-MEN? Would later this week work for you?
B

Plus tard cette semaine, ça me va.

plew TAR set suh-MEN, sah muh VAH. Later this week is fine for me.
A

Je peux t'envoyer le nouveau plan.

zhuh puh tahn-vwah-YAY luh noo-VOH plahn. I can send you the new plan.
B

Ça m'aide à adapter mon emploi du temps.

sah med ah ah-dap-TAY mohn ahn-PLWAH dew tahn. That helps me adjust my schedule.

Word by Word

Désolé In “Désolé, je dois changer notre plan”, this means “sorry” and apologizes for the change that follows. It is a practical way to begin an apology when changing an arrangement. You can use it before explaining a problem or change.
je In “je dois changer”, je means “I” and identifies the person who needs to change the plan. It is used before the verb in this sentence. The same subject appears in “Je peux t'envoyer le nouveau plan.”
dois In “je dois changer”, dois means “must” or “need to”, so the speaker needs to change the plan. It is followed here by the infinitive “changer”. This pattern is useful for stating that you need to do something.
changer In “changer notre plan”, changer means “to change” the arrangement. It follows “je dois” as the action that is necessary. The object comes after it in “changer notre plan”.
notre In “notre plan”, notre means “our” and marks the plan as shared by the speaker and the other person. It comes before the noun “plan”. This is a useful way to refer to something belonging to both people.
plan In “notre plan” and “le nouveau plan”, plan means “plan” or arrangement. It is the thing being changed and later sent again. It follows a determiner such as “notre” or “le nouveau”.
C'est In “C'est bien que tu me l'aies dit”, C'est means “it is” and introduces an evaluation of what happened. Together with “bien”, it says that the other person’s action was good or welcome. It begins the expression used to respond positively to the information.
bien In “C'est bien que tu me l'aies dit”, bien means “good” or “fine” and evaluates the fact that the person told the speaker. It follows “C'est” in this expression. This is useful for saying that an action or situation is acceptable.
que Here, “que” introduces the clause “tu me l'aies dit” after the evaluation “C'est bien”. It connects the evaluation to the action of telling. In this dialogue, it is part of the structure “C'est bien que...”.
tu In “tu me l'aies dit”, tu means “you” and identifies the person who gave the information. It appears before the other elements of the clause. It is used here when addressing one friend directly.
me In “tu me l'aies dit”, me means “to me” and identifies the person who received the information. It appears before “l'aies dit”. This placement is useful when saying that someone told something to you.
l'aies In “tu me l'aies dit”, l'aies combines the element meaning “it” with a form of “avoir”; together with “dit”, it expresses “have told it”. The complete expression “tu me l'aies dit” means that you told it to me. It appears in the clause introduced by “C'est bien que”.
dit In “tu me l'aies dit”, dit means “told” or “said” and completes the expression about giving information. It works with “l'aies” to form “have told it”. The citation form is “dire”, whose form here is “dit”.
avant In “avant mon départ”, avant means “before” and places the telling earlier than the speaker’s departure. It is followed here by the noun phrase “mon départ”. This pattern is useful for arranging one event in time before another.
mon In “mon départ”, mon means “my” and identifies the departure as belonging to the speaker. It comes before the noun “départ”. This is the possessive form used in the expression from the dialogue.
départ In “avant mon départ”, départ means “departure” and names the point before which the information was given. It follows “mon” in the noun phrase. The expression is useful when referring to leaving.
Quelque In “Quelque chose”, Quelque helps form the indefinite expression meaning “something”. It works together with “chose”, which means “thing”, rather than carrying the whole meaning alone. This expression introduces an unspecified thing or event.
chose In “Quelque chose”, chose means “thing” and completes the expression meaning “something”. It is followed by “d'inattendu”, which describes the thing. This is a common pattern for referring to an unspecified thing.
d'inattendu In “Quelque chose d'inattendu”, d'inattendu describes the unspecified thing as unexpected. The complete phrase means “something unexpected”. It follows “quelque chose” to add a description of what happened.
est In “est arrivé”, est supplies “is” in the verb phrase describing what happened. It combines with “arrivé” in the full sentence “Quelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé”, which means that something unexpected came up. Here it forms the verb phrase for the event.
arrivé In “est arrivé”, arrivé contributes the idea of arriving or occurring, so the full phrase describes something that happened. The complete sentence “Quelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé” means “Something unexpected came up”. The citation form is “arriver”, whose form here is “arrivé”.
Ce In “Ce n'est pas grave”, Ce refers to the situation and means “it” or “that”. It is the subject of the evaluation that follows. The complete expression reassures the other person that the situation is not a problem.
n'est In “Ce n'est pas grave”, n'est contributes the negative form of “is”. The negation is completed by “pas”, and together they say that the situation is not serious or problematic. This form appears before “pas” in the negative expression.
pas In “Ce n'est pas grave”, pas completes the negation with “n'est” and means “not”. It comes after the verb form “n'est”. The pair “n'est pas” is used here to reassure someone that the situation is not a problem.
grave In “Ce n'est pas grave”, grave means “serious” or, in this context, problematic. The whole negative expression means “That’s all right”. It is useful when responding to an apology or explaining that a difficulty is acceptable.
Nous In “Nous pouvons choisir”, Nous means “we” and includes both people in the conversation. It is the subject of the possibility of choosing another day. It comes before “pouvons” in this sentence.
pouvons In “Nous pouvons choisir”, pouvons means “can” and expresses that the two people have the possibility of choosing another day. It is followed by the infinitive “choisir”. This pattern is useful for proposing an action that is possible together.
choisir In “choisir un autre jour”, choisir means “to choose” and names the action the two people can take. It follows “pouvons” and comes before the object “un autre jour”. This word order is reusable when selecting an alternative.
un In “un autre jour”, un means “a” or “one” and introduces the alternative day. It comes before “autre jour”. Together with the following words, it refers to one different day.
autre In “un autre jour”, autre means “another” and marks the day as different from the original planned day. It comes after “un” and before “jour”. This pattern is useful when proposing a different option.
jour In “un autre jour”, jour means “day” and names the new possible time for the plan. It follows “autre”. The phrase is used to choose a different day after a change of plans.
Est-ce que “Est-ce que” introduces the yes-or-no question “Est-ce que ça t'irait plus tard cette semaine ?”. “Est-ce” provides the question-forming part, and “que” connects it to the clause that follows. Together, they allow the speaker to ask whether the proposed time would work.
ça In “ça t'irait” and “ça me va”, ça refers to the proposed time or arrangement and means “that” or “it”. It is the thing being evaluated as suitable or acceptable. This pronoun is useful when the specific proposal is already understood from the conversation.
t'irait In “ça t'irait”, t' refers to “you” and irait expresses whether the proposal would suit or work for you. Together with “ça”, the phrase asks whether the proposed time is convenient. The pattern “ça t'irait...” is useful when checking someone’s availability.
plus In “plus tard”, plus helps place the time further on and contributes to the meaning “later”. It is not used alone here; it works with “tard”. The complete time expression is “plus tard cette semaine”.
tard In “plus tard cette semaine”, tard contributes the meaning “later” and places the proposal after the present or an earlier time. It works with “plus” in this expression. This phrase is useful when suggesting a later time during the same week.
cette In “cette semaine”, cette means “this” and points to the week being discussed. It comes before the noun “semaine”. With “plus tard”, it specifies a later time in the current week.
semaine In “plus tard cette semaine”, semaine means “week”. It identifies the time period in which the later arrangement could happen. It follows “cette” in the noun phrase.
peux In “Je peux t'envoyer”, peux means “can” and expresses the speaker’s ability or possibility to send the new plan. It is followed by the infinitive expression “t'envoyer”. This pattern is useful for offering to do something.
t'envoyer In “Je peux t'envoyer le nouveau plan”, t' means “to you” and envoyer means “send”; together, t'envoyer means “send you”. It follows “peux” and comes before the thing being sent, “le nouveau plan”. This word order is useful when offering to send someone an item or message.
le In “le nouveau plan”, le means “the” and introduces the specific plan that will be sent. It comes before “nouveau plan”. This article is used when the listener already knows which plan is meant.
nouveau In “le nouveau plan”, nouveau means “new” and describes the plan as the replacement or updated plan. It appears between “le” and “plan”. This pattern is useful for identifying an updated version of something.
m'aide In “Ça m'aide à adapter mon emploi du temps”, m' means “me” and aide means “helps”; together, m'aide means “helps me”. It is followed by “à adapter”, which names the action that becomes easier. This pattern is useful for saying that something helps you do an action.
à In “m'aide à adapter”, à links “m'aide” to the action “adapter” and can be understood as “to” here. It introduces the action that the help makes possible or easier. It appears before the infinitive “adapter”.
adapter In “adapter mon emploi du temps”, adapter means “to adjust” or “to adapt” the schedule. It follows “à” in the structure “m'aide à adapter”. The object comes after it: “mon emploi du temps”.
emploi du temps The whole expression “emploi du temps” means “schedule”. Within it, “emploi” contributes the idea of use or arrangement, “du” links it to “temps”, and “temps” supplies the time reference. The expression commonly appears with a possessive, as in “mon emploi du temps”.

