How do you push back on a deadline in French?
Explain the constraint, offer a feasible alternative, and ask for agreement. You can reduce the scope, propose a later date, or ask which work should take priority. Start with: « Pour respecter cette échéance, je vous propose de… »
French at Work, episode 3. This lesson is for B1–B2 learners negotiating work with a client, manager, or project stakeholder. You will practise three options, read a complete exchange, and write a proposal of your own.
All examples are original teaching material. In our fictional project, a report originally included an analysis and charts, due Friday. A stakeholder now requests a budget summary too. The team can finish two parts by Friday or all three by Tuesday. Your job is to explain that tradeoff and ask for a decision.
1. Keep the deadline and reduce the scope
Use this when: the date matters more than including every requested item.
Pour respecter l’échéance de vendredi, je vous propose de livrer l’analyse et les graphiques, puis la synthèse budgétaire mardi. Est-ce que cela vous conviendrait ?
To meet Friday’s deadline, I suggest delivering the analysis and charts, then the budget summary on Tuesday. Would that work for you?
Pour + infinitive introduces the purpose: pour respecter means “to meet” or “in order to meet.” Je vous propose de + infinitive gives a concrete proposal. Name what is included and what will follow; une version simplifiée (“a simplified version”) alone leaves the reader guessing.
Cela vous conviendrait-il ? is a more formal written alternative to Est-ce que cela vous conviendrait ? Both ask whether the proposal works for the other person. Conviendrait is the conditional of convenir.
A more supported version is: « Nous pouvons terminer l’analyse et les graphiques vendredi. La synthèse budgétaire serait prête mardi. Est-ce possible pour vous ? » — “We can finish the analysis and charts on Friday. The budget summary would be ready on Tuesday. Is that possible for you?”
Adapt it: replace the deliverables, but keep both the immediate delivery and the deferred work explicit.
2. Keep the full scope and propose a later date
Use this when: the complete result matters more than the original delivery date.
Si nous conservons les trois parties, nous pourrons livrer le rapport mardi. Pourrions-nous convenir de cette nouvelle date ?
If we keep all three parts, we’ll be able to deliver the report on Tuesday. Could we agree on that new date?
The first sentence connects a requirement to a consequence. In this pattern, si takes the present, nous conservons, and the result uses the future, nous pourrons. Do not write si nous conserverons here.
Pourrions-nous + infinitive makes the request collaborative. Convenir de + noun means “agree on”: convenir d’une date, convenir d’un calendrier.
Give a reason that explains the work involved: « La synthèse budgétaire demande une vérification supplémentaire » — “The budget summary requires an additional check.” A specific dependency is more useful than « On est débordés » (“We’re overwhelmed”).
Treat the new date as a proposal until it is accepted. « La livraison est reportée à mardi » means “Delivery has been postponed until Tuesday”; it presents the change as settled. Use it after agreement, rather than to announce a unilateral change.
Adapt it: name the earliest realistic date for the agreed work, without promising a date you have not checked with the team.
3. Ask for priorities and offer a swap
Use this when: the date is fixed, but you need the stakeholder to choose which deliverables matter most.
Parmi l’analyse, les graphiques et la synthèse budgétaire, quels éléments sont prioritaires pour vendredi ? Nous pouvons en terminer deux d’ici là.
Of the analysis, charts, and budget summary, which items are the priority for Friday? We can finish two of them by then.
Parmi means “among” or “of” when choosing from a set. En replaces the previously named items in en terminer deux: “finish two of them.” D’ici là means “by then,” referring to Friday.
Make the choice easier by suggesting a workable swap:
Nous pouvons donner la priorité à l’analyse et à la synthèse budgétaire, puis livrer les graphiques mardi. Souhaitez-vous retenir cette option ?
We can prioritize the analysis and budget summary, then deliver the charts on Tuesday. Would you like to go with that option?
Donner la priorité à identifies the work to do first. Retenir une option means “select an option.” This approach changes which two parts arrive Friday; method 1 keeps the original two parts and defers the new addition.
Adapt it: give a short, specific choice. Asking « Qu’est-ce qui est urgent ? » (“What’s urgent?”) without naming the tradeoff can leave the same overloaded request in place.
A project conversation that reaches a decision
These fictional colleagues use vous. With a colleague you address as tu, change Souhaitez-vous… ? to Souhaites-tu… ? and cela vous conviendrait to cela te conviendrait.
- Client: « Pourriez-vous ajouter une synthèse budgétaire au rapport prévu pour vendredi ? »
Could you add a budget summary to the report planned for Friday? - Camille: « C’est possible, mais cela modifie le périmètre du rapport. »
That’s possible, but it changes the scope of the report. - Camille: « Nous pouvons livrer l’analyse et les graphiques vendredi, ou les trois parties mardi. »
We can deliver the analysis and charts on Friday, or all three parts on Tuesday. - Client: « J’ai besoin de l’analyse et de la synthèse budgétaire pour la réunion de vendredi. »
I need the analysis and budget summary for Friday’s meeting. - Camille: « Dans ce cas, nous pouvons préparer ces deux parties pour vendredi et livrer les graphiques mardi. »
In that case, we can prepare those two parts for Friday and deliver the charts on Tuesday. - Camille: « Souhaitez-vous retenir cette option ? »
Would you like to go with that option? - Client: « Oui, les graphiques peuvent attendre mardi. »
Yes, the charts can wait until Tuesday. - Camille: « Merci. Je vous envoie un récapitulatif pour confirmer ce calendrier. »
Thank you. I’ll send you a summary to confirm this schedule.
Le périmètre means “scope” here: what the report includes. L’échéance names the deadline. Le délai often refers to the time allowed or needed; give a calendar date when you want the delivery timing to be unambiguous.
For precise help requests inside a team, see the developer stand-up lesson. To practise realistic follow-up commitments, read five customer-support responses in French.
Your turn: propose two feasible options
A client asks for an extra appendix on a report due Friday at 17:00, Paris time. You can deliver the original report on Friday and the appendix on Tuesday, or deliver everything together on Tuesday. You cannot finish everything on Friday.
Write a short reply that names the extra work, explains the constraint, offers both options, and asks the client to choose. Avoid saying the deadline has already changed.
One possible answer:
L’ajout de cette annexe demande du temps supplémentaire. Nous ne pouvons pas terminer l’ensemble pour vendredi à 17 heures, heure de Paris. Je vous propose soit de livrer le rapport vendredi et l’annexe mardi, soit de livrer l’ensemble mardi. Quelle option vous conviendrait le mieux ?
Soit… soit… introduces two alternatives: “either… or…”. L’ensemble refers to the full package, here the report and appendix. Different wording works if the tradeoff and requested decision are clear.
After agreement, confirm the deliverables, exact dates, time, and time zone in writing. Relative days in a practice dialogue are convenient; a real handoff needs enough detail that both people understand the same schedule.
Tomorrow’s recall: hide the answer. Keep Friday fixed, but make the appendix more important than one section of the original report. Write a new proposal that swaps priorities and asks for confirmation.
Practise the proposal in Apprendr
Copy this fictional sentence into the French learning dashboard:
Si nous conservons les trois parties, nous pourrons livrer le rapport mardi.
Choose Explain this French to study the condition and future tense. Then try the generated typed exercise under Use this in your French. Its prompt may differ from this article’s deadline scenario.
Use getting started to choose your level and interests, or preview the French sentence example. Practise with the supplied material or anonymized examples from your own work.