How to Talk About Your Hobbies

Learn how to talk about your hobbies

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by ChineseClass101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your hobbies in Chinese.

For example, “I like to fish.” is

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

Two neighbors, Haoran Huang and Jason Xu , are having a conversation in an apartment building lobby.

Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components.

钓鱼 (diàoyú)

"fishing"

钓鱼

喜欢 (xǐhuān)

"like"

喜欢

Listen to the conversation.

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

Once more with the English translation.

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

"What do you like to do?"

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

"I like to fish."

Let’s break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Haoran Huang asks,

"What do you like to do?"

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

First is 你 (nǐ), "you." 你 . 你.

Next is 喜欢 (xǐhuān), "like," as in "you like." 喜欢 . 喜欢.

After this is 做 (zuò), "to do." 做 . 做.

Last is 什么 (shénme), meaning, "what." 什么 . 什么.

All together, 你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?) literally, "you like to do what?" but it translates as "What do you like to do?"

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Jason Xu says,

"I like to fish."

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

First is 我 (wǒ), "I." 我 . 我.

Next is 喜欢 (xǐhuān), "like," as in "I like." 喜欢.

Last is 钓鱼 (diàoyú), "to fish." 钓鱼 . 钓鱼.

All together, 我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.), "I like to fish."

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

The pattern is

我喜欢 (Wǒ xǐhuān) ACTIVITY。

I like ACTIVITY.

我喜欢ACTIVITY。

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ACTIVITY} placeholder with an activity you like to do.

Imagine you like "to swim." 游泳 (yóuyǒng) . 游泳.

Say

"I like to swim."

Ready?

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

"I like to swim."

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

This pattern can also be used with verb phrases.

我喜欢 (Wǒ xǐhuān) ACTIVITY.

For example, "to play basketball," 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú.)

First is 打, "to play," in this context, 打 . 打.

篮球 "basketball." 篮球 . 篮球.

打篮球 “to play basketball." 打篮球

我喜欢打篮球。(Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.)

"I like to play basketball."

Again, the key pattern is

我喜欢 (Wǒ xǐhuān) ACTIVITY。

I like ACTIVITY.

我喜欢ACTIVITY。

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

“I like to fish.”

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

我喜欢打篮球。 (Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.)

“I like to play basketball.”

我喜欢打篮球。 (Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.)

我喜欢旅游。 (Wǒ xǐhuān lǚyóu.)

“I like to travel.”

我喜欢旅游。 (Wǒ xǐhuān lǚyóu.)

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

“I like to swim”

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

我爱做饭。 (Wǒ ài zuòfàn.)

“I love to cook.”

我爱做饭。 (Wǒ ài zuòfàn.)

Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern?

我爱做饭。 (Wǒ ài zuòfàn.)

"I love to cook. "

First is 我 (wǒ), "I." 我.

Next is 爱 (ài), "love." 爱. 爱

Last is 做饭 (zuòfàn), "to cook." 做饭 . 做饭.

All together, 我爱做饭。 (Wǒ ài zuòfàn.) "I love to cook." 我爱做饭。 (Wǒ ài zuòfàn.)

This pattern is:

我爱 (Wǒ ài) ACTIVITY.

I love ACTIVITY.

You should be aware of this, but for this lesson, we’ll use the pattern

我喜欢 (Wǒ xǐhuān) ACTIVITY。

I like ACTIVITY.

Let’s review the new words.

打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú). "To play basketball."

打篮球 . 打篮球.

旅游 (lǚyóu). "To travel."

旅游 . 旅游.

游泳 (yóuyǒng). "To swim."

游泳 . 游泳.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "to fish?"

钓鱼 (diàoyú).

And how to say "I?"

我 (wǒ).

Do you remember how Jason Xu says,

"I like to fish."

我喜欢钓鱼。 (Wǒ xǐhuān diàoyú.)

Do you remember how to say "what"?

什么 (shénme).

And how to say "to do?"

做 (zuò).

Do you remember how to say "you"?

你 (nǐ).

Do you remember how Haoran Huang asks,

"What do you like to do?"

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

Do you remember how to say "to swim"?

游泳(yóuyǒng).

游泳 (yóuyǒng).

And how to say "to play basketball"?

打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú).

Do you remember how to say "to travel"?

旅游 (lǚyóu).

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Haoran Huang , and you like to play baseball.

Respond to the question.

Ready?

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

我喜欢打篮球。 (Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.)

Listen again and repeat.

我喜欢打篮球。 (Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú.)

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Yi Yang , and you like to travel.

Ready?

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

我喜欢旅游。 (Wǒ xǐhuān lǚyóu.)

Listen again and repeat.

我喜欢旅游。 (Wǒ xǐhuān lǚyóu.)

Let’s try one more.

Imagine you're Wei Wang , and you like to swim.

Ready?

你喜欢做什么？ (Nǐ xǐhuān zuò shénme?)

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

Listen again and repeat.

我喜欢游泳。 (Wǒ xǐhuān yóuyǒng.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About Hobbies unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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