Discuss healthy habits and routines

You can talk about staying healthy in French with short statements about what you do, how often you do it, and simple advice for others. The same vocabulary covers everyday habits, measures that limit the spread of illness, and general preventive care.

For diet, exercise, sleep, and their effects on health, see Health and lifestyle. For washing, brushing your teeth, and other hygiene routines, see Hygiene and personal care. For vaccination, screening types, and medical tests, see Vaccination and prevention.

Talk about healthy habits

Several common verbs are useful when you describe habits and routines related to health:

These expressions appear in short statements about regular habits:

When you describe a routine, you often say how often you do something:

Rest and sleep

When you talk about rest and sleep, these nouns and verbs appear often:

Dormir refers specifically to sleeping. Se reposer covers resting more broadly. A typical statement might mention how long you sleep, that you are tired, or that you need rest.

Assez and trop often appear when you say whether a habit is sufficient or excessive:

Food and hydration

These expressions describe what you eat and drink when you talk about staying well:

The same ideas appear in short statements about what you drink and how you eat:

Give simple health advice

Simple recommendations about everyday health often use il faut or the imperative:

The imperative gives direct advice to one person or to several:

Tu forms fit someone you address informally. Vous forms fit someone you address formally or more than one person.

Everyday prevention

When illness spreads, people wash their hands, cover their mouth when they cough, stay home when they are sick, and air rooms:

Hand washing, covering your mouth when you cough, and staying home when you are ill appear in advice to others and in what people say about their own habits:

Check-ups and screening

Preventive care also includes seeing a healthcare professional when you are not currently ill:

These terms appear when you book or describe a medical visit and when a doctor recommends screening:

Un dépistage refers to testing intended to detect a disease or condition, often before symptoms appear.

Talk about your routine

Walking, exercise, water, sleep, and check-ups can appear together in one description:

From learning to practice

In everyday conversation, sleep, hydration, and activity come up with the same habit vocabulary as simple advice to others. When you book a check-up or read an appointment reminder, the visit is described with rendez-vous, contrôle, bilan de santé, and dépistage.