Contents
LOS PASATIEMPOS or hobbies in Spanish are part of the vocabulary we use often in daily conversations. There are so many hobbies that it would be difficult to cover them all in one lesson and that is why we taught a in the previous lesson and will teach in the next one. In this lesson we will review the most important vocabulary for hobbies through a short video and will teach you how to talk about likes and dislikes using the verb GUSTAR and few other important verbs. Comencemos…
Introductory video: Hobbies in Spanish, likes and dislikes
The video below includes a list of activities most people like to do in their free time plus examples of sentences using them. It explains a little about the way we express likes and dislikes in the language as well. If you need to translate, please activate the subtitles (cc) below.
Video Quiz: Los pasatiempos en español Time limit: 0 Quiz-summary 0 of 4 questions completed Questions: 1 2 3 4 Information This simple quiz will test if you understood what is shown in the video, including some vocabulary and grammar points. Do not worry if you do not get all the right answers because we will explain more in the rest of the lesson. You have already completed the quiz before. Hence you can not start it again. Quiz is loading... You must sign in or sign up to start the quiz. You have to finish following quiz, to start this quiz: Results 0 of 4 questions answered correctly Your time: Time has elapsed You have reached 0 of 0 points, (0) Average score Your score Categories Not categorized 0% 1 2 3 4 Answered Review Question 1 of 4 1. Question Which of these sentences can we use to talk about our favorite hobbies? Mi pasatiempo favorito es ver películas Mi pasatiempo favorito es jugar videojuegos Mi pasatiempo escuchando música Correct Incorrect All sentences need averb so and for MI PASATIEMPO FAVORITO ES… the verb is SER. You can even omit the expression MI PASATIEMPO FAVORITO and just say ES PASATIEMPO, but you will always need a verb. Question 2 of 4 2. Question What is the proper way to ask someone what activities he likes to do? ¿Te gusta hobby? E.g. ¿Te gusta escuchar música? ¿Gustar hobby? E.g. ¿Gustar escuchando música? ¿Tú gustas hobby? E.g. ¿Tú gustas escuchar música? Correct Incorrect The right question needs the reflexive pronoun for the person we are referring to, in this case TE which is used for TÚ. Also the activity is used in infinitive, e.g. ESCUCHAR MÚSICA, not in gerund form. Question 3 of 4 3. Question How do we say that we dislike an activity in Spanish? No gustar activity No gustarme activity No me gusta activity Correct Incorrect The first is incorrect because GUSTAR must be conjugated and it also lacks a reflexive pronoun. As for the second one, we do not say GUSTARME but ME GUSTA. Question 4 of 4 4.Question Please find the wrong sentence or question Among These choices. I like to draw Do you like to dance? I like to read books I like to visit places Mark likes to take photos What would you like to do in your spare time? Correct Incorrect Before we can use LIKE to prepositional phrase like MY, YOU, YOU or any other, but not a subject pronoun like ME. For This sentence we Should Have Said, I LIKE INSTEAD OF ME LIKE.
Expressing likes and dislikes in Spanish with GUSTAR
The verb GUSTAR, to like, is frequently accompanied by a and sometimes by a prepositional phrase like “A mí…”. Both of them help us know who likes the activity. The sentence “I like soccer” would not be translated as “Yo gusta fútbol” but as “A mí me gusta el futbol“, where A MÍ (to me) is an optional , ME is the corresponding reflexive pronoun for YO and GUSTA is the form we will use for GUSTAR in this kind of sentences. Knowing what prepositional phrase or reflexive pronoun to use may be difficult so we prepared a simple chart for you to see how to make simple sentences with this verb. The subject pronoun is just as a reference to indicate that “Yo” would be replaced by “A mí” in the final sentence. Besides, the prepositional phrase is optional so a sample sentence would look like “(A mí) Me gusta tocar guitarra“.
Subject Prep. phrase Reflexive Pronouns Verb GUSTAR Free time activity I A I like to play guitar You You like to watch TV He He likes to sing She She likes dancing You You like exercising Us We like to cook Ye To you I like to paint they they like to take pictures
GUSTAR will change to GUSTAN when you refer to several objects, for example: “Me gustan las fotos“(I like the pictures). Likewise you can use the verbs ENCANTAR (to love), EMOCIONAR (to feel excited) and ALEGRAR (to make happy). ENCANTAR will change to ENCANTA as in “Me encanta hacer ejercicio”, EMOCIONAR to EMOCIONA as in “Me emociona viajar” and ALEGRAR to ALEGRA.
