Tu veux jouer au basketball ?
Do you want to play basketball? In French is Tu veux jouer au basketball ?
Tu veux jouer au basketball ? is a casual way to invite a friend to play.
What does it mean word for word?
Tu veux means you want, jouer means to play and au joins the words for to and the before the name of the sport.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In France many people shorten the name of the sport in casual speech.
How does it change in a sentence?
French uses jouer with au for sports and games. Tu is the informal you, so with a stranger or a group you would use the polite plural form of you and of the verb.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not leave out au. Without it the sentence is not correct French. In French writing a space goes before the question mark.
Did you know?
- The word jouer comes from the Latin iocārī, which means 'to joke' or 'to jest'. This reveals an ancient linguistic link between the act of playing a game and the act of joking.
- In France, basketball is frequently played in gymnases, which are multi-sport indoor halls, rather than the outdoor courts often found in the US.
- In many French-speaking regions outside of France, such as parts of Quebec, you might hear the sport referred to as le basket-ball with a slight emphasis on the 'ball' that differs from the English pronunciation.
Example conversation
Léa and Nathan are talking in a park.
- LéaSalut Nathan, tu veux jouer au basketball ?Hi Nathan, do you want to play basketball?
- NathanOui, je suis prêt !Yes, I am ready!
- LéaSuper, prends ton ballon.Great, take your ball.
- NathanC'est parti !Let's go!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries jouer, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
