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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

faire du foot(ball)to play football
faire de la natationto swim (as sport)
faire du véloto cycle
faire de la randonnéeto hike
faire du yogato do yoga
faire de la musculationto work out

Jouer à / jouer de

jouer au tennisto play tennis
jouer aux échecsto play chess
jouer aux jeux vidéoto play video games
jouer du pianoto play the piano
jouer de la guitareto play the guitar
jouer de la batterieto play the drums

Autres passions

la lecturereading
la cuisinecooking
le jardinagegardening
la peinturepainting
la photo(graphie)photography
les voyagestravelling
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🎬 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

Qu’est-ce que tu fais le week-end ?What do you do at weekends?
Je fais de la randonnée en montagne.I go hiking in the mountains.
Elle joue du violon depuis dix ans.She’s played the violin for ten years.
On joue aux cartes ce soir ?Shall we play cards tonight?

🔊 Example sentences

Je fais du yoga deux fois par semaine.I do yoga twice a week.
Il joue au foot avec ses collègues.He plays football with his colleagues.
Nous adorons la cuisine italienne.We love Italian cooking.

✍️ 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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