Talking about walking as a hobby | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. La marche, c'est ton loisir ?

   Is walking your hobby?

   La marche

   walking

   c'est

   it is

   ton

   your

   loisir

   hobby

   More detail

   La marche means “walking” here. marche is the feminine noun marche; with la, it refers to the activity of walking. This noun is different from the verb form marche in a sentence such as Elle marche (“She walks”): the surrounding words show which function it has. c'est is the contraction of ce + est, literally “it/that is.” French commonly uses c'est to identify or equate something. In this question, it links the activity to what is being asked about: “Is walking …?” ton means “your” before a masculine singular noun. Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the person who possesses it: ton loisir is masculine singular, while ta is used before a feminine singular noun, as in ta voiture (“your car”). Before a vowel sound, French uses ton even with a feminine singular noun, for example ton idée (“your idea”). loisir means “hobby” or “leisure activity” here. It is a masculine noun, so the phrase uses ton, not ta. Its plural is loisirs; for example, Mes loisirs sont la lecture et la musique means “My hobbies are reading and music.” Together, La marche names the activity, c'est asks whether it is equivalent to, or counts as, ton loisir, and ton loisir means “your hobby.” The complete utterance is therefore “Is walking your hobby?” The pattern X, c'est Y ? can be reused to ask whether X is Y.

2. J'aime faire des promenades pendant mon temps libre.

   I like going for walks in my free time.

   J'aime

   I like

   faire

   to do; to make

   promenades

   walks

   pendant

   during

   temps

   time

   libre

   free

   More detail

   J'aime means “I like.” It is je + the present-tense form aime of aimer (“to like/love”); je becomes j' before a vowel sound. With an activity, aimer is commonly followed by an infinitive: J'aime lire = “I like reading.” faire means “to do” or “to make,” and here it is the infinitive after J'aime. The reusable pattern is J'aime + infinitive: J'aime cuisiner = “I like cooking.” promenades means “walks” in this sentence. It is the plural of the feminine noun promenade; the plural is marked by -s. The combination faire une promenade or faire des promenades is a common way to express going for a walk or walks. Here, des promenades refers to walks in general, not a stated number of walks. pendant means “during” or “for” when introducing a time period. It links the activity to the period in which it happens: pendant les vacances = “during the holidays.” temps means “time” here. The expression le temps libre means “free time.” Temps has the same written form in the singular and plural in this expression; the article or determiner shows the number. In mon temps, mon is the possessive determiner agreeing with the masculine singular noun temps. libre means “free” here, in the sense of available rather than occupied. It is an adjective modifying temps; libre has the same form for masculine and feminine singular nouns, while the plural form is libres. Together, J'aime faire des promenades means “I like going for walks,” and pendant mon temps libre specifies when this activity takes place. The whole utterance is: “I like going for walks in my free time.”

3. Où vas-tu d'habitude ?

   Where do you usually go?

   Où

   where

   vas-tu

   do you go

   d'habitude

   usually

   More detail

   Où asks about a place; with aller here, it asks for the destination. The same question word can ask where someone is located with another verb. Example: Où habites-tu ? — “Where do you live?” vas-tu combines the second-person singular present form of aller with tu. The verb is irregular: je vais, tu vas, il/elle va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont. In this question, French uses subject–verb inversion, so tu vas becomes vas-tu; the hyphen is written between them. Example: Vas-tu au marché ? — “Are you going to the market?” d'habitude is an adverbial expression meaning “usually” or “as a rule.” It describes what normally happens, rather than asserting that it happens every time. Example: Je prends d'habitude le bus. — “I usually take the bus.” Together, Où asks for the destination, vas-tu expresses “you go” as an inverted question, and d'habitude specifies the usual situation. The whole utterance therefore means “Where do you usually go?”

4. Je marche dans le parc.

   I walk in the park.

   marche

   walk

   parc

   park

   More detail

   marche is the present-tense form of marcher (“to walk”). With je, it means “I walk.” The written form marche is also used with il, elle, or on, so the ending alone does not identify first-person singular; the subject does. Example: Je marche vite. — “I walk quickly.” parc is a masculine singular noun meaning “park.” Its plural is parcs; the final s is normally silent. The article le in le parc marks the noun phrase as masculine singular. Example: un parc — “a park.” Together, Je marche means “I walk,” and dans le parc means “in the park.” The whole utterance is Je marche dans le parc. — “I walk in the park.”

