Talking About Free Time Activities in French - Grammar

Learn to talk about free time activities in French

Lesson Transcript

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] + [present-tense aimer / adorer / préférer] + [infinitive verb]

The verbs aimer, adorer, and préférer all express preference, and they follow regular present tense endings for -er 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 → "You like," "You love," "You prefer" (informal)

Il/elle/on aime, adore, préfère → "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 -e 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] + [present-tense aimer / adorer / préférer] + [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] + [present-tense aimer / adorer / préférer] + [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,"

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] + [present-tense aimer / adorer / préférer] + [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."

[As you say the enunciated example, point at Je préfère then at regarder.]

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."

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