Learn Hardcore French: Marie aime la natation, en revanche Paul préfère la course à pied. - Marie likes swimming, however Paul prefers running.

noun:
- la natation = swimming (as a sport / activity)
- la course à pied = running (as a sport / activity)
verb:
- nager = to swim
- courir = to run

In your sentence:

Marie aime la natation = Marie likes swimming (the sport)

You could say Marie aime nager (Marie likes to swim), but there’s a nuance:

aime la natation focuses more on the sport/activity as a thing she likes in general.
aime nager is more about the action of swimming.

Both are correct; the original just chooses the “sport-as-a-noun” version.

Why is there a la before natation and la before course à pied?

In French, when you talk about things in a general way (not one specific instance), you almost always use the definite article: le, la, les.

Marie aime la natation.
= Marie likes swimming in general, not just one specific swimming session.
Paul préfère la course à pied.
= Paul prefers running in general, not just one specific run.

So:

J’aime le chocolat. (I like chocolate.)
Elle adore la musique. (She loves music.)

You cannot drop the article like in English:

❌ Marie aime natation
✅ Marie aime la natation

Can I say Marie aime faire de la natation instead of Marie aime la natation?

Yes, that’s possible, with a small nuance.

Marie aime la natation.
= She likes swimming (as a sport/activity).
Marie aime faire de la natation.
= She likes doing/going swimming.

Both are correct. The version with faire de emphasizes the practice of the activity:

faire de la natation = to go swimming / to do swimming
faire de la course à pied = to go running / to do running

Your original sentence is just a bit more compact and neutral.

What’s the difference between aimer and préférer here?

In this sentence:

aimer = to like / to love
préférer = to prefer

So:

Marie aime la natation
= She likes swimming.
Paul préfère la course à pied
= He prefers running (over something else, here implied: over swimming).

You could also say:

Paul aime la course à pied, mais il préfère la natation.
(He likes running, but he prefers swimming.)

Préférer always expresses a choice or comparison, even if the other option is not explicitly stated.

How is préférer conjugated, and why is the accent different in some forms?

Préférer is an -er verb, but the accents change in some forms.

Present tense:

je préfère
tu préfères
il / elle / on préfère
nous préférons
vous préférez
ils / elles préfèrent

Notice:

In je/tu/il/elle/ils/elles, the second é becomes è (préfère).
In nous and vous, it stays é (préférons, préférez).

Pronunciation:

préfère = “pré-fair”
préférons / préférez = “pré-fé-ron”, “pré-fé-ré”

Your sentence uses Paul préfère, which is 3rd person singular (il préfère).

What exactly does en revanche mean, and how is it different from mais or however?

En revanche is a connector that roughly means:

on the other hand
in contrast
sometimes however, but with a more balancing or compensating nuance.

In your sentence:

Marie aime la natation, en revanche Paul préfère la course à pied.
= Marie likes swimming; on the other hand, Paul prefers running.

Compared with other words:

mais = but, the most neutral and common contrast:
- Marie aime la natation, mais Paul préfère la course à pied.
en revanche = emphasizes a sort of counterpart or compensation:
- “Marie’s on the swimming side; on the other side, Paul’s on the running side.”
par contre = very common in speech, often similar to en revanche, but considered by some teachers as a bit less formal or slightly more “spoken”:
- Marie aime la natation, par contre Paul préfère la course à pied.

All three are understandable; en revanche sounds a bit more formal or written than mais or par contre.

Can en revanche go at the beginning of the clause, like in English “On the other hand, Paul …”?

Yes. You can place en revanche at the start of the second clause:

Marie aime la natation. En revanche, Paul préfère la course à pied.

This is very natural, especially in writing. Your original version:

Marie aime la natation, en revanche Paul préfère la course à pied.

is also correct, but many writers would add a comma after en revanche:

Marie aime la natation, en revanche, Paul préfère la course à pied.

So you have these common options:

Marie aime la natation, mais Paul préfère la course à pied.
Marie aime la natation. En revanche, Paul préfère la course à pied.

Why is course à pied used instead of just course or the verb courir?

la course à pied is a fixed expression meaning running / distance running as a sport.
- Literally: “running on foot”.

If you only say la course, it can be ambiguous:

une course = a race
faire les courses = to go shopping (groceries)
course alone doesn’t automatically mean “running” as a sport.

So:

Paul préfère la course à pied.
= Paul prefers running (jogging, long-distance running).

Using the verb courir:

Paul aime courir.
= Paul likes to run (the action).

Again, noun vs verb:

aimer la course à pied = likes running as a sport in general.
aimer courir = likes the act of running.

Both are correct, but la course à pied is the clearer “sport” expression.

Why is it à pied and not something like de pied?

In French, certain expressions use à to describe means or manner:

à pied = on foot
à vélo = by bike
à cheval = on horseback
à la main = by hand

So:

la course à pied = running on foot

The preposition de would not be used in this structure:

❌ la course de pied
✅ la course à pied

It’s just a fixed prepositional pattern: course à X (course à pied, course à obstacles, etc.).

What does la course à pied literally mean, and is it the same as jogging?

Literally:

la course à pied = “running on foot”

In practice, it covers what English speakers usually call:

running
distance running
jogging

So Paul préfère la course à pied roughly means:

Paul prefers running/jogging.

If you specifically want “jogging” (informal running for exercise), French also uses:

le jogging (a loan word from English)
faire du jogging

But la course à pied is a more general and slightly more neutral or “sporty” term.

Why is the comma used before en revanche? Is that normal in French?

Yes, separating clauses with a comma before a connector like en revanche is normal in French.

Marie aime la natation, en revanche Paul préfère la course à pied.

In writing, many people would even put two commas:

Marie aime la natation, en revanche, Paul préfère la course à pied.

This is because en revanche is treated as a little parenthetical expression (“on the other hand”) that interrupts the sentence slightly.

So you’ll see:

…, mais …
…. En revanche, …
or …, en revanche, …

all quite commonly.

Can the sentence be rephrased with pronouns instead of Marie and Paul?

Yes, very naturally. For example:

Elle aime la natation, en revanche lui préfère la course à pied.

Here:

elle = she (refers to Marie)
lui = stressed pronoun for “him” (refers to Paul)

You can also keep il instead of lui:

Elle aime la natation, en revanche il préfère la course à pied.

Difference:

il is a normal subject pronoun.
lui is a stressed pronoun, often used for contrast:
- Elle aime la natation, lui préfère la course à pied.
- (= She likes swimming; he, on the other hand, prefers running.)

Is there any difference in meaning if I use mais instead of en revanche here?

Grammatically and in basic meaning, they both work:

Marie aime la natation, mais Paul préfère la course à pied.
Marie aime la natation, en revanche Paul préfère la course à pied.

Nuance:

mais = simple “but”, neutral, very common.
en revanche = “on the other hand”, a bit more formal and suggests more of a balanced contrast between Marie and Paul.

In everyday speech, many people would spontaneously say mais:

If you’re unsure, mais is the safest, most natural choice.