Lesson 4: Hobbies in German

🎨 Popular Hobbies Vocabulary

• Das Hobby 🔊 – Hobby
• Musik hören 🔊 – Listening to music
• Fußball spielen 🔊 – Playing football (soccer)
• Lesen 🔊 – Reading
• Zeichnen 🔊 – Drawing
• Tanzen 🔊 – Dancing
• Schwimmen 🔊 – Swimming
• Fotografieren 🔊 – Photography
• Reisen 🔊 – Traveling
• Kochen 🔊 – Cooking
• Gärtnern 🔊 – Gardening
• Spiele spielen 🔊 – Playing games
• Joggen 🔊 – Jogging

📚 Grammar & Sentence Structure

• Use gern 🔊 to say you like doing something: Ich lese gern. 🔊
• Some hobbies take verbs like spielen 🔊: Ich spiele Fußball. 🔊
• When using a verb in infinitive form: Ich mag tanzen. 🔊 = I like dancing.
• Word order: Verb is always in second position → Am Wochenende gehe ich schwimmen. 🔊

💬 Usage in Context – Talking About Hobbies

Was sind deine Hobbys? 🔊
What are your hobbies?
❓ This is a common question when getting to know someone!

Ich höre gern Musik. 🔊
I like listening to music.
🎧 “gern” 🔊 means “gladly” or “with pleasure” — it's how you say you like doing something!

Mein Bruder spielt gern Videospiele. 🔊
My brother likes to play video games.
🎮 “spielt” 🔊 = plays, “Videospiele” 🔊 = video games — easy to remember!

Am Abend lese ich oft Bücher. 🔊
In the evening, I often read books.
📚 “Am Abend” 🔊 = in the evening, “oft” 🔊 = often. Time comes first in German!

Sie reist sehr gern. 🔊
She really enjoys traveling.
✈️ “reist” 🔊 = travels. “sehr gern” 🔊 = really likes/enjoys.

🧠 Did You Know?

• “Hobby” 🔊 is also used in German, but the plural becomes “Hobbys” 🔊 (not “hobbies”).
• In Germany, clubs for hobbies (like music, chess, sports) are very popular and are called Vereine 🔊.
• The word “gern” 🔊 doesn’t mean "like" directly but is used to express enjoyment of actions.