L'intrus
French hobby photos: people or equipment?
Distinguish a person caption from equipment in six French hobby sets. Compare peintre, photographe and pianiste with the objects used in their activities.
- A1
- 6 rows
- Find the odd one out
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
A hobby caption can name the person or the equipment. Un photographe is a person; un appareil photo is a camera. In each row below, select the one person among three equipment or material terms. The hobby stays the same within each row.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Imagine choosing labels for a hobby-photo album. A label for a person and a label for an object can belong to the same activity without naming the same kind of thing. The six rows concern drawing, photography, knitting, gardening, music and chess in that order. The written words supply the complete task, so the answers do not depend on a photograph.
Tap the word that doesn't belong in each row.
Un dessinateur is a person, someone who draws. The pencil, eraser and sketchbook are equipment for drawing.
Un photographe is a person, a photographer. The camera, tripod and lens are photography equipment.
Une tricoteuse means a woman who knits in this caption set. The needles, yarn and ball of yarn are knitting materials.
Un jardinier is a person, a gardener. The hand trowel, watering can and rake are tools.
Une pianiste is a person who plays piano. The music stand, metronome and score are objects used in music practice.
Un joueur d’échecs is a person. The chessboard, chess clock and chess piece are game equipment.
Read the word that identifies the role
| Row | Activity | Person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dessin | Un dessinateur |
| 2 | Photographie | Un photographe |
| 3 | Tricot | Une tricoteuse |
| 4 | Jardinage | Un jardinier |
| 5 | Musique | Une pianiste |
| 6 | Échecs | Un joueur d’échecs |
Un dessinateur names someone who draws; un crayon names a pencil. The person can use the object, but the noun does not mean the object itself. Likewise, un photographe can use un objectif, a camera lens. The shared activity helps group the words, while the person/equipment distinction identifies the intruder.
Use the intended meaning in this caption set
Une tricoteuse can also name a knitting machine in other contexts. Here it explicitly means a woman who knits, as shown in the person-caption key. That supplied meaning makes the row unambiguous. Always use the context when a French word has more than one possible sense.
La photographe règle son appareil photo.
The photographer adjusts her camera.
La pianiste pose la partition sur le pupitre.
The pianist puts the score on the music stand.
An article alone does not tell you whether the noun is a person
Un and une can introduce both people and objects: un jardinier, un arrosoir, une pianiste, une partition. You need the meaning of the noun as well as its article. Keep the two pieces together when learning the word, and add a short action sentence to connect a person with their equipment.
For your own captions, decide first whether the label identifies the person or the object. Then choose the noun with its article. Une pianiste and une partition may appear in the same photograph, but each directs the reader to a different subject.