Talking about drawing in free time | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Qu'est-ce que tu fais pendant ton temps libre ?

   What do you do in your free time?

   Qu'est-ce que

   what ...?

   fais

   do

   pendant

   during

   temps

   time

   libre

   free

   More detail

   Qu'est-ce que is a common French question pattern for asking “what...?” In Qu'est-ce que tu fais...?, it introduces the thing being asked about, followed by the subject and verb. Example: Qu'est-ce que tu lis ? means “What are you reading?” fais is the present-tense form of faire for tu (second-person singular): tu fais. Here, faire means “to do.” Its meaning can also be “to make” in other contexts, so the surrounding words determine the sense. Example: Je fais du sport. — “I do sports.” pendant means “during” when it introduces a period in which something happens. It can also introduce a duration: Je travaille pendant deux heures. — “I work for two hours.” 'temps' is a masculine singular noun meaning “time” here. In temps libre, it forms the reusable expression “free time.” The same noun can have other meanings in other contexts, so temps libre identifies the intended sense here. libre is an adjective meaning “free” in this expression: time that is not occupied. It agrees with temps, which is masculine singular; the masculine and feminine singular forms are both libre, while the plural form is libres. Example: Elle a une journée libre. — “She has a free day.” Together, Qu'est-ce que asks for the activity, tu fais supplies “you do,” and pendant ton temps libre specifies the period: “during your free time.” The complete utterance therefore means “What do you do in your free time?”

2. J'aime dessiner chez moi.

   I enjoy drawing at home.

   J'aime

   I enjoy / I like

   dessiner

   to draw; drawing

   chez moi

   at home

   More detail

   J'aime is the first-person singular present form of aimer, “to like” or “to enjoy.” Je becomes j' before the vowel sound in aime; this is ordinary French elision. With an activity, aimer is followed by an infinitive: J'aime lire. — “I enjoy reading.” dessiner is the infinitive “to draw.” After aimer, it names the activity that is enjoyed. The infinitive stays the same regardless of the subject in this construction: J'aime dessiner. — “I enjoy drawing.” chez moi means “at my home” or naturally “at home.” Chez is used for being at someone’s home or place, and moi is the stressed first-person pronoun used after it. Compare chez toi — “at your home” and chez lui — “at his home.” Together, J'aime + dessiner expresses enjoyment of drawing, while chez moi gives the location. The complete utterance therefore means “I enjoy drawing at home.”

3. Ça a l'air d'être un loisir relaxant.

   That sounds like a relaxing hobby.

   Ça

   that / it

   a l'air d'être

   seems to be

   un loisir

   a hobby

   relaxant

   relaxing

   More detail

   Ça is a demonstrative pronoun used here as the subject, with the intended meaning “that.” It does not itself identify a particular noun by gender or number. In this context, it points to the idea or activity being assessed. A useful contrast is ce before a masculine singular noun, as in ce loisir (“this hobby”), whereas ça can stand on its own: Ça me plaît. (“I like that.”) a l'air d'être is the fixed expression avoir l'air de followed here by the infinitive être. The observed a is the third-person singular present form of avoir; the base form is avoir. The expression presents something as seeming or sounding a certain way, rather than asserting it as a definite fact. For example, Ça a l'air difficile. means “That seems difficult.” être is the infinitive of “to be.” In this construction, de links avoir l'air to what seems to be the case. The pattern X a l'air d'être Y means “X seems to be Y.” un loisir means “a hobby.” Loisir is a masculine singular noun, so the matching indefinite article is un. Here un introduces the noun but does not by itself state a numerical count. The plural is des loisirs: Les loisirs créatifs sont variés. means “Creative hobbies are varied.” relaxant describes loisir and means “relaxing” here. It is the masculine singular form agreeing with the masculine singular noun loisir; the feminine singular form is relaxante, and the plural forms are relaxants and relaxantes according to gender and number. For example, une activité relaxante means “a relaxing activity.” Together, Ça is the thing being evaluated, a l'air d'être says that this is an impression rather than a firm assertion, and un loisir relaxant identifies the apparent category and quality. The whole utterance therefore means: “That sounds like a relaxing hobby.”

4. Je dessine généralement de petites choses dans mon carnet.

   I usually sketch small things in my notebook.

   Je

   I

   dessine

   sketch/draw

   généralement

   usually

   petites

   small

   choses

   things

   dans

   in

   mon

   my

   carnet

   notebook

   More detail

   Je means “I” here: the first-person singular subject pronoun. It identifies the speaker as the person doing the action. French subject pronouns are normally used with a conjugated verb, as in Je dessine. dessine is the present-tense first-person singular form of dessiner (“to draw, sketch”). The ending belongs to the verb, not to Je; je dessine can mean “I draw” or “I am drawing,” with the intended time perspective supplied by context. Example: Je dessine un arbre. — “I draw a tree.” généralement means “usually” or “generally.” It describes the frequency of the drawing activity and does not mean that the activity is happening at this exact moment. A related frequency word is souvent (“often”), as in Je dessine souvent. — “I draw often.” petites is the feminine plural form of the adjective petit (“small”). It agrees with choses, which is feminine plural: petit → petite (feminine singular) → petits (masculine plural) → petites (feminine plural). The adjective says that the things are small; it does not itself express how many there are. choses is the plural of the feminine noun chose (“thing”). Together, de petites choses means “small things” here. In this plural noun phrase, de is part of the indefinite expression and is used before the adjective; it is not the same word function as the preposition dans later in the sentence. dans is a preposition meaning “in” here. It introduces mon carnet as the place or medium in which the drawing is done: dans mon carnet — “in my notebook.” mon means “my” before the noun carnet. It is the masculine singular possessive determiner selected by the grammatical form of carnet, not by the speaker’s gender. French possessives also vary with the possessed noun: mon carnet (“my notebook”), but ma ... before a feminine singular noun and mes ... before a plural noun. carnet is a masculine singular noun meaning “notebook” or “notepad.” The phrase mon carnet means “my notebook”; because carnet is singular and grammatically masculine, the matching possessive form is mon. Together, Je dessine généralement gives “I usually sketch,” de petites choses gives “small things,” and dans mon carnet gives “in my notebook.” The complete utterance is: “I usually sketch small things in my notebook.”

