Sports and exercise
Sports et exercice
- Learn the sports
- Talk about the sports you practice
- The past tense with "avoir" and "être"
Discover essential sports vocabulary like le football, la natation, and le basketball, while mastering the passé composé with avoir and être to talk about your recent activities and achievements.
Listening & reading materials
Practice vocabulary in context with real materials.
Vocabulary (15) Share Copied!
Exercises Share Copied!
These exercises can be done together during conversation lessons or as homework.
Exercise 1: Reorder sentences
Instruction: Make correct sentences and translate.
Exercise 2: Match a word
Instruction: Match the translations
Exercise 3: Cluster the words
Instruction: Classify the following words into two categories: those that are individual sports and those that are team sports.
Sports individuels
Sports collectifs
Exercise 4: Translate and use in a sentence
Instruction: Pick a word, translated and use the word in a sentence or dialogue.
1
Le cyclisme
Cycling
2
Le tennis
Tennis
3
La natation
Swimming
4
Faire du sport
Playing sport
5
Le rugby
Rugby
Exercice 5: Conversation exercise
Instruction:
- Name the type of sport and say if you do it as a team (or a pair) or alone. (Name the type of sport and say if you do it as a team (or a pair) or alone.)
- Do you do sports? How often? (Do you do sports? How often?)
- Do you like to watch sports? (Do you like to watch sports?)
Teaching guidelines +/- 10 minutes
Example phrases:
|
Le volleyball est un sport d'équipe. Volleyball is a teamsport. |
|
La natation est un sport individuel. Swimming is an individual sport. |
|
Comme sport, je fais de la boxe. As sports I do boxing. |
|
J'aime jouer au tennis. Je joue au tennis tous les mercredis et samedis. I like to play tenis. I play tenis every Wednesday and Saturday. |
|
Je n'aime pas regarder le sport. Ça me fatigue. I do not like to watch sports. I get tired. |
|
J'aime regarder des matchs de basket. I like to watch basketball games. |
| ... |
Exercise 6: Dialogue Cards
Instruction: Select a situation and practice the conversation with your teacher or fellow students.
Exercise 7: Multiple Choice
Instruction: Choose the correct solution
1. Hier, j'__ joué au tennis avec mes amis au stade.
(Yesterday, I __ played tennis with my friends at the stadium.)2. Après le match, nous __ gagné et tout le monde était content.
(After the match, we __ won and everyone was happy.)3. Dimanche dernier, elle __ allée à la piscine pour faire de la natation.
(Last Sunday, she __ went to the pool to swim.)4. Tu __ couru vite pendant la course au parc ce matin.
(You __ ran fast during the race in the park this morning.)Exercise 8: A sporty day at the park
Instruction:
Verb Tables
Aller - To go
Passé composé
- Je suis allé
- Tu es allé
- Il est allé / Elle est allée
- Nous sommes allés
- Vous êtes allés
- Ils sont allés / Elles sont allées
Jouer - To play
Passé composé
- J'ai joué
- Tu as joué
- Il a joué / Elle a joué
- Nous avons joué
- Vous avez joué
- Ils ont joué / Elles ont joué
Courir - To run
Passé composé
- J'ai couru
- Tu as couru
- Il a couru / Elle a couru
- Nous avons couru
- Vous avez couru
- Ils ont couru / Elles ont couru
Gagner - To win
Passé composé
- J'ai gagné
- Tu as gagné
- Il a gagné / Elle a gagné
- Nous avons gagné
- Vous avez gagné
- Ils ont gagné / Elles ont gagné
Exercise 9: Le passé composé avec "avoir" et "être"
Instruction: Fill in the correct word.
Grammar: The past tense with "avoir" and "être"
Show translation Show answersas gagné, as joué, a joué, a couru, avons gagné, avez couru, sont venus, suis allé
Grammar Share Copied!
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Verb conjugation tables for this lesson Share Copied!
Courir to run Share Copied!
Passé composé
| French | English |
|---|---|
| (je/j') j'ai couru | I ran |
| tu as couru | You ran |
| il/elle/on a couru | He/she/one ran |
| nous avons couru | We ran |
| vous avez couru | You have run |
| ils/elles ont couru | They have run |
Jouer to play Share Copied!
Passé composé
| French | English |
|---|---|
| (je/j') j'ai joué | I played |
| tu as joué | You have played |
| il/elle/on a joué | He/she/one has played |
| nous avons joué | We played |
| vous avez joué | You have played |
| ils/elles ont joué | They have played |
Gagner to win Share Copied!
Passé composé
| French | English |
|---|---|
| (je/j') j'ai gagné | I won |
| tu as gagné | You won |
| il/elle/on a gagné | he/she/one won |
| nous avons gagné | we won |
| vous avez gagné | You have won |
| ils/elles ont gagné | they won |
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Lesson Overview: Sports and Exercise in French
This lesson introduces you to vocabulary and expressions related to sports and physical activities while focusing on the past tense—the passé composé—with the auxiliary verbs avoir and être. You will learn to talk about sports you have done recently, describe past activities, and understand essential verbs and sports terms commonly used in everyday French.
Key Vocabulary: Sports and Places
- la natation — swimming
- le tennis — tennis
- le cyclisme — cycling
- le football — soccer
- le rugby — rugby
- le basketball — basketball
- le stade — stadium
- le sport — sport
Understanding Passé Composé with "avoir" and "être"
The passé composé allows you to express completed past actions. With sports activities, some verbs use avoir as the auxiliary verb, while others use être. For example:
- J'ai joué au football ce week-end. (I played soccer this weekend.) — Uses avoir.
- Je suis allé à la piscine hier. (I went to the pool yesterday.) — Uses être.
Some key verbs you will focus on include jouer (to play), aller (to go), courir (to run), and gagner (to win).
Practice Examples
Simple sentences to practice the passé composé in sports contexts:
- Tu as joué au football ce week-end ?
- Nous avons gagné le match de basketball la semaine dernière.
- Ils sont venus au stade pour regarder un match de rugby dimanche.
- Elle a couru pendant une heure ce matin pour faire de l'exercice.
Useful Expressions and Differences with English
In French, the choice between avoir and être as auxiliaries can be challenging because English simply uses "have" or past simple without this distinction. For example, "I went" is Je suis allé using être, while "I played" is J'ai joué using avoir. French sports vocabulary is often gendered and pluralized depending on context, such as les sports collectifs (team sports) vs. les sports individuels (individual sports).
Here are some phrases useful for conversation about sports:
- Tu as fait quel sport cette semaine ? (What sport did you do this week?)
- Est-ce que tu fais du sport régulièrement ? (Do you exercise regularly?)
- J'ai nagé pendant une heure. (I swam for an hour.)
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