Leisure Time

The Verbs Faire and Jouer

You will learn two new verbs in this topic: Faire and Jouer. Faire is an important verb in French; it can mean several different things depending on how it is used. For this topic, it will mean to do or to play. Faire is an irregular verb, meaning that it does not follow a pattern when you conjugate it. The verb jouer is a regular -er verb and follows the pattern in conjugation that all other -er verbs follow. Jouer means to play.

The phrases in the table below show the conjugation of the verb faire and jourer. Familiarize yourself with these phrases and practice your pronunciation by repeating each phrase aloud after the speaker. Click each phrase to hear the pronunciation. Some phrases include both the masculine (m) and feminine (f) gender.

Singular (s)		Plural (p)
French	English	French	English
Faire
Je fais	I do	nous faisons	We do
Tu fais	You do	vous faites	You do
Il fait (m)	He does	ils font (m)	They do
Elle fait (f)	She does	elles font (f)	They do
On fait	We do
Jouer
Je joue	I play	Nous jouons	We play
Tu joues	You play	Vous jouez	You play
Il joue (m)	He plays	Ils jouent (m)	They play
Elle joue (f)	She plays	Elles jouent (f)	They play
On joue	We play

Leisure Activities

There are lots of different ways to spend your leisure time. France and the United States have many of the same activities and sports. If you travel to France, you will probably want to participate in your favorite activities, so it is important that you learn how to pronounce each. In this interactivity, learn about several different leisure activities, many of which use the verbs faire and jouer. You will notice that activities using faire use de and all if its forms (de, la, du, des, de l’) and activities using jouer use à and all of its forms (à la, au, aux, à l’). Click the player to begin. View a printable version of the interactivity.

What do you do each season?

In high schools located in the United States, different sports are played during the four seasons. For example, in Virginia, spring sports include soccer, baseball, and tennis. Fall sports include football, volleyball, and golf. Winter sports include basketball, swimming, and gymnastics. What sports are played during the various seasons in France? In this interactivity, learn how to ask your friends what activities they do during the different seasons. Click the player to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

While you may ask someone what they do during a specific season, you may also ask someone what they do during a different month. If this is the case, you add the month to the question qu’est-ce que tu fais. For example, qu’est-ce que tu fais en janvier is asking what do you do in January?

Other Questions and Phrases

When discussing activities in French, there are a few other questions and phrases you may need to sound fluent. You might have to tell someone that you like or dislike a certain activity. You may be interested in what a friend does on the weekends or during vacations.

The questions and phrases in the table below will help you to become a more fluent French speaker when discussing leisure activities. Familiarize yourself with these questions/phrases and practice your pronunciation by repeating each question/phrase aloud after the speaker. Click each phrase to hear the pronunciation. Some phrases include both the masculine (m) and feminine (f) gender.

French	English
Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire?	What do you like to do?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais comme sport?	What sports do you play?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour t’amuser?	What do you do for fun?
J’aime	I like
Je n’aime pas	I don’t like
Desolé, mais je ne peux pas (m)	Sorry, but I can’t
Desolée, mais je ne peux pas (f)	Sorry, but I can’t
Je ne joue pas	I don’t play
Je ne fais pas de	I don’t play/do
Qu’est-ce que tu fais le weekend?	What do you do on the weekend?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais le soir?	What do you do in the evening?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais en vacances?	What do you do on vacation?

 

Dire L'heure

Of course, while you are describing the many activities and sports you play, you are going to converse about time. What time does the movie start? When does practice end? What time is it now? These are all questions you might have to answer in French. Conversational time requires you to know your numbers in French and you have to be able to read a clock. In this interactivity, practice reading a clock and describing the time in French. Click the player to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

 

Leisure Time Review

Now that you have studied leisure activities and conversational time, practice what you have learned. In this non-graded interactivity, read the directions associated with each question to provide the correct responses. Click the player to get started