Lesson 16: Hobbies and Free Time
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about a few simple hobbies and free-time activities in German. This helps you say more about yourself and understand basic everyday conversations.
What you’ll learn
- common hobby words
- how to say what you like to do
- how to say what you do in your free time
- how to make simple sentences about activities
Talking about hobbies
A useful phrase is:
Ich mag … = I like …
Ich spiele gern … = I like to play …
Ich lese gern. = I like reading.
Ich höre gern Musik. = I like listening to music.
For now, it is enough to learn these as whole phrases.
Common hobbies and activities
Here are some useful beginner hobby words and phrases:
Musik hören = to listen to music
lesen = to read
schwimmen = to swim
tanzen = to dance
spielen = to play
Fußball spielen = to play soccer
reisen = to travel
kochen = to cook
These are common activities that are easy to use in simple conversations.
Simple examples
Ich höre gern Musik. = I like listening to music.
Ich lese gern. = I like reading.
Ich spiele gern Fußball. = I like playing soccer.
Ich reise gern. = I like traveling.
Ich koche gern. = I like cooking.
These are good beginner sentences because they are short and useful.
Talking about free time
You can also use this phrase:
In meiner Freizeit … = In my free time …
Examples:
In meiner Freizeit lese ich. = In my free time, I read.
In meiner Freizeit höre ich Musik. = In my free time, I listen to music.
You do not need to build many long sentences yet. Short sentences are enough.
A helpful pattern
For this lesson, focus on these easy patterns:
Ich + verb + gern.
Ich + verb + gern + object.
Examples:
Ich lese gern.
Ich koche gern.
Ich spiele gern Fußball.
Ich höre gern Musik.
This is a very useful beginner pattern in German.
