🎸

How to Say ‘I play the guitar’ in French

Je joue de la guitare

zhuh ZHOO duh lah gee-TAR

[zhuh ZHOO duh lah gee-TAR]

💬 Usage Tip: Instruments take jouer de, while sports take jouer au. Compare je joue du piano "I play piano" with je joue au tennis "I play tennis".

Phrase Breakdown

Je joue

zhuh ZHOO

I play

Both 'j' sounds are soft, like the 's' in 'measure': 'zhuh ZHOO'.

Example

Je joue au foot.

I play soccer.

Words in this phrase

[zhuh]

Pronoun used by the speaker to identify themselves.

Example

Je suis content.

I am happy.

joue

[ZHOO]

play

Form of 'jouer' (to play) for 'je'; with 'de' it means playing an instrument.

Example

Je joue du piano.

I play the piano.

de la guitare

duh lah gee-TAR

the guitar

Use 'jouer de' for instruments and 'jouer à' for sports. 'Gui' has a hard 'g': 'duh lah ghee-TAHR'.

Example

Il joue de la guitare.

He plays the guitar.

Words in this phrase

[duh]

(the instrument)

Used after 'jouer' to introduce a musical instrument; not translated in English.

Example

Il joue de la flûte.

He plays the flute.

[lah]

the

A definite article preceding a noun.

Example

La porte est ouverte.

The door is open.

guitare

[gee-TAR]

guitar

A stringed musical instrument; feminine noun.

Example

Ma guitare est neuve.

My guitar is new.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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