Talking about what you like to do in French
Moi, j’aime le sport!
J’aime le foot - I like football.
Elle aime le cyclisme - She likes cycling.
And if you don’t like something you sandwich the verb between ne and pas.
Je n’aime pas la natation - I don’t like swimming.
And if you're talking about something you do in your spare time jouer to play - is really useful.
Je joue au basket - I play basketball.
Elle joue de la guitare - She plays guitar.
Then there’s faire to do.
Je fais de la gymnastique - I do gymnastics.
Phew! Il y a beaucoup de choses à jouer et à faire!
There are lots of things to play and to do!
Talking about sports
To say that you play or do a sport, you use jouer à (to play), if it’s a ball sport, or faire de (to do) if it’s any other sport:
- Je joue au hockey - I play hockey.
- Je fais du ski - I go skiing.
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 pétanque - boules
Most sports in French are exactly the same or very similar to the English words and all ball sports are masculine, except la pétanque (boules).
To say you play a sport you use je joue au
E.g. Je joue au foot - I play football.
The exception is la pétanque. This becomes je joue à la pétanque - I play boules.
Sports using the verb 'faire'
- le ski - skiing
- le snowboard - snowboarding
- le vélo / le cyclisme - cycling
- la natation - swimming
- la boxe - boxing
- la danse - dancing
- la gymnastique - gymnastics
- la pêche - fishing (you can also say aller à la pêche)
- le skate - skateboarding
- le karaté / le judo - karate / judo
- le parkour - parkour
- l’athlétisme - athletics
- l’équitation - 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’ - for sports beginning with a vowel or 'h'
Image caption, Je fais du vélo - I go cycling*
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*Faire is sometimes translated in English as ‘to go’ rather than ‘to do’ eg ‘I go cycling’ rather than ‘I do cycling.’
Talking about likes and dislikes
There are a few ways of giving your opinion of different activities. If your opinion is positive, you can say j’aime bien (I like) and if it’s negative, you can say je n’aime pas (I don’t like):
- J’aime bien le foot - I like football.
- Je n’aime pas le rugby - I don’t like rugby.
Here are some other useful opinion phrases:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’adore | I love |
| je préfère | I prefer |
| je déteste | I hate |
| mon sport préféré, c’est… | my favourite sport is… |
After these expressions, you can use an infinitive (the basic form of a verb, which has not been conjugated), such as jouer (to play) or regarder (to watch).
To ask someone what they like doing in their free time, you can say:
- Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre? - What do you like doing in your free time?
To give a reply, you can use one of the opinion phrases above, and then say the activity:
- J’aime écouter de la musique - I like listening to music.
- Ma copine Chloé adore jouer du piano - My friend Chloe loves playing the piano.
For more useful expressions to use to talk about free time activities, click on the downloadable vocabulary list below:
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 café.
**AMÉLIE: Merci … Ce week-end c’est mon anniversaire et je vais le fêter avec mes copains, Valérie et Georges - et toi - si tu veux?**
MICHEL: Oui. Bien sûr. Alors, qu’est ce que tu veux faire?
AMÉLIE: Je ne peux pas me décider …
MICHEL: Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire pendant ton temps libre?
AMÉLIE: J’aime aller au cinéma et j'aime écouter de la musique.
**MICHEL: Et le sport? Quel est ton sport préféré?**
**AMÉLIE: J’aime aller au bowling avec mes copains. Et toi? Quel est ton sport préféré?**
MICHEL: J’aime faire du cyclisme et jouer au basket mais mon frère préfère rester à la maison et jouer aux jeux vidéo. C’est nul!
**AMÉLIE: Le week-end dernier, j’ai fait de la natation avec ma soeur et après nous sommes allées faire les magasins. Qu’est-ce que tu as fait?**
MICHEL: Le week-end dernier, j’ai joué au badminton avec mon père. Mais ton anniversaire! Comment tu vas le fêter?
AMÉLIE: Je sais que Georges aime faire du parkour.
MICHEL: Mais c’est trop dangereux!
AMÉLIE: Valérie préfère jouer aux jeux vidéo.
MICHEL: Mais c’est trop ennuyeux.
AMÉLIE: D’accord, nous allons aller au bowling et après nous allons manger une pizza en ville.
MICHEL: Bon choix!
Translation:
MICHEL: Here you go, your coffee.
AMÉLIE: Thanks… This weekend it’s my birthday and I’m going to celebrate with my friends Valerie and George - and you - if you want?
MICHEL: Yes. Sure. So what do you want to do?
AMÉLIE: I can’t decide …
MICHEL: What do you like doing in your free time?
AMÉLIE: I like going to the cinema and listening to music.
MICHEL: And sport? What’s your favourite sport?
AMÉLIE: I like going bowling with my friends. And you? What’s your favourite sport?
MICHEL: I like cycling and playing basketball but my brother prefers staying at home and playing video games. It’s rubbish!
AMÉLIE: Last weekend I went swimming with my sister and afterwards we went shopping. What did you do?
MICHEL: Last weekend, I played badminton with my dad. But what about your birthday! How are you going to celebrate?
AMÉLIE: I know that George likes to do parkour.
MICHEL: But it’s too dangerous!
AMÉLIE: Valerie prefers playing video games.
MICHEL: But that’s too boring.
AMÉLIE: OK, we are going to go bowling and afterwards we are going to go and eat pizza in town.
MICHEL: Good choice!
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