Faire vs Jouer: Sports, Music and the du/au/de la Puzzle
A2In this article, you'll learn
Do you play football or do football in French? Both verbs exist, they split the territory — and each drags its own preposition along. One table ends the confusion for good.
🎬 This lesson in one minute
The quick version — the full lesson is below. More shorts →
The system
| Activity | Verb + preposition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Team & ball sports (games you play) | jouer à | jouer au foot, au tennis, aux échecs |
| Sports as activity (no “game”) | faire de | faire du yoga, de la natation, de l’escalade |
| Musical instruments | jouer de | jouer du piano, de la guitare |
| Music as activity | faire de | faire de la musique |
The logic (yes, there is one)
Jouer à = games with rules and opponents — anything you could win. Jouer de = instruments, uniquely. Faire de = the catch-all “I do that activity”: it works for EVERY sport and hobby, which makes it the safe choice when unsure — « je fais du tennis » is fine even though « je joue au tennis » is more precise.
Watch the contractions
The prepositions fuse with the article: à+le=au, à+les=aux, de+le=du, de+les=des. So it’s jouer au basket (m), jouer à la pétanque (f), jouer aux cartes (pl); faire du judo (m), faire de la danse (f), faire de l’aviron (vowel).
FAQ
Is « jouer le piano » ever right?
No — instruments always take de: jouer du piano. « Jouer le rôle » exists, but that’s playing a ROLE, theatre vocabulary.
How do I say « I play video games »?
« Je joue aux jeux vidéo » — games with rules, so jouer à. Casual French also just says « je joue » (I game).
Which verb for gym and running?
Faire: je fais de la musculation, je fais de la course (or the lovely « je cours »). No opponent, no game — no jouer.
All the sports with audio: sports chart; instruments on the music chart; and faire’s full conjugation.
Quick practice
Play the Quiztap to start · quick practice from this material
Keep going: Put the pair to work on your whole free time: hobbies vocabulary.
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