À quoi veux-tu jouer ?
In French, "what do you want to play?" is expressed as À quoi veux-tu jouer ?
This phrase is used to ask someone which game or activity they would like to engage in.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "To what want you to play?" because the verb jouer requires the preposition à when playing a game.
Which one should you use?
The form À quoi veux-tu jouer ? is more formal or grammatically standard than the colloquial Tu veux jouer à quoi ?
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses inversion (verb-subject order) to form a question, which is a standard way to ask a question in French. If you are speaking to more than one person or to someone you address formally, you must use voulez-vous instead of veux-tu.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid saying Que veux-tu jouer ? English speakers often mistakenly say this, forgetting that the verb jouer requires the preposition à before the object (the game).
Did you know?
- The word jouer shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'joke', as both stem from the Latin 'iocari', meaning to play or jest.
- While jouer à is used for games, French uses jouer de when talking about playing a musical instrument. Using à when asking about a piano or guitar would sound like you are treating the instrument as a board game.
- In many French-speaking regions, the word jouer can also mean 'to gamble', so saying you want to jouer at a casino implies a different kind of game.
Examples in context
- À quoi veux-tu jouer ?What do you want to play?
- Dis-moi, à quoi veux-tu jouer ?Tell me, what do you want to play?
Example conversation
Gabriel and Chloé are in the living room during a rainy afternoon.
- GabrielChloé, à quoi veux-tu jouer ?Chloé, what do you want to play?
- ChloéJe veux jouer aux cartes.I want to play cards.
- GabrielD'accord, je sors les cartes.Okay, I'll get the cards out.
- ChloéC'est une super idée !That's a great idea!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries jouer, quoi, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
