Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Primary 5 · French
Le temps et les loisirs (Weather and free time)
Lesson 2 of 3
14 min
Let's begin
It is Saturday, and umuganda finished at noon. The field beside the school slowly fills up. Mugisha is chasing a ball. Umutoni and Keza are dancing near the goalposts. Under the tree, Ishimwe is beating a drum and everybody's feet start moving.
All of that is les loisirs — free-time activities. Let's learn to talk about yours in French.
Ask them the question: Qu'est-ce que tu fais pendant ton temps libre ?
(say: kess-kuh tü FAY pahn-dahn tohn tahn LEEBR) — What do you do in your free time?
Mugisha answers: Je joue au football. — I play football.
Ishimwe answers: Je joue du tambour. — I play the drum.
Keza answers: Je fais de la danse. — I do dance.
All three sentences use only two verbs: jouer (to play) and faire (to do). The verbs are easy. The tricky part is the tiny word in the middle — au, du, de la. Choosing that tiny word correctly is this whole lesson, and there are only three rules.
If you play it with a ball, a team, or a set of pieces, use jouer à. But à almost never stands alone: it joins with the word in front of the sport.
à + le = au | à + la = à la | à + les = aux
| The word | The sentence |
|---|---|
| le football | Je joue au football. |
| le basket-ball | Je joue au basket. |
| le volley-ball | Je joue au volley-ball. |
| les cartes | Je joue aux cartes. (cards) |
| les billes | Je joue aux billes. (marbles) |
Music is different. When you have an instrument in your hands, French swaps à for de. And de joins up too:
de + le = du | de + la = de la
| The word | The sentence |
|---|---|
| le tambour | Je joue du tambour. |
| le piano | Je joue du piano. |
| la guitare | Je joue de la guitare. |
| la flûte | Je joue de la flûte. |
So Je joue du football is wrong — it sounds as if you were holding the football and beating it like a drum. And Je joue à la guitare is wrong too: a guitar is not a game.
Cycling, swimming, running, reading, dancing: you do not play these, you do them. French uses faire de, and de joins up exactly as before.
de + le = du | de + la = de la | de + les = des
| The word | The sentence |
|---|---|
| le sport | Je fais du sport. |
| le vélo | Je fais du vélo. (cycling) |
| la natation | Je fais de la natation. (swimming) |
| la musique | Je fais de la musique. |
| la lecture | Je fais de la lecture. (reading) |
Task: say "I go swimming" in French.
Step 1 — Play it, or do it? Swimming has no ball and no team, and it is certainly not a musical instrument. So it belongs to Rule 3: faire de.
Step 2 — Find the word and its gender. Swimming is la natation. That la is telling you the word is feminine — always learn the le or la together with the word, because it decides everything next.
Step 3 — Join de + la. These two do not shrink. They simply stay as de la.
Answer: Je fais de la natation. And Umutoni can say where: Je fais de la natation dans le lac Kivu.
Now change one single thing and watch the rule do its work. Cycling is le vélo — masculine. Rule 3 still applies (no ball, no drum), but now de + le DOES shrink, into du:
Je fais du vélo.
Same rule, different gender, different little word. That is the only thing you have to watch.
J'aime le football. — I like football.
J'adore la musique. — I love music.
Je n'aime pas les cartes. — I don't like cards.
Je préfère le volley-ball. — I prefer volleyball.
Watch carefully: after aimer the plain le, la or les comes back. No au, no du here. J'aime au football is wrong.
You can also put a whole verb after it, and then you need nothing in between:
J'aime chanter. (chanter = to sing) · J'aime danser. · J'aime lire. (lire = to read)
Tip
Three questions, and the tiny word appears
Then check the gender of the word: a le word gives you au or du. A la word gives you à la or de la.
Say each one out loud, then tap Show answer to check.
Say in French: "I play volleyball."
Answer: Je joue au volley-ball. — A ball and a team, so jouer à. Le volley-ball is masculine, and à + le = au.
Say in French: "I play the drum."
Answer: Je joue du tambour. — An instrument, so jouer de. Le tambour, and de + le = du.
Say in French: "I go cycling."
Answer: Je fais du vélo. — No ball, no instrument, so faire de. Le vélo, and de + le = du.
Keza dances every Saturday. Dance is la danse. Help her say "I do dance."
Answer: Je fais de la danse. — Faire de again, but la danse is feminine, so de la stays whole.
Gatete wrote: Je joue de le football. Two things are wrong. Fix them.
Answer: Je joue au football. — Football is a game, so it takes à, not de. And à + le must shrink into au.
Tell a friend that you like singing.
Answer: J'aime chanter. — After aimer, the verb chanter simply follows. Nothing goes in between.
What you learned today
Vérifie
How do you say I play the guitar? (la guitare)