5. Tu t'entraînes souvent ?

   Do you practice often?

   Tu

   you

   t'entraînes

   practice; train

   souvent

   often

   More detail

   Tu is the second-person singular subject pronoun: “you” when addressing one person. It is used with the singular verb form. French also has vous for more than one person or for formal singular address, but tu is the form shown here. t'entraînes means “practice” or “train” here. The verb is the reflexive s'entraîner; its present-tense second-person singular form is tu t'entraînes. The te reflexive pronoun becomes t' before the vowel sound at the start of entraînes. The reflexive construction presents the person as training or practicing themself. Example: Je m'entraîne chaque jour. — “I practice every day.” souvent means “often” and usually comes after the conjugated verb, as it does here. It describes frequency. Example: Elle lit souvent. — “She often reads.” Together, Tu t'entraînes souvent ? is a present-tense yes-or-no question meaning “Do you practice often?” French can form this conversational question simply through intonation, without adding an auxiliary equivalent to English “do.” The whole utterance asks whether one person practices or trains frequently.

6. Un peu, surtout quand j'ai le temps.

   A little, mostly when I have time.

   Un peu

   a little

   surtout

   mostly

   quand

   when

   j'ai

   I have

   le temps

   time

   More detail

   Un peu means “a little” here: it gives a small degree or amount of the activity being discussed. The phrase can be reused after a question about frequency or extent, for example: Je lis un peu. — “I read a little.” surtout means “mostly” or “especially.” It highlights the condition that is particularly important, without changing the small amount expressed by Un peu. quand introduces a time condition and means “when.” A useful reusable pattern is quand + clause, as in Je viens quand j'ai le temps. — “I come when I have time.” j'ai is the first-person singular present form of avoir, “to have.” It is formed from je + ai; before a vowel, je contracts to j'. Other present forms include tu as — “you have” and il/elle a — “he/she has.” le temps means “time” in this expression. The definite article le is part of the noun phrase; this does not assert a particular measured amount of time. avoir le temps is a reusable expression meaning “to have time” or “to have enough time,” as in Nous avons le temps. — “We have time.” Together, Un peu answers the preceding question about how often the speaker practices: the speaker practices a little. surtout quand j'ai le temps specifies that this is mainly the case when the speaker has time. The whole utterance therefore means: “A little, mostly when I have time.”

7. Je peux peut-être essayer aussi.

   Maybe I can try it too.

   Je peux

   I can

   peut-être

   maybe

   essayer

   to try

   aussi

   too

   More detail

   Je peux means “I can” here. peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to; can”). The subject je identifies the speaker, and pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Je peux essayer = “I can try.” The form peux is used with je; compare Tu peux = “You can,” as in the next sentence. The form expresses ability or possibility here, not a completed action. peut-être means “maybe” or “perhaps.” It is an adverb expressing uncertainty about the proposition. Its position between peux and essayer is natural: Je peux peut-être partir = “Maybe I can leave.” This does not change the infinitive form that follows peux. essayer is the infinitive “to try.” After a conjugated form of pouvoir, the following verb remains in the infinitive: Je peux essayer = “I can try.” In this utterance, the object of trying is understood from the situation and is rendered as “it” in the fixed translation; the utterance itself does not name that object. A useful related form is j’essaie, the first-person singular present form meaning “I try” or “I am trying,” but it cannot replace the infinitive after peux. aussi means “too” or “also.” It adds the speaker or action to something already relevant, without specifying that additional information in this sentence. For example, Je veux aussi venir means “I also want to come.” Its position at the end of this utterance is common, but aussi can occur elsewhere depending on what is being emphasized. Together, Je peux + peut-être + essayer + aussi gives “Maybe I can try it too.” The structure is subject + pouvoir + peut-être + infinitive + aussi: the speaker presents trying as a possible action, marks it as uncertain, and adds it to something else. The register is ordinary, neutral conversational French.

8. Tu peux utiliser mon vieux crayon.

   You can use my old pencil.

   Tu peux

   you can

   utiliser

   use

   mon

   my

   vieux

   old

   crayon

   pencil

   More detail

   Tu peux means “you can” here. peux is the present-tense form of pouvoir for tu; the pattern tu peux + infinitive is a reusable way to say that someone can do something. Example: Tu peux venir. — “You can come.” utiliser is the infinitive “to use.” After peux, French uses the infinitive: Tu peux utiliser... means “You can use...” The infinitive does not show who performs the action; peux identifies the subject here. mon means “my.” It is the possessive determiner used with a singular masculine noun, as in mon crayon. Possessives agree with the possessed noun, not with the owner. With a singular feminine noun, the corresponding form is often ma, for example ma table — “my table.” vieux means “old” here. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective vieux, used with the masculine singular noun crayon. Before a feminine singular noun, the form is vieille, as in une vieille chaise — “an old chair.” crayon means “pencil.” It is a masculine noun: un crayon, mon crayon. Example: J’ai un crayon. — “I have a pencil.” Together, mon vieux crayon means “my old pencil”: mon marks possession, while vieux describes the pencil. The complete pattern Tu peux utiliser + noun produces “You can use + noun,” so the utterance means “You can use my old pencil.”