This is a list of 25 common words for talking about sports in French, each with IPA, audio, a translation and an example sentence. Play any word to hear it, check yourself in the quiz and download the list for Anki or Quizlet.
Sports in French: le football, le basket-ball, le tennis, le volley-ball, le baseball, le golf, la natation. The table below gives all 25 words with IPA, audio, a translation and an example sentence. A quiz of 10 questions checks what you remember, and the list can be downloaded for a spreadsheet, Quizlet or Anki.
| Word | Translation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| le football | football | Nous jouons au football après les cours. We play football after school. |
| le basket-ball | basketball | Elle joue au basket-ball avec ses amis. She plays basketball with her friends. |
| le tennis /tenis/ | tennis | Je joue au tennis le samedi matin. I play tennis on Saturday morning. |
| le volley-ball | volleyball | Ils jouent au volley-ball sur la plage. They play volleyball on the beach. |
| le baseball | baseball | Mon frère joue au baseball avec son équipe. My brother plays baseball with his team. |
| le golf /ɡɔlf/ | golf | Mon père joue au golf le dimanche. My father plays golf on Sunday. |
| la natation /natasjɔ̃/ | swimming | Je fais de la natation chaque mercredi soir. I go swimming every Wednesday evening. |
| la course à pied /kuʁs a pje/ | running | Elle pratique la course à pied le matin. She goes running in the morning. |
| le cyclisme /siklism/ | cycling | Nous faisons du cyclisme dans la campagne. We go cycling in the countryside. |
| le ski /ski/ | skiing | Ils font du ski dans les Alpes. They go skiing in the Alps. |
| la boxe /bɔks/ | boxing | Il fait de la boxe deux fois par semaine. He boxes twice a week. |
| le hockey sur glace /ɔkɛ syʁ ɡlas/ | ice hockey | Les enfants jouent au hockey sur glace. The children play ice hockey. |
| le rugby /ʁyɡbi/ | rugby | Nous regardons le rugby à la télévision. We watch rugby on television. |
| le handball | handball | Ma sœur joue au handball au collège. My sister plays handball at middle school. |
| le tennis de table /tenis də tabl/ | table tennis | Je joue au tennis de table avec Paul. I play table tennis with Paul. |
| le badminton /badmɛ̃tɔ̃/ | badminton | Nous jouons au badminton dans le gymnase. We play badminton in the gym. |
| la gymnastique /ʒimnastik/ | gymnastics | Elle fait de la gymnastique le mercredi. She does gymnastics on Wednesday. |
| l'athlétisme /atletism/ The sport includes running, jumping, and throwing events. | athletics | Mon frère pratique l'athlétisme au stade municipal. My brother takes part in athletics at the municipal stadium. |
| le surf /sœʁ/ | surfing | Ils font du surf près de la côte. They go surfing near the coast. |
| le patinage sur glace /patinaʒ syʁ ɡlas/ | ice skating | Nous faisons du patinage sur glace en hiver. We go ice skating in winter. |
| le snowboard | snowboarding | Elle fait du snowboard avec ses cousins. She goes snowboarding with her cousins. |
| la lutte /lyt/ | wrestling | Il pratique la lutte dans un club. He practices wrestling at a club. |
| le karaté /kaʁate/ | karate | Ma fille fait du karaté le mardi. My daughter does karate on Tuesday. |
| la voile /vwal/ | sailing | Nous faisons de la voile en Bretagne. We go sailing in Brittany. |
| l'équitation /ekitasjɔ̃/ L'équitation is feminine. | horse riding | Elle fait de l'équitation chaque samedi. She goes horse riding every Saturday. |
The list on this page has 25 words. The first ones are le football (football), le basket-ball (basketball), le tennis (tennis). Each comes with IPA, audio, a translation and an example sentence.
Take the quiz on this page, then download the list for Anki or Quizlet and review a few words every day. In Lingo7 you can read books in French with a translation under every sentence and meet the same words in context.
Press the play button next to a word or an example sentence to hear it. The IPA under each word shows the sounds too: l'athlétisme is pronounced /atletism/.