Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let’s take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Theodore Toussaint asks,
"What are your hobbies?"
Quels sont tes loisirs ?
Let's start with loisirs, "hobbies." loisirs. Loisirs.
Loisirs is from the word, loisir, "hobby." Loisir.
In French, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Loisirs is masculine and plural — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Before loisirs is tes, the informal word for "your." Tes. Tes.
Tes is masculine and plural to agree with loisirs.
Together, tes loisirs. "Your hobbies." Tes loisirs.
Moving to the start of the sentence, Quels, "which." Quels. Quels.
Quels is masculine plural to agree with loisirs.
Next is sont, "are" as in "what are…" Sont. Sont.
Sont is from the verb, être, meaning "to be." Être.
All together, it's Quels sont tes loisirs? This literally means "Which are your hobbies?" but it translates as "What are your hobbies?"
Quels sont tes loisirs ?
This is an informal conversation between two young people of simliar age. For formal situations, vos replaces tes in this pattern. Quels sont vos loisirs ? "What are your hobbies?" Quels sont vos loisirs ?
Notice the meaning doesn’t change, only the politeness level.
Remember this pattern as you’ll see it again later in the lesson.
Let’s take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Corentin Collin says,
"I like fishing."
J'aime pêcher.
First is J’aime, translating as "I like," in this context. J’aime.
First is je, "I." Je. Je.
Next is aime, "[I] like." Aime. Aime.
Aime is from the verb, aimer, meaning "to like" or "to love." Aimer.
Je is contracted with aime to form j’aime.
Together it's j’aime,"I like." J’aime.
Next is pêcher. "To fish." Pêcher. Pêcher.
All together it's J’aime pêcher. Literally, "I like to fish."
J'aime pêcher.
The pattern is
J'aime ACTIVITY.
"I like ACTIVITY."
J'aime ACTIVITY.
To use this pattern, simply replace the {ACTIVITY} placeholder with an activity you like to do.
Note: the placeholder is a verb and must be placed in the infinitive, or, in other words, the dictionary form.
Imagine you like to read, lire. Lire. Lire.
Say
"I like to read."
Ready?
J'aime lire.
"I like to read."
J'aime lire.
In this lesson, we are using infinitive verbs for the activity placeholder. It is also possible to use nouns with this pattern. If you choose to use nouns, you will need to use definite articles, such as le, la, or les. For example,
J'aime la lecture.
"I like reading."
J'aime la lecture.
J’aime le dessin.
“I like drawing.”
J’aime le dessin.
This lesson focuses on the pattern:
J'aime ACTIVITY.
However, J'aime can also be used with nouns, when talking about something you like.
J'aime HOBBY.
Note: in this case, the corresponding definite article is included with the noun.
For masculine nouns, le.
For feminine nouns, la.
For example,
J'aime la lecture. "I like reading."
J'aime la lecture.
J’aime le dessin. “I like drawing.”
J’aime le dessin.
You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

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