Talking about what you like to do in French
Moi, j鈥檃ime le sport!
J鈥檃ime le foot - I like football.鈥
鈥Elle aime le cyclisme - She likes cycling.鈥
And if you don鈥檛 like something you sandwich the verb between ne and pas.
Je n鈥檃ime pas la natation - I don鈥檛 like swimming.
And if you're talking about something you do in your spare time jouer to play - 鈥巌s really useful. 鈥
Je joue au basket - I play basketball. 鈥
Elle joue de la guitare - She plays guitar.
Then there鈥檚 faire to do鈥.
Je fais de la gymnastique - I do gymnastics鈥.
Phew! Il y a beaucoup de choses 脿 jouer et 脿 faire!
There are lots of things to play and to do!鈥
Talking about sports
To say that you play or do a sport, you use jouer 脿 (to play), if it鈥檚 a ball sport, or faire de 鈥庘(to do) if it鈥檚 any other sport:鈥
- Je joue au hockey - I play hockey.鈥
- Je fais du ski - I go skiing.鈥
Sports using the verb 'jouer'
- le foot - football
- le rugby - rugby
- le hockey - hockey
- le tennis - tennis
- le netball - netball
- le cricket - cricket
- le handball - handball
- le badminton - badminton
- le golf - golf
- le volley - volleyball
- le basket - basketball
- le ping-pong - table tennis
- la p茅tanque - boules
Most sports in French are exactly the same or very similar to the English words 鈥巃nd all ball sports are masculine, except la p茅tanque (产辞耻濒别蝉).鈥
To say you play a sport you use je joue au
E.g. Je joue au foot - I play football.
The exception is la p茅tanque. This becomes je joue 脿 la p茅tanque - I play boules.
Sports using the verb 'faire'
- le ski - skiing
- le snowboard - snowboarding
- le v茅lo / le cyclisme - cycling
- la natation - swimming
- la boxe - boxing
- la danse - dancing
- la gymnastique - gymnastics
- la p锚che - fishing (you can also say aller 脿 la p锚che)
- le skate - skateboarding
- le karat茅 / le judo - karate / judo
- le parkour - parkour
- 濒鈥檃迟丑濒茅迟颈蝉尘别鈥 - athletics
- 濒鈥櫭﹒耻颈迟补迟颈辞苍 - horse-riding
To say you do a sport you use the following:
Je fais du - for masculine sports
Je fais de la - for feminine sports
Je fais de l鈥 - for sports beginning with a vowel or 'h'
Image caption, Je fais du v茅lo - I go cycling*鈥
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鈥*Faire is sometimes translated in English as 鈥榯o go鈥 rather than 鈥榯o do鈥 eg 鈥業 go cycling鈥 鈥巖ather than 鈥業 do cycling.鈥 鈥
Talking about likes and dislikes
There are a few ways of giving your opinion of different activities. If your opinion is 鈥巔ositive, you can say j鈥檃ime bien (I like) and if it鈥檚 negative, you can say je n鈥檃ime pas (I 鈥巇on鈥檛 like):鈥
- J鈥檃ime bien le foot - I like football.鈥
- Je n鈥檃ime pas le rugby - I don鈥檛 like rugby.鈥
Here are some other useful opinion phrases:鈥
| French | English |
|---|---|
| 箩鈥檃诲辞谤别 | I love |
| je pr茅f猫re | I prefer |
| je d茅teste | I hate |
| mon sport pr茅f茅r茅, c鈥檈st鈥︹ | my favourite sport is鈥︹ |
After these expressions, you can use an infinitive (the basic form of a verb, which has not 鈥巄een conjugated), such as jouer (to play) or regarder (to watch).鈥
To ask someone what they like doing in their free time, you can say:鈥
- Qu鈥檈st-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre? - What do you like doing 鈥巌n your free time?鈥
To give a reply, you can use one of the opinion phrases above, and then say the activity:鈥
- J鈥檃ime 茅couter de la musique - I like listening to music.鈥
- Ma copine Chlo茅 adore jouer du piano - My friend Chloe loves playing the 鈥巔iano.鈥
For more useful expressions to use to talk about free time activities, click on the downloadable vocabulary list below:鈥
Talking about the past
Talking about the future
Quiz
Watch the video and find out how much you know about free time activities in French with this short quiz.
MICHEL: Voici ton caf茅.
**础惭脡尝滨贰: Merci 鈥 Ce week-end c鈥檈st mon anniversaire et je vais le f锚ter avec mes copains, Val茅rie et 鈥嶨eorges - et toi - si tu veux?**鈥
MICHEL: Oui. Bien s没r. Alors, qu鈥檈st ce que tu veux faire?鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: Je ne peux pas me d茅cider 鈥︹
MICHEL: Qu鈥檈st-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre?鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: J鈥檃ime aller au cin茅ma et j'aime 茅couter de la musique.鈥
**MICHEL: Et le sport? Quel est ton sport pr茅f茅r茅?**鈥
**础惭脡尝滨贰: J鈥檃ime aller au bowling avec mes copains. Et toi? Quel est ton sport pr茅f茅r茅?**鈥
MICHEL: J鈥檃ime faire du cyclisme et jouer au basket mais mon fr猫re pr茅f猫re rester 脿 la maison et jouer aux 鈥巎eux vid茅o. C鈥檈st nul! 鈥
**础惭脡尝滨贰: Le week-end dernier, j鈥檃i fait de la natation avec ma soeur et apr猫s nous sommes all茅es faire les 鈥巑agasins. Qu鈥檈st-ce que tu as fait?**鈥
MICHEL: Le week-end dernier, j鈥檃i jou茅 au badminton avec mon p猫re. Mais ton anniversaire! Comment tu 鈥巚as le f锚ter? 鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: Je sais que Georges aime faire du parkour. 鈥
MICHEL: Mais c鈥檈st trop dangereux!
础惭脡尝滨贰: Val茅rie pr茅f猫re jouer aux jeux vid茅o.
MICHEL: Mais c鈥檈st trop ennuyeux.
础惭脡尝滨贰: D鈥檃ccord, nous allons aller au bowling et apr猫s nous allons manger une pizza en ville.鈥
MICHEL: Bon choix!鈥
Translation:
MICHEL: Here you go, your coffee.
础惭脡尝滨贰: Thanks鈥 This weekend it鈥檚 my birthday and I鈥檓 going to celebrate with my friends Valerie and 鈥嶨eorge - and you - if you want?
MICHEL: Yes. Sure. So what do you want to do?
础惭脡尝滨贰: I can鈥檛 decide 鈥︹
MICHEL: What do you like doing in your free time?鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: I like going to the cinema and listening to music.
MICHEL: And sport? What鈥檚 your favourite sport? 鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: I like going bowling with my friends. And you? What鈥檚 your favourite sport?鈥
MICHEL: I like cycling and playing basketball but my brother prefers staying at home and playing video 鈥巊ames. It鈥檚 rubbish!鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: Last weekend I went swimming with my sister and afterwards we went shopping. What did you 鈥巇o?鈥
MICHEL: Last weekend, I played badminton with my dad. But what about your birthday! How are you 鈥巊oing to celebrate?鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: I know that George likes to do parkour.鈥
MICHEL: But it鈥檚 too dangerous!鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: Valerie prefers playing video games.
MICHEL: But that鈥檚 too boring.鈥
础惭脡尝滨贰: OK, we are going to go bowling and afterwards we are going to go and eat pizza in town.
MICHEL: Good choice!鈥
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