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A115 words5 phrases

Hobbies and free time

Almost every first conversation in Spanish turns to what you do in your free time, and these words let you answer with more than one sentence.

Quick answer

En mi tiempo libre me gusta leer.

In my free time I like reading. After me gusta Spanish uses the infinitive, not a form ending in -ing.

The words

SpanishEnglish
el tiempo librethe free time
la aficiónthe hobby
el ociothe leisure
el librothe book
la pinturathe painting
la fotothe photo
el juego de mesathe board game
la cocinathe cooking
el bailethe dancing
el jardínthe garden
la costurathe sewing
el ajedrezthe chess
el senderismothe hiking
coleccionarto collect
aprenderto learn

The phrases you will actually say

En mi tiempo libre me gusta leer.In my free time I like reading.
Los domingos quedo con mis amigos.On Sundays I meet up with my friends.
Estoy aprendiendo a tocar el piano.I am learning to play the piano.
¿Te apetece jugar al ajedrez?Do you fancy playing chess?
Llevo tres años haciendo senderismo.I have been hiking for three years.

Worth knowing

The useful verb here is quedar, which in Spain means to arrange to meet: quedamos a las ocho is how plans are made, and me quedo en casa with the reflexive means to stay in, a different thing entirely. Games take jugar a with the article, so jugar al ajedrez and jugar a las cartas, while instruments take tocar. Say mi afición es la fotografía rather than translating "hobby" literally; el hobby is understood but sounds imported. Two false friends: el ocio is leisure, not idleness in the negative sense, and la lectura is reading while la conferencia is a lecture. In Latin America quedar in the meeting sense is far less common, so nos vemos a las ocho travels better.

Practice

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