Describing healthy habits and routines in French

• Use the present tense to talk about your current habits and routine.

• The imperfect tense can be used to talk about what you used to do.

• This guide contains listening and reading practice.

Useful phrases to help describe regular activities to stay fit, happy and healthy include:

For example:

Il est important de se reposer donc je dors jusqu’à midi le dimanche. - It’s important to rest so I sleep until midday on Sundays.

Je fais du sport regulièrement parce que c’est bon pour ma santé mentale. - I do sport regularly because it’s good for my mental health.

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

The present tense can be used to talk about things that happen regularly.

The imperfect tense can be used to describe something that used to happen or what someone or something was like in the past.

You can use these two tenses together to describe how your habits have changed.

For example:

Quand j’étais petite, j’étais assez sportive mais, maintenant, je n’ai pas le temps. - When I was little, I was quite sporty but now I don’t have the time.

Avant, je faisais de la natation chaque semaine. Cependant, je ne nage pas maintenant. - Before, I used to go swimming every week. However, I don’t swim now.

To form the present tense of regular verbs, take the ending off the infinitive and add the necessary endings for each person.

Many of the most common, high frequency verbs are irregular in the present tense including:

• avoir - to have

• être - to be

• aller - to go

• faire - to do/make

Imperfect tense verb endings

To form the imperfect tense of regular verbs, take the nous form of the present tense, remove the ons and add the following endings:

For example:

À l’école primaire, on jouait dans la cour. - At primary school, we used to play in the playground.

En quatrième, je choisissais toujours les frites pour le déjeuner. - In year 4, I always used to choose chips for lunch.

Malheureusement, on perdait souvent les matchs de foot. - Unfortunately, we often used to lose football matches.

Other useful verbs that are regular in the imperfect tense include:

• avoir - to have

• faire - to do/make

• aller - to go

For example:

J’avais des clubs après le collège. – I used to have clubs after school.

Elle faisait plus d’exercice. – She used to do more exercise.

On allait à la salle de sport trois fois par semaine. – We used to go to the gym three times a week.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be):

Choose the correct pairs of verbs to complete the following sentences.

Press Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about using these two tenses in the Present tense regular and irregular guides and the Imperfect tense guide.

Listen to a group of young French people talk about how their habits have changed. For each person, note one thing they do now and one thing they used to do.

Remember to listen out for time phrases that refer to the past (eg when I was little, before) and the present (eg now, at the moment).

Read this article from a French magazine about a professional footballer and decide which four of the following statements are true.

Ma vie sportive

Comme je suis joueuse de foot professionnelle, je dois rester en forme et manger sain. Quand j’étais plus jeune, je ne mangeais pas de légumes. Maintenant, j’en mange beaucoup avec du poulet ou du poisson.

Je fais beaucoup d’exercice donc je dors très bien. Chaque jour, je me lève tôt et je cours pendant environ une demi-heure. Avant, je me couchais après minuit. C’était trop tard et je trouvais les matins un peu difficile.

À neuf heures, il y a une réunion de l’équipe au stade et nous jouons un ou deux matchs par semaine. Trois soirs par semaine, je vais au centre sportif pour faire de la musculation*.

Pour me relaxer, je lisais un livre ou je regardais un film. Cependant, je n’ai plus le temps donc j’envoie quelques messages rapides à mes amis et je vais directement au lit.

Je dois travailler dur mais je suis très contente de vivre mon rêve. C’est mon emploi idéal!

*faire de la musculation – to do weights

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing healthy habits and routines.

Useful vocabulary includes:

For example:

J’aime me relaxer en jouant aux jeux-vidéos. - I like to relax by playing video games.

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

To form the imperfect tense for nous, vous, ils and elles, take the nous form of the present tense, remove the -ons and add the following endings:

Other useful verbs to know that are regular in the imperfect tense include:

• avoir - to have

• faire - to do/make

• aller - to go

For example:

Ils avaient de meilleures habitudes quand ils étaient enfants. – They had/they used to have better habits when they were children.

Vous faisiez du vélo pendant l’été? – Did you used to go cycling during the summer?

Nous allions au stade pour les matchs. – We used to go to the stadium for matches.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be):

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing healthy habits and routines.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for describing healthy and habits and routine, why not have a look at the Describing where people live in French guide?