Talking About Free Time Activities in French

Expand your vocabulary with our core 2000 words e-book. It's free and packed with essential expressions that you'll use on a daily basis. Start building your vocabulary today. Click the link in the description below to download your free French e-book before it's gone. Do you know how to talk about what you like to do in your free time in French? You'll learn how in just a moment. Hi, my name is Fanny and this is 3-step French by FrenchPod101.com. In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about your hobbies and preferences using simple French sentences. Let's look at the dialogue. As you listen, pay attention to how they ask about the topic and how the other person responds. Moi, je préfère jouer au foot avec mes amis. Tu joues combien de fois par semaine? Deux fois, mais je voudrais m'entraîner plus. De mon côté, je vais pêcher presque chaque week-end. Let's hear it with the English translation. Quand tu as du temps libre, tu fais quoi? When you have free time, what do you do? Listen closely to the next sentence. It uses the key pattern you'll be practicing in this lesson. J'adore aller pêcher dès que j'en ai l'occasion. I love going fishing whenever I get the chance. Moi, je préfère jouer au foot avec mes amis. I prefer playing soccer with my friends. Tu joues combien de fois par semaine? How many times a week do you play? Deux fois, mais je voudrais m'entraîner plus. Twice, but I'd like to train more. De mon côté, je vais pêcher presque chaque week-end. As for me, I go fishing almost every week-end. Let's look at the sentence pattern. Do you remember how the character said, I love going fishing whenever I get the chance? J'adore aller pêcher dès que j'en ai l'occasion. This sentence follows the key pattern for this lesson. Subject plus present tense aimer, adorer, préférer plus infinitive verb. The verbs aimer, adorer and préférer all express preference and they follow regular present tense endings for e-verbs, except for préférer, which has a slight spelling change in some forms. Here's how they are conjugated in the present tense. J'aime, j'adore, je préfère. I like, I love, I prefer. Tu aimes, tu adores, tu préfères. Ils, elles, on, n'aiment, adorent, préfèrent. He, she, one, likes, loves, prefers. Nous aimons, adorons, préférons. We like, love, prefer. Vous aimez, adorez, préférez. You like, love, prefer. Formal or plural. Ils, elles, aiment, adorent, préfèrent. They like, love, prefer. Each of these verbs can be followed directly by an infinitive verb to say what you enjoy doing. Here's how the lines from the dialogue use the key pattern. J'adore aller pêcher dès que j'en ai l'occasion. I love going fishing whenever I get the chance. Let's break it down. Je is the subject pronoun meaning I. Because the next word adore starts with a vowel, je drops its final i and takes an apostrophe. J' Followed by adore, the present tense of adorer meaning love. Then, aller, the infinitive of to go. Pêcher, the infinitive of to fish. And finally, dès que j'en ai l'occasion, a common phrase meaning whenever I get the chance. This sentence follows the structure subject plus present tense, aimer, adorer, préférer plus infinitive verb. A typical way to express what you like doing in your free time. Let's look at another example. Moi, je préfère jouer au foot avec mes amis. I prefer playing soccer with my friends. Here, moi is used for emphasis, like saying me personally. Je préfère means I prefer, from the verb préférer. Jouer is the infinitive to play. Au foot means soccer. And avec mes amis means with my friends. Again, it's the same pattern. Subject plus present tense, aimer, adorer, préférer plus infinitive verb. It's a clear and natural way to talk about the things you enjoy doing. Now you can use this pattern to talk about the things you love to do in your free time in French. Now let's look at some speaking examples. Je préfère écouter de la musique en lisant. I prefer listening to music while reading. Can you see how the pattern applies here? Let's break it down. Je, the subject pronoun, meaning I, followed by préfère, the present tense of préférer, meaning prefer. Next, écouter, the infinitive form of to listen. Then, de la musique, meaning to music. And finally, en lisant, a phrase meaning while reading. This sentence uses the pattern subject plus present tense, aimer, adorer, préférer plus infinitive verb. It's a common way to talk about your favorite activities and habits. Here's another example. J'adore lire presque chaque soir. I love reading almost every evening. J'adore lire presque chaque soir. I love reading almost every evening. Let's try one more. Je préfère regarder un film deux fois par semaine. I prefer watching a movie twice a week. Je préfère regarder un film deux fois par semaine. I prefer watching a movie twice a week. Another one. J'aime courir tous les matins. I like running every morning. J'aime courir tous les matins. I like running every morning. One last example. Nous aimons jouer au foot après l'école. We like playing soccer after school. Nous aimons jouer au foot après l'école. We like playing soccer after school. Now you know how to talk about what you like to do in your free time in French. And you can move on to the practice. Au revoir!