French Movement Verbs

There are numerous French movement verbs that help give a clearer picture to the way you walk, run, stand or generally move through your day. Just like in English, using a variety of verbs in your written and oral communication will make you sound better and more articulate. Think of it as painting a picture using descriptive verbs in lieu of bland ones.

Elle fait du jogging.

Just like in English, there are several ways in which you can describe movement. These are just a few of the more basic verbs.

Aller is perhaps one of the most common verbs used to express some sort of movement in French. In its most simple form it means "to go" and you can use it almost interchangeably with its English counterpart. It should be noted though that while you can use it interchangeably where you would use the verb "go" in English, there are often better verbs to choose.

Marcher means to march but it is used less in French in this sense than it is in English. In English you can march in protest, march if you're a soldier, or march right on up to the desk. In French however, you use marcher for "march" in general, but you faire une marche de protestation, or s'approcher in lieu of marching up to someone or something.

Going for a walk? The verb is se promener and the connotation is that this is a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. Hiking, or more strenuous walking has a different verb altoghether. (See the section on faire below.)

Venir is an irregular French verb and it means "to come." It is also used in a few other idiomatic expressions but since it is one of the most common French verbs, it is worth memorizing the conjugation even if it seems difficult.

Want to use more descriptive language? Try any of these verbs:

Generally speaking, if you want to talk about a sport that you play in French, you either use jouer au of faire. There are a few verbs for some sports or activities. However, this is not that complicated since many of the words for sports in French are the same in English. Here are a few examples:

• baseball
• basketball
• football (soccer)
• football amèricain (what Americans know as football)
• hockey
• tennis

• du cyclisme
• du jogging
• du ski
• du ski nautique (water skiing)
• de la natation (swimming)

Using your new cache of movement verbs, why not try and create some sentences to talk about what you do during the year, what sports you enjoy or how you get through your day.

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