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Using jouer de

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Did you know?

Just like Americans, the French also love music and have the same genres you might find elsewhere in the world. The French Romantic composer Georges Bizet wrote many beautiful pieces of music, including L’arlésienne suite Numéro 1 et 2. Famous French singers include Charles Aznavour, France’s Frank Sinatra, who sang La Bohème. Edith Piaf remains beloved by many for her throaty voice and famous song Ne me quitte pas. Of course, there are famous artists today, including Lara Fabien, Patricia Kaas, the (in)famous Stromae, and rap artists Manau and NTM.

orchestra conductor

On the previous screen, you used jouer à to talk about playing sports. To talk about playing music, however, requires a different preposition. First, let’s see vocabulary for how to play your favorite instrument.

Jouer de + an instrument

jouer de la guitare to play the guitar
jouer du piano to play the piano
jouer de la batterie to play the drums (drum set)
jouer du violon to play the violin
jouer de la flûte to play the flute
jouer du violoncelle to play the cello
jouer des cymbales to play the cymbals

Just like the preposition à, de also uses contractions. Study the following table.

de + le = du
de + les = des
de + la = de la
de + l’ = de l’

Note that la and l’ do not make a contraction with de. Let’s look at some examples.

Elle joue de + le violon. = Elle joue du violon.
Vous jouez de + les tambours. = Vous jouez des tambours.
Je joue de la guitare. = Je joue de la guitare. (no contraction)

Check your understanding of how to use these contractions with jouer in the activity below.

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Tu joues des guitare.
  2. Ils jouent du guitare.
  3. Vous jouez de la guitare.

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Je joue du violon.
  2. Nous jouons de la violon.
  3. Elle joue de l’violon.

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Elles jouent de la cymbale.
  2. Tu joues du cymbales.
  3. Nous jouons des cymbales.

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Vous jouez de l’flûte.
  2. Tu joues de la flûte.
  3. Je joue du flûte.

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. Ils jouent de la piano.
  2. Vous jouez du piano.
  3. Je joue des piano.

Summary

Questions answered correctly:

Questions answered incorrectly:

So far, you have practiced using jouer with the prepositions à and de and their contractions. But not all leisure activities use the verb jouer. Click to the next slide to learn how to use faire de to talk about activities.