tu joues d'un instrument
The phrase "you play an instrument" in French is translated as tu joues d'un instrument.
Which one should you use?
In French, you must use jouer de for musical instruments, whereas jouer followed directly by an object (e.g., jouer au football) is used for sports or games.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes from tu joues d'un instrument to vous jouez d'un instrument when addressing more than one person or using a formal tone.
Did you know?
- If you were to say tu joues le piano instead of tu joues du piano, a French speaker might think you are acting out a play about a piano rather than performing music.
- Using tu instead of vous when asking if someone plays an instrument can be seen as overly familiar or even rude if the person is a stranger or a superior.
- The pronoun tu is a cognate with the Italian tu, the German du and the Russian ты, all sharing a common Proto-Indo-European root.
Examples in context
- Est-ce que tu joues d'un instrument ?Do you play an instrument?
- Je sais que tu joues d'un instrument.I know that you play an instrument.
- Est-ce que tu joues d'un instrument à l'école ?Do you play an instrument at school?
- Tu joues d'un instrument depuis longtemps ?Have you been playing an instrument for a long time?
Example conversation
Léa and Hugo are talking about music at a cafe.
- LéaDis-moi, tu joues d'un instrument ?Tell me, do you play an instrument?
- HugoOui, je joue de la guitare.Yes, I play the guitar.
- LéaC'est super, Hugo !That's great, Hugo!
- HugoEt toi, tu joues d'un instrument ?And you, do you play an instrument?
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries instrument, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
