Talking about jogging as a hobby | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. J'ai commencé à faire du jogging après le travail.

   I started jogging after work.

   J'ai commencé à

   I started to

   faire

   do

   jogging

   jogging

   après

   after

   travail

   work

   More detail

   J'ai commencé à means “I started to” here. commencé is the past participle of commencer (“to start”); with j'ai, it forms the passé composé for a completed start in the past. A useful pattern is commencer à + infinitive: Elle commence à comprendre. — “She is starting to understand.” The à introduces the action that was started. faire means “to do” in its infinitive form. In this sentence it is part of the reusable activity pattern faire du jogging, literally using faire with the activity noun to mean “to jog.” The infinitive follows à in commencer à faire. jogging names the activity “jogging.” In French, faire du jogging is a common way to express doing this activity. Example: Je fais du jogging le matin. — “I go jogging in the morning.” après means “after” and marks what comes later in time. It can introduce a noun phrase, as in après le travail (“after work”), or an event, as in après avoir mangé (“after eating”). travail means “work” here. Its usual full noun phrase in this sentence is le travail; the article le is separate from the noun and gives the phrase its definite form. Example: Après le travail, je rentre chez moi. — “After work, I go home.” Together, J'ai commencé à faire du jogging says that the speaker began the activity of jogging, and après le travail places that beginning after work. The complete meaning is: “I started jogging after work.”

2. Comment ça se passe pour l'instant ?

   How is it going so far?

   Comment

   how

   ça se passe

   it is going / it is happening

   pour l'instant

   so far / for now

   More detail

   Comment asks for the way or state of something: “how.” In this question it asks about the current progress or situation, not about a person or object. Compare Comment ça va ? (“How are things going?”) and Comment fais-tu ça ? (“How do you do that?”). ça se passe comes from se passer, a verb used for an event or situation. In this expression, ça is the subject meaning “it” or “things,” while se passe is the present-tense form for that subject: se passer → ça se passe. Here it means “is going,” as in La journée se passe bien (“The day is going well”). The verb can also describe an event: Le cours se passe demain means “The class takes place tomorrow,” depending on context. pour l'instant is a time expression meaning “for now” or, with an ongoing situation, “so far.” It places the question at the present stage rather than asking about a completed result. For example, Pour l'instant, je comprends bien means “So far, I understand well.” Together, Comment + ça se passe asks how the situation is progressing, and pour l'instant limits that question to the progress up to now: “How is it going so far?”

3. Mon rythme est lent, mais je progresse.

   My pace is slow, but I am improving.

   Mon

   my

   rythme

   pace

   lent

   slow

   mais

   but

   je

   I

   progresse

   am improving

   More detail

   Mon means “my” here. It is a possessive adjective, and its form agrees with the possessed noun: mon rythme is masculine singular. With a feminine singular noun, the corresponding form is often ma, as in the example ma vitesse — “my speed.” Before a feminine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound, French uses mon instead, as in mon amie — “my female friend.” rythme means “pace” here: the rate at which someone is proceeding. Its plural is rythmes. Example: Le rythme est régulier. — “The pace is steady.” lent means “slow” and describes rythme, so it is masculine singular like that noun. The feminine singular form is lente, and the plural forms are lents (masculine) and lentes (feminine). Example: La progression est lente. — “The progress is slow.” mais connects two contrasting statements and means “but.” Example: C'est difficile, mais possible. — “It is difficult, but possible.” je is the first-person singular subject pronoun, “I.” It is used for the speaker. Before a vowel sound, it commonly contracts to j', as in j'avance — “I am moving forward.” progresse is the first-person singular present form of progresser, “to improve” or “to make progress.” In this sentence, the present tense presents the speaker's improvement as current. The forms are je progresse, tu progresses, and il/elle progresse; the form for tu has a written final s, while the forms for je and il/elle do not. Example: Je progresse chaque jour. — “I am improving every day.” Together, Mon rythme est lent says “My pace is slow”: est links the subject mon rythme with the adjective lent. Mais je progresse adds the contrast “but I am improving,” with je as the subject of progresse. The complete utterance is therefore “My pace is slow, but I am improving.”

4. Est-ce que tu as un parcours régulier ?

   Do you have a regular route?

   Est-ce que

   Do ...? question marker

   as

   have

   parcours

   route

   régulier

   regular

   More detail

   Est-ce que turns the following clause into a yes/no question. It is a fixed question pattern: Est-ce que + subject + verb ...? For example, Est-ce que tu travailles ? means “Do you work?” as is the second-person singular present form of avoir (“to have”): j’ai, tu as, il/elle a. Here it expresses possession or having something. The subject tu is the form used for one person addressed informally. Example: Tu as une voiture. — “You have a car.” parcours is a noun meaning a route or course: a path or route that someone follows. Its plural is parcours, with the same spelling; the article or surrounding agreement shows the number. Example: Je connais ce parcours. — “I know this route.” régulier describes parcours here as regular or consistent. The adjective is masculine singular in this form, matching the masculine singular noun parcours. Its feminine singular form is régulière, as in une activité régulière (“a regular activity”); the masculine plural is réguliers and the feminine plural is régulières. Together, Est-ce que tu as asks whether the person has something, and un parcours régulier identifies that thing as a regular route. The complete utterance therefore means: “Do you have a regular route?”

5. Je cours généralement autour du parc.

   I usually run around the park.

