How to Say "I Love Reading" in French

j'adore lire

In French, "I love reading" is expressed as j'adore lire.

This phrase is used to express a strong liking for the activity of reading books or other texts.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of je (I), adore (love/adore) and lire (to read).

While j'aime lire translates to "I like reading," j'adore lire expresses a stronger passion or intensity.

In French, the verb adore is followed by the infinitive lire to express the activity of reading, whereas English often uses the gerund "reading".

If you are a voracious reader, you might call yourself a rat de bibliothèque, which literally translates to a 'library rat'.
The word lire shares its Latin root, *leǵ-, with the English word 'collect', as the original meaning involved gathering or picking up things, such as gathering words from a page.
In France, you can visit the bouquinistes, famous second-hand booksellers who sell their collections from iconic green metal boxes along the Seine in Paris.

J'adore lire au lit.
I love reading in bed.
This sentence is useful for using j'adore lire to describe reading in bed.
Tatoeba #5292313 by Blabla, translation #6698189 by Eccles17
J'adore lire des livres.
I love reading books.
This sentence shows how to use j'adore lire when talking about reading books.
Tatoeba #942112 by sacredceltic, translation #259747 by CK
J'adore lire des romans de science-fiction.
I love reading science fiction novels.
This sentence demonstrates using j'adore lire in the context of reading science fiction novels.
Tatoeba #9687482 by lbdx, translation #6067783 by mailohilohi
2 more sentences on Tatoeba

Lucas and Chloé are at a bookstore.

Lucas

J'adore lire, c'est ma passion.
I love reading, it is my passion.
Chloé

Moi aussi, j'aime beaucoup les classiques.
Me too, I really like the classics.
Lucas

Tu veux voir ce nouveau livre ?
Do you want to see this new book?
Chloé

Oui, il a l'air passionnant !
Yes, it looks exciting!

Sources

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