français · A2 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Hobbies and sports
Match free-time activities with jouer, faire, or their own verb.
Understand the choice
The English verb play splits in French. A sport or game follows jouer à, an instrument follows jouer de, and activities such as lire, nager, danser, courir, and dessiner stand independently.
Core rule: Use jouer à for a sport or game and jouer de for a musical instrument; other activities use their own verb.
Notice it in context
Pendant mon temps libre, je lis, je nage et je joue de la guitare.
In my free time, I read, swim, and play the guitar.
The three je verbs form a parallel list; de la follows jouer before feminine guitare.
Notre équipe joue un match le samedi.
Our team plays a match on Saturdays.
Singular collective équipe takes joue; match is the direct object.
Ma sœur joue du piano.
My sister plays the piano.
De + le contracts to du before the instrument.
What to remember
- Jouer au tennis and jouer aux cartes use à contractions.
- Faire du vélo and faire de la randonnée are common activity phrases without jouer.
Common trap: Do not say jouer la guitare. An instrument requires de: jouer de la guitare.