LinguaWas machst du in deiner Freizeit? – asking about hobbies
This is the question about hobbies (die Freizeit is free time; in deiner Freizeit = in your free time – learn it as a chunk). Many hobbies are a noun + verb. With spielen: Fußball, Tennis, Gitarre, Karten. With machen: Sport, Yoga, Musik. With gehen + a verb or a place: spazieren gehen (go for a walk), schwimmen gehen, ins Kino gehen. With fahren: Rad fahren (cycle) – two words, and fahren changes its vowel: du fährst Rad, er fährt Rad. Other hobbies are one verb: wandern (hike), joggen, malen (paint), lesen, tanzen, fotografieren.
| With the verb | Meaning | Hobbies |
|---|---|---|
| spielen | to play | Fußball, Tennis, Gitarre |
| machen | to do | Sport, Yoga, Musik |
| gehen | to go | spazieren, schwimmen, ins Kino |
| fahren | to ride, to go | Rad, Ski |
In meiner Freizeit spiele ich Tennis und lese viel.In my free time I play tennis and read a lot.
gern – lieber – am liebsten
German does not need a verb for “like doing”: it adds gern after the verb. Ich spiele gern Fußball = I like playing football. One step up is lieber (prefer), the top is am liebsten (like best). The three words are irregular – there is no “gerner”. They stand right after the conjugated verb: Ich schwimme lieber. When am liebsten opens the sentence, the verb stays second and the subject follows: Am liebsten wandere ich. gerne with an -e means exactly the same as gern. To say you do not like something: nicht gern – Ich koche nicht gern.
| Form | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| gern | like doing | Ich lese gern. |
| lieber | prefer doing | Ich tanze lieber. |
| am liebsten | like doing best | Am liebsten male ich. |
Ich schwimme gern, aber ich fahre lieber Rad.I like swimming, but I prefer cycling.
Was machst du am liebsten am Wochenende?What do you like doing best at the weekend?
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| die Freizeit | free time, leisure | Ich habe wenig Freizeit. I have little free time. |
| das Hobby | hobby | Mein Hobby ist Fotografieren. My hobby is photography. |
| Fußball spielen | to play football (soccer) | Die Kinder spielen im Park Fußball. The children are playing football in the park. |
| Musik hören | to listen to music | Beim Kochen höre ich Musik. I listen to music while cooking. |
| wandern | to hike, to go hiking | Im Sommer wandern wir in der Schweiz. In summer we go hiking in Switzerland. |
| Rad fahren | to cycle, to ride a bike | Fährst du gern Rad? Do you like cycling? |
| ins Kino gehen | to go to the cinema (movies) | Am Freitag gehen wir ins Kino. On Friday we are going to the cinema. |
| spazieren gehen | to go for a walk | Nach dem Essen gehen wir spazieren. After the meal we go for a walk. |
| joggen | to jog, to go jogging | Er joggt jeden Morgen. He goes jogging every morning. |
| malen | to paint, to draw (pictures) | Meine Tochter malt sehr gern. My daughter loves painting. |
| lieber | rather; (verb + lieber) to prefer doing | Ich trinke lieber Tee. I prefer to drink tea. |
| am liebsten | most of all; (verb + am liebsten) to like doing best | Am liebsten esse ich Pizza. Most of all I like eating pizza. |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 3
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
You like reading, but you like watching films more. Which sentence says that?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.