With Examples in Spanish hobbies She likes to read mystery books. She likes reading mistery books I like to read the newspaper every day. I like reading the newspaper every day We like to play guitar. Playing the guitar / piano -We like playing guitar Dancing / Dancing - I like what you dance? To dance / Dancing - I like dancing, what about you? Draw / Drawing - I like drawing Me To Draw / Drawing - I like drawing a lot Relax - I like to relax listening to music. Relaxing - I like listening to music relaxing Painting / Painting - seem to like painting. To paint / Painting - It Seems you like painting
To talk about activities you dislike, you just need to place NO before the reflexive pronoun e.g. “NO me gusta cantar” and “No me gusta leer libros”. When asking in real life just change the intonation a little bit when you speak. The questions you can use are ¿Te gusta nadar? (Do you like to swim?) or in plural form ¿Les gusta nadar? To most basic form would be ¿Te gusta an activity?
Questions with hobbies and likes in Spanish ¿Te gusta nadar? – Si Do you like swimming? – Yes Cantar / El canto – ¿Te gusta cantar baladas? – A veces To sing/ Singing – Do you like singing romantic music? – Sometimes Tomar fotos – ¿A ustedes les gusta tomar fotos? – A nosotros sí. Taking pictures – Do you like taking pictures? – We do Cocinar/La cocina – ¿Te gusta cocinar comidas extranjeras? To cook/Cooking – Do you like cooking foreign food?
Now we will see an example using the sentence structure we covered in the and the one we have explained in this one as well.
My favorite hobbies in Spanish
Talking about the activities you like to do in Spanish – ¿Qué te gusta hacer?
Listen to a conversation between a guy and a girl about their hobbies – pasatiempos. Take notes of the information you think is important and then solve the interactive quiz. Click on PLAY to begin listening.
Important phrases: 1. How interesting! Means that's interesting whos 2. Actually Means
Listening quiz: My favorite leisure activities in Spanish Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again This short quiz is about the conversation on hobbies you just listened. Please listen again and answer the questions. Every time you get a right answer, you will see an explanation telling you why that is the right choice. Press “START” to begin. Start Congratulations - you have completed Listening quiz: My favorite leisure activities in Spanish.You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.We recommend you to %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1 Which of these hobbies does Alex likes to do? A A él le gusta jugar tenis B A él le gusta jugar futbol C A él le gusta mirar televisión D A él le gusta escuchar música E A él le gusta pintar Question 1 Explanation: Alex answers Sandra's questionsaying "A mí me gusta jugar futbol y escuchar música" which means that the second and fourth choices are the right answers. Notice that the sentences begin with the prepositional phrase "A él" to specify who likes playing soccer, but this is optional so saying something like "Le gusta jugar futbol" would be fine too. Question 2 What hobbies, "pasatiempos", does Sandra like? A Leer libros B Ver películas C Hacer ejercicio D Tocar piano E Tocar guitarra Question 2 Explanation: She mentions three activities by using the simplest structure for hobbies: "Yo leo libros, hago ejercicio y toco guitarra a veces". Using GUSTAR she could have said "Me gusta leer libros, hacer ejercicio y tocar guitarra a veces". Question 3 What activity in Spanish does Sandra dislike to do? A A Sandra no le gusta cantar B A Sandra no le gusta bailar C A Sandra no le gusta pintar Question 3 Explanation: She mentions that she doesn't like to sing actually. Notice that the beginning is different this time becausewe used her name instead to say "A Sandra" instead of saying "A ella". We could also omit this part and just say "No le gusta cantar". Remember that the word "no" is placed before the reflexive pronoun. Question 4 What activity does Alex dislike? A A Alex no le gusta cantar B A Alex no le gusta bailar C A Alex no le gusta tocar guitarra Question 4 Explanation: Alex does not like dancing that much because he cannot do it very well, so Sandra is planning to teach him how to dance, "cómo bailar". In the answers provided we could substitute A Alex for A él Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results There are 4 questions to complete. ← List → Return Shaded items are complete. 1 2 3 4 End Return You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score onQuiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Hint Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All done review this lesson… continue studying this lesson! review this lesson and find more important points. Studying a lesson related to this topic may be useful too. continue learning! Good work! keep up the good work! Perfect!
