faire du bateau
To ride boat in French is faire du bateau.
The phrase faire du bateau is used to describe the activity of boating for leisure or as a hobby. It is not used to describe the functional act of traveling from one point to another via water transport. If you are referring to a sailboat, you would use bateau à voile. For a small boat, use barque. For a liner, use paquebot. And for a canoe, use canot.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the verb faire (to do or make) and du bateau (some boat).
Which one should you use?
While faire du bateau implies leisure, the phrase Faire une virée en bateau is used specifically to express the idea of going on a boat trip or excursion in informal conversations. For the literal act of getting on board a ship, you would use monter à bord d'un navire.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the partitive article du, which allows you to change the type of vessel by replacing bateau with another noun, such as faire du canoë (to go canoeing).
Did you know?
- The word bateau replaced the original native French word nef. The word nef is still used today to describe the 'nave' of a church because of its ship-like shape.
- The verb faire in this phrase is part of a French linguistic pattern where 'doing' is used for sports and hobbies, such as faire du vélo for cycling or faire du ski for skiing.
- While bateau is the general term for a boat, French makes a strict professional distinction with the word navire. A navire is specifically a large vessel used for war or commerce rather than leisure.
Examples in context
- Je vais en Bretagne et je vais aller en bateau sur la rivière.I'm going to Brittany, and I'll ride a boat on the river.
- Pour profiter de la belle vue sur la mer, je vais prendre un bateau jusqu'à l'île.To enjoy the beautiful view of the sea, I'll take a boat to the island.
- Mes parents vont partir en croisière en Méditerranée cet été.My parents are going on a cruise in the Mediterranean this summer.
- On va aller en barque sur le lac cet après-midi !We're going to ride a boat on the lake this afternoon!
- Les amis vont faire une virée en bateau pour fêter l'été.The friends are going on a boat trip to celebrate summer.
- On prendra le bateau demain pour visiter les îles.We'll take the boat tomorrow to visit the islands.
- J'aime faire du bateau en été.I like to go boating in the summer.
- Nous voulons faire du bateau cet été.We want to go boating this summer.
- Est-ce que tu aimes faire du bateau ?Do you like boating?
- On va faire du bateau sur le lac.We are going to go boating on the lake.
Example conversation
Two friends are planning a weekend trip by the water.
- HugoLéa, on pourrait faire du bateau samedi.Léa, we could go boating on Saturday.
- LéaC'est une excellente idée, Hugo !That is an excellent idea, Hugo!
- HugoTu préfères un petit bateau ou un grand ?Do you prefer a small boat or a large one?
- LéaUn petit bateau sera parfait.A small boat will be perfect.
