Paul préfère la course à pied à la natation.

French often uses noun phrases with articles to talk about sports in a general way:

• la course à pied = the activity/sport of running
• la natation = the activity/sport of swimming
• le football, le tennis, etc.

If you used the verb, you’d be emphasizing the action rather than the sport:

• Paul préfère courir.
  = Paul prefers to run (he prefers doing that action, without explicit comparison).
• Paul préfère la course à pied.
  = Paul prefers the sport of running.

In your sentence, we’re comparing two sports as activities, so French naturally uses noun + article for each one, not the infinitive verbs.

Literally:

• course = running / race
• à pied = on foot

So course à pied is literally “running on foot”, i.e. running as a sport or endurance activity.

Usage notes:

• la course à pied = running / distance running (as a sport or regular exercise)
• faire de la course à pied = to go running / to run (as exercise)

Don’t confuse it with:

• une course = a race, or an errand (as in faire des courses = to do the shopping)
• le jogging = jogging (more informal, often used in everyday speech)

French usually uses the definite article (le / la / les) when talking about:

1. Sports and hobbies in a general sense:

   • Paul aime la natation. = Paul likes swimming (the activity in general).
   • Je déteste le tennis. = I hate tennis.

2. Things in general (generic meaning):

   • Les chiens sont fidèles. = Dogs are loyal (dogs in general).

So:

• la course à pied = running in general (as a sport)
• la natation = swimming in general (as a sport)

Leaving out the article (∗Paul préfère course à pied à natation) is ungrammatical in French.

With préférer, when you compare two things, French uses the pattern:

préférer X à Y = to prefer X to Y

So:

• Paul préfère la course à pied à la natation.
  = Paul prefers running to swimming.

You must use à in this comparison structure; you cannot say:

• ∗Paul préfère la course à pied que la natation. ✗ (incorrect)

The correct comparative structure is always:

• préférer [noun / verb] à [noun / verb]

Yes, and it changes the meaning.

• Paul préfère la course à pied à la natation.
  = He prefers running to swimming. (running > swimming)

• Paul préfère la natation à la course à pied.
  = He prefers swimming to running. (swimming > running)

The first noun after “préférer” is the one he likes more. The noun after à is the one he likes less, in the direct comparison.

You can use verbs, but there are some nuances:

1. Grammatically, this is possible:

   • Paul préfère courir à nager.
     = Paul prefers running to swimming.

2. But in everyday French, people more often say:

   • Paul préfère courir plutôt que nager.
   • Paul préfère courir à la natation.
   • Paul préfère la course à pied à la natation.

The pattern:

• préférer [infinitive] plutôt que [infinitive]

is very natural with verbs:

• Je préfère lire plutôt que regarder la télé.
• Elle préfère sortir plutôt que rester à la maison.

They’re not interchangeable:

1. la course à pied

   • Specifically means running (on foot) as exercise/sport.
   • Il fait de la course à pied tous les matins.

2. la course on its own:

   • Often means a race (competition):
     • La course commence à 9h. = The race starts at 9.
   • Or in plural les courses = the shopping / errands:
     • Je vais faire les courses. = I’m going grocery shopping.

So if you just say la course, people might think of a race or even shopping, not necessarily the general activity of running for fitness. That’s why the full phrase la course à pied is used here.

Préférer is a stem-changing -ER verb. In some forms, the second é (é) becomes è (è).

Conjugation in the present tense:

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

Pattern:

• Singular + 3rd person plural: préfèr-
• 1st and 2nd person plural: préfér-

Reason: the spelling change reflects a change in pronunciation to keep the stress and sound regular. You don’t need to explain it every time, just memorize the pattern like with espérer → j’espère, nous espérons, etc.

• course is feminine: la course
• natation is feminine: la natation

That’s why both use la:

• la course à pied
• la natation

In this sentence, gender mainly affects:

• Choice of article: la (not le or les).
• Agreement if you later add adjectives:
  • la course à pied intensive
  • la natation régulière

You have two very natural options:

1. Using the noun (sport as an activity):

   • Paul préfère la course à pied. = Paul prefers running (as an activity, compared to other possible activities).

2. Using the verb (the action of running):

   • Paul préfère courir. = Paul prefers to run.

Both are correct.
The noun version sounds more like talking about the sport.
The verb version focuses more on the action he chooses to do.

Pronunciation of course:

• IPA: /kurs/
• Rough guide: similar to English “koors”, but shorter and more closed.

Letter by letter:

• c = /k/
• ou = /u/ (like “oo” in “food”)
• r = French guttural r at the back of the throat
• se = pronounced /s/ (the final e is silent)

So it’s one syllable: [kurs].
No liaison is needed here because it’s not followed by a vowel in this sentence:
la course à pied → you may hear a very slight link, but not a pronounced extra consonant like in les‿enfants.