Conversation Script: Hobbies - Hobbies Alex: Today people spend much time on the internet right Sandra? Sandra: Yes, many people like to use social networks too. What would you like to make Alex? Alex: I like playing football and listening to music. and you? Sandra: I read books, I exercise and play guitar sometimes. Alex: How interesting! I too like to play guitar. Sandra: It is really very entertaining, although I do not really like to sing. Alex: I if I like singing romantic songs. Sometimes I play the guitar and singing. Sandra: And you like dancing Alex? Alex: I do not like it because I can not ... Sandra: Do you want me to show you?
Practice: What are your favorite hobbies in Spanish?
We are almost done with the lesson. Some key expressions we have seen are [Mi pasatiempo favorito es pasatiempo] and [En mi tiempo libre me gusta actividades]. Remember to use the right reflexive pronoun and form of GUSTAR or any other verb you prefer to express what you like or love in . In the next lesson we will study the vocabulary for sports and listen to more examples of conversations about hobbies, likes and dislikes.
Quiz: Pastimes in Spanish - Los pasatiempos en español Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again This short quiz will test what was covered in this lesson about hobbies and likes - "pasatiempos y gustos". Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the verbs and expressions. Press START to begin. Start Congratulations - you have completed Quiz: Pastimes in Spanish - Los pasatiempos en español .You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.We recommend you to %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1 Esta clase es muy interesante. A mi __________ mucho. A les gusta B me gusta C gustar Question 1 Explanation: “A mi” (to me) is a prepositional phrase that comes from joining the preposition "A" and a prepositional pronoun. "A mí" tells us that the person is talking about himselfso the correct phase here is “me gusta”. The reflexive pronoun "me" could go with "Yo" in sentences like "Yo me llamo..." or with the pronoun "mí" in sentences like "A mi me gusta el fútbol". You can learn more about this in the grammar lesson about "pronombres personales". Question 2 A: ¿Qué les gusta hacer a ustedes? B: ___________ jugar ajedrez. A Gustar B Les gusta C Nos gusta Question 2 Explanation: The question uses the prepositional phrase “a ustedes” so we must answer with the prepositional phase “a nosotros”. Remember that “nos” belongs to “nosotros”, “me” to “mi” and so on. Then, the correct answer is “Nos gusta” or in a more complete way "A nosotros nos gusta". The phrase “A nosotros” is optional. This questions about likes in Spanish may be even simpler in a conversation. Someone may ask you: ¿Qué te gusta hacer? (What do you like to do?) Question 3 A Roger y Karla _________________ salir juntos a veces. A Les gusta B Nos gusta C Te gusta Question 3 Explanation: Here weneed the expression “Les gusta” because we are referring to them (“a ellos”). The reflexive pronoun "Les" is used for "ellos" (Roger and Karla). The remaining options would not make sense. Notice that we need a verb in infinitive after “gusta”. Question 4 A: ¿A ti te gusta leer el periódico? B: ____________ mucho. Prefiero ver televisión. A Me gusta B No me gusta C Nos gusta Question 4 Explanation: The sentence (Prefiero ver televisión) means “I prefer to watch television” so we can infer that the person is actually saying that he doesn’t like to read the newspaper. That is why the only possible answer is “No me gusta”, using the verb to like in Spanish in a negative form. Question 5 A mí me gusta tocar guitarra ¿y a ti qué _________ hacer? A te gusta B nos gusta C gusta Question 5 Explanation: We used the prepositional phrase “a ti”, which means that means we need the reflexive pronoun corresponding to that pronoun (“te”), so the only possible answer is “te gusta”. Once you arefinished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results There are 5 questions to complete. ← List → Return Shaded items are complete. 1 2 3 4 5 End Return You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Hint Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All done review this lesson… continue studying this lesson! review this lesson and find more important points. Studying a lesson related to this topic may be useful too. continue learning! Good work! keep up the good work! Perfect!
Write a paragraph about your favorite hobbies – “tus pasatiempos favoritos”. You can add information about your family’s hobbies if you want. Remember to read it out loud to practice your pronunciation. A good way to improve your pronounciation is recording yourself and comparing what you say to the examples provided in the lesson.
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