Les Loisirs — hobbies in French | Vocabulary
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Hobbies — and the faire/jouer rule. This French hobbies faire jouer rule vocabulary list gives you 18 essential words — from faire du foot(ball) (to play football) to les voyages (travelling) — each with audio and its English translation. Use it to build the French words you need to talk about hobbies faire jouer rule, then test yourself with the games below.
Les Loisirs
Hobbies — and the faire/jouer rule
Le sport · faire de
Jouer à / jouer de
Autres passions
🎬 The 20-second version
5 quick questions on « Les Loisirs » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →
📘 Talking about hobbies correctly
- The golden rule: jouer À + game/sport (jouer au tennis) · jouer DE + instrument (jouer du piano) · faire DE + activity (faire de la natation).
- All three contract as usual: à+le=au, de+le=du, de+la stays: jouer aux cartes, faire du sport.
- Likes take the definite article: j’adore LA lecture, j’aime LE cinéma.
- Frequency helpers: une fois par semaine (once a week), de temps en temps, le week-end.
- Asking: Qu’est-ce que tu fais pendant ton temps libre ? — the classic conversation opener.
🔊 Useful phrases
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
to play chess = jouer ___ échecs (game → à)
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aux
to play the guitar = jouer ___ guitare (instrument → de)
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de la
to go swimming = ___ de la natation (activity verb)
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faire
🎮 Practise this with games
🎯 More practice — vocabulary recall — both directions
How do you say « to play football »? (recall)
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faire du foot
What does « faire du vélo » mean? (recall)
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to cycle
How do you say « to do yoga »? (recall)
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faire du yoga
What does « jouer au tennis » mean? (recall)
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to play tennis
How do you say « to play video games »? (recall)
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jouer aux jeux vidéo
What does « jouer de la guitare » mean? (recall)
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to play the guitar
How do you say « reading »? (recall)
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la lecture
What does « le jardinage » mean? (recall)
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gardening
Go further: get the full picture in our guide Your first French conversation — the 4 moves.
French hobbies faire jouer rule vocabulary — FAQ
How do you say common hobbies faire jouer rule words in French?
For example: to play football is « faire du foot(ball) », to swim (as sport) is « faire de la natation », to cycle is « faire du vélo ». The full list above has 18 French hobbies faire jouer rule words, each with audio so you can hear the pronunciation.
What are the most useful French hobbies faire jouer rule words to learn first?
Start with the basics: faire du foot(ball) (to play football), faire de la natation (to swim (as sport)), faire du vélo (to cycle), faire de la randonnée (to hike), faire du yoga (to do yoga), faire de la musculation (to work out). Master these core French words before moving on to the rest of the list.
How can I memorise French hobbies faire jouer rule vocabulary?
Learn the words in small themed groups, say each one out loud with the audio, and use it in a short sentence about your own life. Spaced repetition is what makes new vocabulary stick — see our guide to learning French vocabulary that sticks.
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