Jouer ou Faire?

Jouer ou Faire?

To play or to do?

Hobbies and sports

Les loisirs et les sports

index

INDEX

Sports verbs

Le verbe jouer (présent)

Jouer or Faire video

Le verbe faire (présent)

The definite article

Definite article changes

Talk about Musical instruments

Building sentences

Sports & Hobbies vocabulary

index

les verbes sportifs

sports verbs

In French, like English, we can both play and do sports/games/hobbies, but you need to know which verb sounds correct for each activity. The two key verbs that are used with sports are: jouer (to play) & faire (to do).

Next

les sports et les loisirs

index

sports and hobbies

• Most sports in French are exactly the same or similar to the English words. and all ball sports are masculine, except la pétanque.

• For some activities, such as skiing or horse riding, you cannot use jouer, just like you wouldn't say I play ski or I play horse riding in English. You would use the verb faire (to do).

The verb jouer

The verb faire

Next

index

Le verbe jouer (to play)

present tense

jouer

Next

The present tense:

index

Jouer (to play)

je joue tu joues il/elle joue nous jouons vous jouez ils/elles jouent

I play

You play

He/she/it is playing

We play

You play (plural)

They play

Task

vocabulaire

Next

index

Le verbe faire (to do)

present tense

faire

Next

The present tense:

index

Faire (to do)

je fais tu fais il/elle fait nous faisons vous faites ils/elles font

I do

You do

He/she/it is doing

We do

You do (plural)

They do

*faire can sometimes be translated in English as 'to go' rather than 'to do'

Task

Next

vocabulaire

index

Jouer or Faire?

The verb jouer

The verb faire

Next

index

The definite article

What is it?

THE

Lorem ipsum

Lorem ipsum

LES

L'

Lorem ipsum

LE

LA

Next

Lorem ipsum

The definite article

index

What is it?

In English we only have one definite article 'the', but in French there are more than one definite article to choose from. Le, la, l' and les all mean 'the'.

Next

The definite article

index

In French we use the definite article in the following cases:

• to talk about a specific person or thing

Example: La balle est rouge (The ball is red)

• after the verbs aimer, adorer, préférer, détester (opinion verbs)

Example: J’adore le hockey. (I love hockey)

• before the day of the week to indicate every:

Example: Le lundi je joue au tennis avec mes amis (On Mondays I play tennis with my friends)

Next

index

Definite article changes

How the definite article 'mutates' (changes) after the preposition 'à' and 'de'

Next

Lorem ipsum

index

After the prepositions 'à' and 'de'

After jouer à and faire de, you need to use a definite article. The one you use depends on the gender of the noun, whether it starts with a vowel or a silent h and whether it's singular or plural. The words 'the' after the prepositions à & de as you can see below:

Next

How the definite article 'à' changes

index

When talking about playing a game or a sport, jouer (to play) is followed by the preposition à, but don’t forget to include the definite article - le / la / les.

• Jouer au + sports masculine

• Jouer à la + sports feminine

• Jouer aux + sports plural

Example: je joue au foot

• à + le = au
• à + la = à la
• à + les = aux

Example: je joue à la pétanque

Example: je joue aux boules

Task

Next

index

How the definite article 'de' changes

When talking about sport, faire (to do) is followed by the preposition de. Remember the definite article, le, la, l', les.

• Faire du + sport masculine

• Faire de la + sport feminine

• Faire de l' + sports starting with a vowel

Example: je fais du ski

• de + le = du
• de + la = de la
• de + l' = de l'
• de + les = des

Example: je fais de la natation

Task

Example: je fais de l'équitation

Next

index

Talking about musical instruments

We use 'Jouer de'

Next

index

Talking about playing musical instruments in French we use:

Jouer is a regular -er French verb that can be a bit confusing when it comes time to decide which preposition should follow. When talking about musical instruments we use the preposition 'de'

Jouer de means to play music or a musical instrument.

Examples:

• Je joue de la musique rock. (I play rock music)

• Elle joue du violon. (She plays the violin)

Task

vocabulaire

Next

index

Building sentences

Giving extra detail in your sentences

2. Building sentences about sports /activities you do regularly and with who

1. Building sentences giving your opinion on sports /activities /hobbies you do

Next

Lorem ipsum

Giving opinions on sport and activties

index

Next

index

Talking about sports or activities you do

Next

index

Vocabulary

Sports, Activities and Hobbies

Next

Lorem ipsum

Some sports we use the verb jouer with:

index

je joue... (I play)

masculine

• je joue au tennis
• je joue au badminton
• je joue au foot
• je joue au ping-pong

• je joue au hockey
• je joue au cricket
• je joue au golf
• je joue au basket

• je joue au rugby

feminine

• je joue à la pétanque

plural

• je joue aux boules

Next

Some sport and hobbies we use the verb Faire with:

index

Faire (To do/go)

masculine

feminine

• je fais du vélo
• je fais du judo
• je fais du ski
• je fais du karaté

• je fais de la danse

• je fais de la pêche

• je fais de la natation

• je fais de la voile

sports that start with a vowel

• je fais de l'équitation

plural

• je joue aux boules

Next

index

For musical instruments in French we use:

Jouer (To play)

• je joue du violon
• je joue du piano

masculine

• je joue de la guitare
• je joue de la flûte
• je joue de la trompette
• je joue de la batterie

feminine

de la trompette

de la flûte

de la guitare

du violon

de la batterie

du piano

Next

index

À bientôt!

Lorem ipsum dolor