   Je

   I

   cours

   run

   généralement

   usually

   autour du

   around the

   parc

   park

   More detail

   Je is the first-person singular subject pronoun: “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person doing the action. A useful contrast is je “I” versus tu “you” when addressing one person. cours means “run” here. It is the first-person singular present form of courir “to run”: je cours, tu cours, il/elle court, nous courons. The final -s in cours is part of this verb form; it is not a separate word. Example: Je cours le matin. — “I run in the morning.” généralement is an adverb meaning “usually” or “generally.” It describes the frequency of the running, so the sentence presents this as a usual activity rather than something happening only once. Example: Elle vient généralement tôt. — “She usually comes early.” autour du is the construction “around the.” autour de means “around,” and du is the contraction of de + le. French uses du before a masculine singular noun introduced with le; before a vowel, de le is not used in this form, and with a feminine singular noun the form is de la. parc means “park.” It is a masculine singular noun: un parc “a park,” le parc “the park.” In this sentence, du parc means “of the park” inside the location expression autour du parc “around the park.” Example: Nous marchons autour du parc. — “We walk around the park.” Together, Je cours gives “I run,” généralement adds “usually,” and autour du parc specifies the route: “around the park.” The whole utterance is therefore “I usually run around the park.”

6. Quel objectif veux-tu atteindre ?

   What goal are you working toward?

   Quel

   what/which

   objectif

   goal

   veux-tu

   do you want

   atteindre

   to reach or achieve

   More detail

   Quel means “what/which” here and comes before the noun it determines. It is the masculine singular form: quel (masculine singular), quelle (feminine singular), quels (masculine plural), quelles (feminine plural). For example, Quelle direction ? means “Which direction?” objectif means “goal” or “objective.” It is a masculine noun, so the phrase uses quel objectif, not quelle objectif. The plural is objectifs: Quels objectifs ? means “What goals?” veux-tu is an inverted question form of tu veux, “you want.” The verb is vouloir, “to want”; veux is its present-tense form with tu, and -tu is the subject placed after the verb in this question. In ordinary statement order: Tu veux atteindre un objectif. — “You want to reach a goal.” atteindre is an infinitive meaning “to reach” or, with an objective, “to achieve.” After veux-tu, the next verb remains in the infinitive: Tu veux atteindre... means “You want to reach...” The infinitive is atteindre; it is not formed from objectif. Together, quel objectif asks which goal, veux-tu asks what the addressee wants, and atteindre identifies the goal as something to reach or achieve. The complete utterance means “What goal are you working toward?” More literally, it is “What goal do you want to reach?”

7. Je veux faire du jogging sans m'arrêter.

   I want to jog without stopping.

   Je veux

   I want

   faire

   to do

   jogging

   jogging

   sans

   without

   m'arrêter

   stopping

   More detail

   Je veux contains the subject pronoun je (“I”) and veux, the first-person singular present form of vouloir (“to want”). Vouloir is followed by an infinitive to express what someone wants to do: Je veux partir means “I want to leave.” faire is the infinitive “to do” or “to make.” After vouloir, it remains in the infinitive because it names the action wanted. In faire du jogging, faire is the usual verb used with this activity noun, producing the meaning “to jog.” jogging is a masculine noun for the activity of jogging. The form du is the contraction of de and le; here it is part of the established activity expression faire du jogging, not a claim about a particular quantity of jogging. As another example, faire du vélo means “to cycle.” sans means “without” and can be followed by an infinitive: sans parler means “without speaking.” In this sentence, the reflexive pronoun identifies the person who would stop. m'arrêter consists of me, shortened to m' before the vowel of the infinitive arrêter. Together they represent the first-person reflexive construction me arrêter in its elided form; the corresponding infinitive of the pronominal verb is s'arrêter (“to stop”). Thus, the speaker is the one who stops. The infinitive is used after sans, so sans m'arrêter means “without stopping.” This differs from sans arrêter la musique, “without stopping the music,” where arrêter has a direct object rather than the pronominal construction. Together, Je veux faire du jogging means “I want to jog,” and sans m'arrêter adds the condition “without stopping.” The complete utterance therefore means “I want to jog without stopping.”

8. C'est réaliste si tu y vas progressivement.

   That is realistic if you build up slowly.

   C'est

   that is / it is

   réaliste

   realistic

   si

   if

   tu

   you

   vas

   go

   progressivement

   gradually

   More detail

   C'est is the contraction of ce and est (être, “to be”). Here ce is a neutral demonstrative pronoun meaning “that,” and est is the present-tense form of être for the third-person singular. The contraction is standard before a vowel sound: ce est becomes c'est. Réaliste is an adjective meaning “realistic” here. It describes the situation referred to by c'; its spelling does not change for masculine or feminine in the singular. For example, C'est réaliste. means “That is realistic.” Si introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause after it gives the condition under which the main statement holds. In this sentence, si tu y vas progressivement is the condition for something being realistic. Tu is the informal singular subject pronoun “you.” It is used with second-person singular verb forms. For example, Tu travailles. means “You work.” Vas is the second-person singular present form of aller, “to go”: je vais, tu vas, il/elle va. In tu y vas, the pronoun y is placed before the conjugated verb. Y is an adverbial pronoun referring to the relevant activity or goal understood here; together, tu y vas conveys “you go about it” or “you build up.” Progressivement is an adverb meaning “gradually” or “step by step.” It describes how the action is carried out. It is formed from the adjective progressif/progressive, but the adverb itself does not agree in gender or number. Together, si + tu y vas progressivement means “if you build up slowly” in the fixed translation. The complete sentence, C'est réaliste si tu y vas progressivement., means “That is realistic if you build up slowly.”