French Phrase
Tu cours combien sur le tapis de course ?
Meaning
Literally: ‘How much do you run on the treadmill?’ It is used to ask someone about the amount of exercise they do on a treadmill – usually referring to distance, time, or number of sessions.
When to use
Use this informal question when chatting with a friend, a gym buddy, or a personal trainer in a casual setting. It works best when you already know the person runs on a treadmill and you want to compare routines or give advice.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Tucourscombiensurletapisdecourse?
Tu (subject pronoun)
Informal second‑person singular pronoun used in everyday conversation.
cours (present of courir)
Verb ‘courir’ conjugated in the present indicative; agrees with ‘tu’ (no ending).
combien (interrogative adverb)
Asks for a quantity (time, distance, number). It can stand alone or be followed by ‘de …’ for clarification.
sur le tapis de course (prepositional phrase)
Literally ‘on the treadmill’; ‘tapis de course’ is the standard term for a treadmill in French gyms.
question mark
In spoken French the intonation rises at the end; written French adds a space before the ‘?’.
🗨In Conversation
Tu cours combien sur le tapis de course ?
How much do you run on the treadmill?
Environ trente minutes, à un rythme modéré.
About thirty minutes, at a moderate pace.
✕Common Mistakes
Tu cours combien temps sur le tapis de course ?
‘Combien’ must be followed by ‘de’ when asking about time or distance.
Tu cours combien de distance sur le tapis de course ?
‘Distance’ is already a measure; you would say ‘combien de kilomètres’ instead.
Tu cours combien sur le tapis de courir ?
The correct noun is ‘tapis de course’, not ‘tapis de courir’.
↔Alternatives
Combien de temps passes‑tu sur le tapis de course ?
How long do you spend on the treadmill?
Quelle distance parcours‑tu sur le tapis de course ?
What distance do you cover on the treadmill?
Tu fais combien de kilomètres sur le tapis de course ?
How many kilometres do you do on the treadmill?
Cultural Tip
In French gyms the word ‘tapis de course’ is preferred over the English ‘treadmill’. When speaking to strangers or in a formal context, replace ‘tu’ with ‘vous’. Also, French speakers often specify the unit (minutes, kilomètres) to avoid ambiguity, e.g., ‘Combien de minutes cours‑tu ?’