How to Talk About Your Hobbies

Learn how to talk about your hobbies

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do French by FrenchPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your hobbies in French.

For example, "I like fishing." is

J'aime pêcher.

Two neighbors, Theodore Toussaint and Corentin Collin , are having a conversation in an apartment building lobby.

Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components.

pêcher

"to fish"

pêcher

loisirs

"hobbies"

loisirs

Listen to the conversation.

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

J'aime pêcher.

Once more with the English translation.

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

"What are your hobbies?"

J'aime pêcher.

"I like to fish."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Theodore Toussaint asks,

"What are your hobbies?"

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

Let's start with loisirs, "hobbies." loisirs. Loisirs.

Loisirs is from the word, loisir, "hobby." Loisir.

In French, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Loisirs is masculine and plural — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before loisirs is tes, the informal word for "your." Tes. Tes.

Tes is masculine and plural to agree with loisirs.

Together, tes loisirs. "Your hobbies." Tes loisirs.

Moving to the start of the sentence, Quels, "which." Quels. Quels.

Quels is masculine plural to agree with loisirs.

Next is sont, "are" as in "what are…" Sont. Sont.

Sont is from the verb, être, meaning "to be." Être.

All together, it's Quels sont tes loisirs? This literally means "Which are your hobbies?" but it translates as "What are your hobbies?"

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

This is an informal conversation between two young people of similar age. For formal situations, vos replaces tes in this pattern. Quels sont vos loisirs ? "What are your hobbies?" Quels sont vos loisirs ?

Notice the meaning doesn’t change, only the politeness level.

Remember this pattern as you’ll see it again later in the lesson.

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Corentin Collin says,

"I like fishing."

J'aime pêcher.

First is J’aime, translating as "I like," in this context. J’aime.

First is je, "I." Je. Je.

Next is aime, "I like." Aime. Aime.

Aime is from the verb, aimer, meaning "to like" or "to love." Aimer.

Je is contracted with aime to form j’aime.

Together it's j’aime,"I like." J’aime.

Next is pêcher. "To fish." Pêcher. Pêcher.

All together it's J’aime pêcher. Literally, "I like to fish."

J'aime pêcher.

The pattern is

J'aime ACTIVITY.

"I like ACTIVITY."

J'aimeACTIVITY.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ACTIVITY} placeholder with an activity you like to do.

Note: the placeholder is a verb and must be placed in the infinitive, or, in other words, the dictionary form.

Imagine you like to read, lire. Lire. Lire.

Say

"I like to read."

Ready?

J'aime lire.

"I like to read."

J'aime lire.

In this lesson, we are using infinitive verbs for the activity placeholder. It is also possible to use nouns with this pattern. If you choose to use nouns, you will need to use definite articles, such as le, la, or les. For example,

J'aime la lecture.

"I like reading."

J'aime la lecture.

J’aime le dessin.

"I like drawing."

J’aime le dessin.

This lesson focuses on the pattern:

J'aime ACTIVITY.

However, J'aime can also be used with nouns, when talking about something you like.

J'aime HOBBY.

Note: in this case, the corresponding definite article is included with the noun.

For masculine nouns, le.

For feminine nouns, la.

For example,

J'aime la lecture.

"I like reading."

J'aime la lecture.

J’aime le dessin.

"I like drawing."

J’aime le dessin.

You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

Again, the key pattern is

J'aime ACTIVITY.

"I like ACTIVITY."

J'aimeACTIVITY.

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

J'aime pêcher.

"I like to fish."

J'aime pêcher.

J'aime lire.

"I like to read."

J'aime lire.

J'aime voyager.

"I like to travel."

J'aime voyager.

J'aime nager.

"I like to swim."

J'aime nager.

J'aime jouer au foot.

I like to play soccer."

J'aime jouer au foot.

Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern?

J'aime jouer au foot.

"I like to play soccer."

First is J’aime. "I like." J’aime.

Next is jouer, "to play." Jouer. Jouer.

After this is the phrase, au foot. This literally means "at soccer." Au foot.

Let’s start with foot, "soccer." Foot. Foot.

Foot is masculine singular, a fact that will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before this is the contracted preposition au, meaning "at the." Au. Au.

Au is the masculine form of the preposition to agree with foot.

Au is used after jouer when referring to a recreational activity or a sport that involves two or more people, such as soccer.

Note: in this sentence, the preposition au does not have a corresponding English translation.

All together, J’aime jouer au foot. Literally means "I like to play at the soccer," but it translates as "I like to play soccer."

Note: Most team sports in French are masculine; however, there are a few exceptions. Before words for sports that are feminine, au becomes à la.

J’aime jouer à la pétanque.

"I like to play pétanque."

J’aime jouer à la pétanque.

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ACTIVITY} placeholder with an activity you like to do.

Note: This pattern requires a verb phrase in which a verb is followed by a noun.

Let’s review the new words.

voyager

"to travel"

voyager

nager

"to swim"

nager

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "to fish?"

Pêcher.

And how to say "I?"

Je.

Do you remember how Corentin Collin says,

"I like to fish."

J'aime pêcher.

Do you remember how to say "hobbies?"

Loisirs.

And the informal way to say "your hobbies?"

Tes loisirs.

Do you remember the plural way to say "what?"

Quels.

Do you remember how Théodore Toussaint asks,

"What are your hobbies?"

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

Do you remember how to say "to read?"

Lire.

And how to say "to travel?"

Voyager.

Do you remember how to say "to swim?"

Nager.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Theodore Toussaint , and you like to read, or lire. Respond to the question.

Ready?

Quels sont tes loisirs ?

J'aime lire.

Listen again and repeat.

J'aime lire.

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Denise Dumont , and you like to travel, or voyager.

Ready?

Quels sont vos loisirs?

J'aime voyager.

Listen again and repeat.

J'aime voyager.

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Hugues Henry , and you like to swim, or nager.

Ready?

Quels sont vos loisirs ?

J'aime nager.

Listen again and repeat.

J'aime nager.

In this lesson, we mainly used informal speech. For formal speech, we will need to change the informal "your," tes, for the formal "your," vos.

The question for hobbies becomes:

Quels sont vos loisirs ?

"What are your hobbies?"

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About Hobbies unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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