5. Le chemin est long ?

   Is the route long?

   Le chemin

   the route

   long

   long

   More detail

   Le chemin means “the route” here. chemin is a masculine noun meaning “path,” “way,” or “route”; its plural is chemins. The definite article le is used with a masculine singular noun. With a feminine singular noun, the corresponding article is la, as in la route (“the route”). long is the masculine singular form of the adjective meaning “long.” It agrees with chemin, so this phrase uses long, not the feminine form longue. Useful forms are long (masculine singular), longue (feminine singular), longs (masculine plural), and longues (feminine plural). Example: une route longue means “a long route.” The verb est is the third-person singular present form of être, “to be.” French can form a yes-or-no question with the same word order as a statement, marked here by the question mark and rising intonation: Le chemin est long ? means “Is the route long?” The statement form Le chemin est long. means “The route is long.” Together, Le chemin identifies the route, est links it to the adjective, and long describes it. The complete utterance asks whether the route is long.

6. C'est une promenade courte et facile.

   It is a short, easy walk.

   C'est

   it is

   promenade

   walk

   courte

   short

   facile

   easy

   More detail

   C'est is the common French contraction of ce + est (“it/that is”). Here it introduces a description: C'est + noun phrase = “It is a …”. est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”). Example: C'est facile. — “It is easy.” promenade is a feminine noun meaning “walk” or “stroll” here. Its gender is part of the noun: une promenade. Example: La promenade est agréable. — “The walk is pleasant.” courte means “short” here and describes promenade. The adjective is feminine singular because it agrees with that feminine singular noun. Its base form is court; the feminine singular form is courte, and the plural forms are courts (masculine) and courtes (feminine). Example: une courte promenade — “a short walk.” facile means “easy” here and also describes promenade. Its singular form is the same for masculine and feminine; the plural form is faciles. Example: un exercice facile — “an easy exercise”; une tâche facile — “an easy task.” The intervening words connect these parts: une is the feminine singular indefinite article, and et means “and.” Thus une promenade courte et facile means “a short and easy walk.” In the full utterance, C'est presents that noun phrase as a description, giving: “It is a short, easy walk.”

7. Ça a l'air reposant.

   That sounds relaxing.

   Ça a l'air

   That seems

   reposant

   relaxing

   More detail

   Ça a l'air is a reusable French expression meaning “that seems” or “that looks.” Ça is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “it,” while a is the third-person singular present form of avoir (“to have”). l'air literally means “the appearance,” but in this construction the whole expression describes how something appears, not literal possession. The pattern is Ça a l'air + adjective. Example: Ça a l'air simple. — “That seems simple.” reposant means “relaxing” or “restful” here. It is the masculine singular form of the adjective; related forms include reposante (feminine singular), reposants (masculine plural), and reposantes (feminine plural). With ça, the masculine singular form reposant is used in this sentence. Together, Ça a l'air reposant. means “That sounds relaxing.” More literally, it says that the thing being discussed appears relaxing. The wording expresses an impression, rather than stating as a confirmed fact that it is relaxing.

8. Nous pouvons y aller ensemble.

   We can go there together.

   Nous pouvons

   we can

   y

   there

   aller

   to go

   ensemble

   together

   More detail

   Nous pouvons means “we can” here. pouvons is the first-person plural form of pouvoir (“to be able to,” often translated “can”). The subject nous is “we,” and the plural form pouvons agrees with it. In French, pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Nous pouvons partir. — “We can leave.” This construction expresses ability or possibility; the specific intended action comes from the following infinitive. y is a short pronoun meaning “there” here. It refers to a place understood from the context, without the sentence itself naming that place. It is placed before the conjugated verb: Nous y allons. — “We are going there.” y can also replace a place introduced with à in other sentences, but in this utterance its supported meaning is simply the destination “there.” aller means “to go.” It is an infinitive because it follows the conjugated modal verb pouvons: Nous pouvons aller. — “We can go.” The infinitive does not show the subject or tense here; pouvons carries the agreement with nous and the present-time form of pouvoir. ensemble means “together.” It describes the manner of going: the participants go together rather than separately. It is an adverb, so it does not change to agree with a subject or noun. For example, Ils travaillent ensemble. means “They work together.” Together, Nous pouvons + y + aller forms “We can go there”: pouvoir is conjugated for “we,” y marks the destination, and aller remains an infinitive after pouvoir. Adding ensemble gives the complete meaning, “We can go there together.”