Sport and exercise (Edexcel GCSE French): Revision Notes
Sport and exercise
Learning about sports and exercise in French is essential for expressing your hobbies, preferences, and daily activities. This topic combines important vocabulary with key grammar rules that will help you communicate effectively about physical activities.
Essential sports vocabulary
Understanding the names of different sports and activities is crucial for discussing what you enjoy doing in your free time.
| French | English | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| le basket (m) | basketball | le basketball | basketball |
| le cheval (m) | horse | la danse (f) | dance |
| le club (m) | club | en forme | fit, in shape |
| l'équipe (f) | team | l'exercice (m) | exercise |
| le foot(ball) (m) | football | le handball (m) | handball |
| le jeu (m) | game | le match (m) | match |
| French | English | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| la natation (f) | swimming | le sport (m) | sport |
| le stade (m) | stadium | le tennis (m) | tennis |
| le terrain (m) | ground | tomber | to fall |
| le vélo (m) | bicycle | l'athlétisme (m) | athletics |
| la foule (f) | crowd | le gymnase (m) | gym |
Example sentences using sports vocabulary
Vocabulary in Context:
- Je joue au tennis avec mes amis. (I play tennis with my friends.)
- Mon équipe préférée joue au stade ce weekend. (My favourite team is playing at the stadium this weekend.)
- Elle fait de la natation tous les matins. (She goes swimming every morning.)
- Nous regardons un match de football à la télé. (We're watching a football match on TV.)
Grammar focus: jouer à or faire de?
This is a crucial grammar point that many students find challenging. The choice between jouer à and faire de depends on the type of activity you're describing.
Critical Rule: The choice between jouer à and faire de is not random - it depends on whether you would say "play" or "do/go" in English!
When to use jouer à
Use jouer à when you would say "play" in English. This typically applies to:
- Team sports with opponents
- Games with rules and competition
- Activities where you "play against" someone
Using jouer à:
- Ils jouent au handball. (They play handball.)
- Je joue au basket le mercredi. (I play basketball on Wednesdays.)
- Tu joues au tennis? (Do you play tennis?)
When to use faire de
Use faire de when you would say "do" or "go" in English. This applies to:
- Individual sports and activities
- Exercise and fitness activities
- Activities you practice rather than "play"
Using faire de:
- Elle fait de la natation. (She goes swimming/does swimming.)
- Il fait du vélo. (He goes cycling.)
- Nous faisons de la danse. (We do dancing.)
Expressing preferences about sports
You can combine these structures with opinion phrases to talk about what you like or dislike:
Notice how the grammar structure stays the same even when adding opinion words - jouer à remains for "play" activities and faire de remains for "do/go" activities.
- J'aime jouer au football. (I like playing football.)
- J'aime faire de la natation. (I like swimming/going swimming.)
- Je n'aime pas faire de la danse mais j'aime bien jouer au tennis. (I don't like dancing but I really like playing tennis.)
Using time phrases effectively
Adding time expressions makes your French more natural and helps you discuss when activities happen. These phrases work with different tenses to show whether something happened in the past, is happening now, or will happen in the future.
Past time phrases
- hier (yesterday)
- la semaine dernière (last week)
- il y a deux semaines (two weeks ago)
Present time phrases
- normalement (normally, usually)
- en ce moment (at the moment)
- maintenant (now)
- toujours (always)
- toutes les semaines (every week)
- chaque année (each year)
Future time phrases
- la semaine prochaine (next week)
- demain (tomorrow)
- bientôt (soon)
Using time phrases in context
Time Phrases in Action:
- Hier, j'ai fait du vélo pendant une heure. (Yesterday, I cycled for an hour.)
- Normalement, je joue au tennis le samedi. (Usually, I play tennis on Saturday.)
- Demain, nous allons faire de la natation. (Tomorrow, we're going swimming.)
Reading comprehension skills
When reading texts about sports, look for key opinion words and activity verbs. Understanding whether someone likes or dislikes an activity, and which activities they do, is essential for comprehension questions.
In reading texts, pay special attention to the contrast between different people's preferences. This is often tested in comprehension questions.
In the worked example, three people express different preferences:
- Jules prefers football but dislikes cycling
- Léa is passionate about tennis and plans to watch a match
- Zoé does dancing but prefers basketball because it's exciting
Exam tip for reading tasks
Reading Strategy: Always read the questions first, then scan the text for specific information. Look for negative words like je déteste (I hate) or je n'aime pas (I don't like) as well as positive expressions like ma passion (my passion) or j'aime mieux (I prefer).
Translation exercises
French to English Practice:
-
Qu'est-ce que tu as fait récemment comme exercice? Answer: What have you done recently as exercise?
-
Quels sports vas-tu faire la semaine prochaine? Answer: Which sports are you going to do next week?
English to French Practice:
-
I play basketball every Tuesday. Answer: Je joue au basket tous les mardis.
-
She went swimming yesterday. Answer: Elle a fait de la natation hier.
Key Points to Remember:
- Use jouer à for sports you "play" (team sports, competitive games)
- Use faire de for activities you "do" or "go" (individual sports, exercise)
- Time phrases help you discuss when activities happen - learn phrases for past, present, and future
- Look for opinion words in reading texts to understand preferences and attitudes
- Practice using sports vocabulary with different tenses to improve fluency