Is it better to use "faire une promenade" or "se promener"?

Question

I know that both faire une promenade and se promener mean "to walk," but which one is considered better to use?

Possible duplicate with this one ? – Romain Valeri May 28 '14 at 13:30 — Romain Valeri, May 28 '14 at 13:30
Quebec regionalism: "prendre une marche" – njzk2 Apr 25 '16 at 21:12 — njzk2, Apr 25 '16 at 21:12

score 9 · Answer 1 · answered May 14 '12 at 18:04

9

If you say "je vais me promener" without saying where, you're going to wander, hang around.

But if you say "on va se promener en ville" ou bien "on a fait une promenade en forêt", you mean a real walk, enjoy the landscape, whatever.

answered May 14 '12 at 18:04

Benoît

231
1
3

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited May 28 '14 at 12:24

7

Promenade/promener do not quite equal "walk" (which would be the more generic marcher). They both imply a component of leisure, and are usually translated by "take a walk".

There is actually a nuance of meaning between se promener and faire une promenade, as the latter is a punctual action, but for the most part, both are grammatical. Personally I don't like faire une/des promenade(s) (I think it's clunky, especially in the plural), but it's probably just me.

edited May 28 '14 at 12:24

Stéphane Gimenez

30,422
13
71
152

answered May 14 '12 at 00:06

Circeus

17,352
33
55

I meant faire une promenade. I changed it. – Orcris May 14 '12 at 00:56
punctual action? – Lambie Apr 25 '16 at 20:58
It's a full, single time action with a specific beginning and end in the mind of the speaker. That's why only promener has the extended and metaphorical meanings along the lines of "wandering around". – Circeus Apr 27 '16 at 07:13

Is it better to use "faire une promenade" or "se promener"?

2 Answers2