Grammar Points

C'est bien que + subjonctif passé

C'est bien que tu l'aies dit.

say BYEHN kuh tü leh DEE.

I'm glad you told me.

Après « c'est bien que », le français emploie le subjonctif ; « aies dit » est le passé du subjonctif.

Conditionnel présent : t'irait

Cette semaine t'irait ?

set suh-MEN tee-RAY?

Would this week work for you?

« Ir ait » est le conditionnel de « aller », utilisé pour proposer une possibilité avec politesse.

French Vocabulary

avant prep
ah-VAHN before

avant mon départ

C'est bien que phrase
say BYEHN kuh I'm glad that; it's good that

C'est bien que tu me l'aies dit avant mon départ.

Ce n'est pas grave phrase
suh neh pah grahv that's all right; it's not serious

Ce n'est pas grave.

changer verb
SHON-zhay to change

Je dois changer notre plan.

départ noun
day-PAHR departure; leaving

mon départ

Désolé adj
day-zoh-LAY sorry

Désolé, je dois changer notre plan.

est arrivé verb
eh ah-ree-VAY came up; happened

Quelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé.

inattendu adj
ee-nah-tahn-DEW unexpected

Quelque chose d'inattendu

l'aies dit phrase
leh DEE told me

que tu me l'aies dit

notre det
NOHTR our

notre plan

plan noun
plahn plan

notre plan

Quelque chose pron
kelk SHOHZ something

Quelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I'm sorry, I need to change our plan.

Show AnswerDésolé, je dois changer notre plan.

Something unexpected came up.

Show AnswerQuelque chose d'inattendu est arrivé.

I can send you the new plan.

Show AnswerJe peux t'envoyer le nouveau plan.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

plan

Show Answerplan

our

Show Answernotre

departure; leaving

Show Answerdépart

before

Show Answeravant