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Vocabulary
Objective: State favourite downtime activities using correct governing verbs like jouer à and faire de.
| French | English | Verb |
|---|---|---|
| le football | football | jouer à |
| le tennis | tennis | jouer à |
| la natation | swimming | faire de |
| le vélo | cycling | faire de |
| le piano | piano | jouer de |
| la guitare | guitar | jouer de |
| la lecture | reading | aimer |
| la cuisine | cooking | aimer |
| la peinture | painting | faire de |
| la danse | dance |
The preposition à and the article le contract to au, so à le tennis never appears in standard French.
Ball sports take jouer à, while jouer de is reserved for musical instruments like le piano and la guitare.
Ball sports take jouer à, and à + le contracts to au. The time expression closes the sentence.
Swimming is an activity without a ball or board, so it takes faire de la. The feminine noun drives the article.
Instruments take jouer de, and de + le contracts to du. The verb is the same, but the preposition differs from sports.
Aimer takes the definite article before a general noun. The plural nous shares the same preference.
The standard question for free-time activities uses est-ce que and the verb faire.
5 exercises · about 8 minutes
| le cinéma | cinema | aller au |
| les voyages | travel | aimer |
Musical instruments use jouer de, not faire de, so piano players use jouer du piano in every register.
Preference verbs take the definite article, so aimer is followed by le, la, l', or les before a general noun.
Adorer is stronger than aimer and takes the same definite article. The verb remains in the third-person singular.
Board and card games take jouer à, and à + les contracts to aux. The recurring le dimanche uses the definite article.
Both détester and aimer take the definite article before their nouns. The contrast appears in one sentence.