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"I go to the gym every day" / "I go to the fitness center every day"

This sentence is translated by a dictionary as

Je vais tous les jours à la salle de remise en forme.

But la salle de remise en forme is very long. Would it be correct to say any of the following?

Je vais tous les jours au gymnase.

Je vais tous les jours à la gym.

Je vais tous les jours au centre de fitness.

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  • I agree with you that “salle de remise en forme” seems awfully awkward, but since it gets loads of Google & even N-gram hits I’ll just comment that personally I’d use salle de sport in both your sentences (in addition to seeing it as awkward, I see “remise/remettre en forme” as technically excluding people who go to the gym to “garder la forme”). (Also, as one who gambles much more than I exercise, I’d also hesitate to use only “la salle", because those who know me well would take it to mean “I go to the casino every day”!)
    – Papa Poule
    Dec 17, 2016 at 17:57
  • @PapaPoule Thanks! Do you mean salle de sport or salle de remise en forme gets loads of Google / N-gram hits?
    – user11550
    Dec 17, 2016 at 18:38
  • Aww yes, I now see the ambiguity in my sentence, sorry! I meant that since "salle de remise en forme" gets so many hits I'll just add my suggestion (salle de sport) as a comment.
    – Papa Poule
    Dec 17, 2016 at 18:46
  • See french.stackexchange.com/questions/17841/… especially cram2208 reply and comments about a difference between France and Quebec French about gym.
    – jlliagre
    Dec 17, 2016 at 21:30

2 Answers 2

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I agree with you that “salle de remise en forme” seems awfully long (and awkward as well, in my opinion). However, that term does get many Google & even N-gram hits, so please take the following suggestion from a non-native speaker with all those hits in mind:
Personally, I’d use salle de sport to cover both “gym” and “fitness center” in your two English sentences [with “tous les jours” either where you have it or at the end]:

Je vais [tous les jours] à la salle de sport [tous les jours].

(link to Reverso)

Risking even further the wrath of Google, N-gram, and those who see nothing wrong with “salle de remise en forme,” I would also note that, in addition to seeing it as awkward, I see “remise/remettre en forme” as technically excluding people who go to the gym to “garder la forme” or “rester en forme,” for I see a not so subtle difference, at least in English, between “getting in shape” and “staying in shape.”

Finally (and this is not meant to question any other answer, but rather to point out the importance, as always, of context), as one who gambles much more often than I exercise, I would personally hesitate to use only “la salle" in your sentence, because those who know me well would take it to mean “la salle de jeu” and think, whether true or not, that I’m telling them that “I go to the casino every day”!

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"In" people just say "aller à la salle".

"Gymnase" is quite old-fashioned unless you are talking about the place where you do competive gymnastics.

"Gym" (short for "gymnastique") means physical exercise, but without all the apparatus found in fitness center.

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  • Do people really say à la salle de remise en forme in their everyday conversation?
    – user11550
    Dec 17, 2016 at 14:57

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