About an activity that we do habitually

Carine Y.B1Kwiziq community member

About an activity that we do habitually

I have a question on this writing challenge

https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/exercises/judge/8/3366502?response=458725&;page=11

I needed to translate this sentence : but my sister goes swimming every Saturday."

I answered 

mais, ma soeœur fait la natation Samedis.

I once learnt (but I am not sure my memory is correct)

faire + activities = the activities you do regularly

aller + nager = occasionally

Am I wrong>?

Asked 6 years ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Carine, 

It might be that your sentence was incorrect -

You could say -

Mais,  ma sœur fait de la natation le samedi.

Carine Y.B1Kwiziq community member
thanks. 
Bill A.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

omg i said that and it wasn't the best answer so i felt bad :(

could you also say "fait de la natation chaque samedi", or is it just better as 'le samedi'

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi Bill,

You can say 'chaque samedi' as featured in the following lesson:

https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/chaque-tous-les-duration-each-every-indefinite-adjectives

'Tous les samedis', or 'le samedi' are also correct....

Bill A.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci madame.
John W.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Bonjour Cécile,

My dictionary tells me that 'faire de la natation' is used in the context of swimming as a sport while 'aller nager' is more appropriate for swimming for pleasure. Is this correct?

John

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Hi John,

What you say is correct, in so far as 'faire de la natation' is more of a sport than just going for a swim.

Without the full context it is hard to say for certain but we assume that if someone goes swimming every Saturday it's more a sport than a leisure activity .

For instance if you are in a resort and you go swimming you will probably say -

Je vais me baigner = I am going for a swim/dip 

even though you might actually swim.

so quite tricky ...

Hope this helps!

Carine Y. asked:

About an activity that we do habitually

I have a question on this writing challenge

https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/exercises/judge/8/3366502?response=458725&;page=11

I needed to translate this sentence : but my sister goes swimming every Saturday."

I answered 

mais, ma soeœur fait la natation Samedis.

I once learnt (but I am not sure my memory is correct)

faire + activities = the activities you do regularly

aller + nager = occasionally

Am I wrong>?

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