Find English Teachers
Dr.Boullé
Verb to walk
It seems there a numerous ways to say 'to walk' in French. Such as:
Je marche...
Je me promene..
Je me balade..
Je vais à pied..
etc.
Can someone explain to me the differences between them? When would you use one over the other?
Which one is most common?
Dr.Boullé
Apr 13, 2013 3:56 PM
Answers · 2
1
Hi!
I would add to the previous comments that "se promener" and "se balader" which mean exactly the same thing "to take a walk" are used differently. "Se balader" is definitely more informal, more familiar. It's more common in conversations than in texts.
"On a décidé d'aller se balader" is typically what you would say to inform your close friends that you're going to take a walk, whereas "se promener" is widely used in all cases.
"Marcher", "aller à pied" are strictly equivalent but they refer to going "on foot".
"Aller" is going, either by foot or by car, bus...
When would you use one over the other? Which one is most common? Depends of the situation.
"Demain je vais aller marcher" = "demain je vais aller faire de la marche à pied" (= une promenade en campagne, une randonnée en montagne etc...)
"Il vaudrait mieux aller au cinéma à pied" = "plutôt qu'en bus". (On ne dira pas "Il vaudrait mieux marcher au cinéma").
Hope it helps!
April 14, 2013
1
Je marche... = I walk
Je me promene.. = I take for a walk
Je me balade.. = I take a walk
Je vais à pied.. = I m going somewhere, walking
etc.
There are only tiny nuances between all of them, specially between " se promener and se balader " which are synonyms. All of them are quite common, but usually you would say “ je vais à pied “ when u wanna inform someone or a group that while they are taking the car, or the public transportation, you intend to go walking.
Note that you can also “ envoyer quelqu'un promener “ or “ envoyer quelqu'un balader “ which means you tell him to go away, to leave, to go to hell.
Have a nice day !
April 13, 2013
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!
Dr.Boullé
Language Skills
English, French
Learning Language
French
Articles You May Also Like

The Power of Storytelling in Business Communication
40 likes · 9 Comments

Back-to-School English: 15 Must-Know Phrases for the Classroom
28 likes · 6 Comments

Ten Tourist towns in Portugal that nobody remembers
56 likes · 22 Comments
More articles