121 - ‘Visiter’ Vs. ‘Rendre Visite’: Which One to Choose?
Not sure when to use ‘visiter’ (to visit) vs ‘rendre visite’ (to visit) in French? In this episode, I’ll clarify the difference and usage between these two French verbs. 🤓
After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to practice!
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Transcript
Intro: Welcome to the French Made Easy podcast, where I give you all the basics you need to speak French clearly and confidently. I'm your host, Mathilde, and I'm a French teacher, mumpreneur, and bread and cheese lover. Join me as I dive into all things French for beginners, and deliver to you bite-sized and easy-to-follow lessons every Tuesday. Let's get started, "on commence"!
Hello everyone! Bonjour à tous! 💖 Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast! This is episode number 121, numéro 121!
This episode is part of the Common Mistakes in French series, where I share with you verbs, words, or expressions that often get mixed up!
And today, we’ll clarify the difference between ‘visiter’ and ‘rendre visite.’ It’s a pretty common mix up that I hear a lot. Both verbs can be translated as "to visit" in English, but in French, they are not interchangeable! If it's your first time here, make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet in front of you during the lesson. After the lesson, you can head over to the French Made Easy library to practice what you've learned today. It’s free, and all the links can be found in the episode notes on your podcast platform.
Alright, so let's see the difference between ‘visiter’ and ‘rendre visite.’
1. ‘Visiter’ is a verb that is mainly used when talking about visiting places, such as museums, cities, countries, or landmarks.
Examples:
Hier, j’ai visité le musée d’Orsay à Paris. (Yesterday, I visited the Orsay Museum in Paris.)
Elle visitera Rome la semaine prochaine. (She will visit Rome next week.)
Chaque été, ils visitent un nouveau pays. (Every summer, they visit a new country.)
2. ‘Rendre visite’ is used when talking about visiting people, not places.
Examples:
Elle rend visite à ses grands-parents tous les week-ends. (She visits her grandparents every weekend.)
Hier, nous avons rendu visite à nos cousins. (Yesterday, we visited our cousins.)
Quand il revient ici, il rend visite à ses anciens collègues. (When he comes back here, he visits his former colleagues.)
Recap:
Use ‘visiter’ (to visit) when referring to places.
Use ‘rendre visite’ (to visit) when referring to people.
And that’s the end of today’s episode! I hope you liked it. Don’t forget to head over to the French Made Easy library to practice the difference between ‘visiter’ and ‘rendre visite’!