Learn how to talk about your hobbies
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| Welcome to Can-Do German by GermanPod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your hobbies in German. |
| For example, "I like fishing." is |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| Two neighbors, Jonas Jäger and Aron Ahrens , are having a conversation in an apartment building lobby. |
| Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components. |
| Angeln |
| "fishing" |
| Angeln |
| Angeln |
| Hobby |
| "hobby" |
| Hobby |
| Hobby |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on the response. |
| Note: the speakers in this conversation use informal German. |
| Ready? |
| Was sind deine Hobbys? |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| Once more with the English translation. |
| Was sind deine Hobbys? |
| "What are your hobbies?" |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| "My hobby is fishing." |
| Let's break down the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Jonas Jager asks, |
| "What are your hobbies?" |
| Was sind deine Hobbys? |
| Let's start with the word, Hobbys, "hobbies." Hobbys. Hobbys. |
| Hobbys is plural — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence. |
| In German all plural nouns behave the same way whether they’re masculine, feminine or neuter. |
| Note: at this point in your language journey, it might be helpful to remember that the feminine singular definite article is usually the same as the plural definite article. |
| Before Hobbys is deine, meaning "your." Deine. Deine. |
| Deine is plural to agree with Hobbys. |
| Together, deine Hobbys. "Your hobbies." Deine Hobbys. |
| Moving to the start of the sentence, was, "what." Was. Was. |
| Next is sind, "are," as in "what are..." Sind. Sind. |
| Sind is from the verb sein, meaning "to be." Sein. |
| All together, it's Was sind deine Hobbys? "What are your hobbies?" |
| Was sind deine Hobbys? |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Aron Ahrens says, |
| "My hobby is fishing." |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| First is Mein Hobby, "My hobby." Mein Hobby. |
| Let's start with Hobby, "hobby." Hobby , Hobby. |
| In German, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Hobby is neuter and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence. |
| Before Hobby is mein, "my." Mein. Mein. |
| Mein is masculine and singular to agree with Hobby. |
| Together it's mein Hobby. "My hobby." Mein Hobby. |
| Next is ist, "is." Ist. Ist. |
| Ist is from the verb sein, "to be." Sein. |
| Last is Angeln. "Fishing." Angeln. Angeln. |
| All together it's Mein Hobby ist Angeln. "My hobby is fishing." |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| The pattern is |
| Mein Hobby ist ACTIVITY. |
| "My hobby is ACTIVITY." |
| Mein Hobby ist ACTIVITY. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {ACTIVITY} placeholder with an activity you like to do. |
| Note: the placeholder is a noun and must be placed in the dictionary form. |
| Imagine you like soccer, Fußball. Fußball. Fußball. |
| Say |
| "My hobby is soccer." |
| Ready? |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| "My hobby is soccer." |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| In German, the following pattern is also very common: |
| Ich mag ACTIVITY. |
| "I like ACTIVITY." |
| For example, |
| Ich mag Filme. "I like movies." Ich mag Filme. Ich mag Filme. |
| If you'd like to list more than one hobby in your answer, you can connect the hobbies with und meaning "and." Und. |
| Meine Hobbys sind Fußball und Angeln. "My hobbies are soccer and fishing." |
| Ich mag Filme und Musik. "I like movies and music." |
| Notice how Mein Hobby ist, "My hobby is…," becomes Meine Hobbys sind, "My hobbies are..." |
| Again, the key pattern is |
| Mein Hobby ist ACTIVITY. |
| "My hobby is ACTIVITY." |
| Mein Hobby ist ACTIVITY. |
| Let's look at some examples. |
| Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| "My hobby is fishing." |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| "My hobby is soccer." |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| Ich mag Reisen. |
| "I like traveling." |
| Ich mag Reisen. |
| Meine Hobbys sind Schwimmen und Lesen. |
| "My hobbies are swimming and reading." |
| Meine Hobbys sind Schwimmen und Lesen. |
| Ich koche gern. |
| "I like to cook." |
| Ich koche gern. |
| Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern? |
| Ich koche gern. |
| "I like to cook." |
| First is ich, "I." Ich. Ich |
| Next is koche, "cook," as in "I cook." Koche. Koche. |
| Note, koche is from the verb kochen, meaning "to cook." Kochen. |
| Next is gern, meaning, "like to" or "love to," in this context. Gern. Gern. |
| Together it's Ich koche gern. Literally this means "I cook like to," but it translates as "I like to cook." |
| Ich koche gern. |
| This pattern is: |
| Ich ACTIVITY gern. |
| "I like to ACTIVITY." |
| Note, it is also common to hear gerne in place of gern, Ich koche gerne. Both are acceptable. |
| You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson. |
| Let's review the new words. |
| reisen |
| "traveling" |
| reisen |
| reisen |
| schwimmen |
| "swimming" |
| schwimmen |
| schwimmen |
| filme |
| "movies" |
| filme |
| filme. |
| musik |
| "music" |
| musik |
| musik |
| 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 "hobby?" |
| Hobby. |
| Hobby. |
| And how to say "my hobby?" |
| Mein Hobby. |
| Mein Hobby. |
| Do you remember the word for "fishing?" |
| Angeln. |
| Angeln. |
| Do you remember how Aron Ahrens says, |
| "My hobby is fishing." |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| Mein Hobby ist Angeln. |
| Do you remember how to say "your hobby?" |
| dein Hobby |
| dein Hobby |
| Do you remember how Jonas Jager asks, |
| "What are your hobbies?" |
| Was sind deine Hobbies? |
| Was sind deine Hobbies? |
| Do you remember the word for "soccer?" |
| Fußball. |
| Fußball. |
| And the word for "swimming?" |
| Schwimmen. |
| Schwimmen. |
| Do you remember the word for "traveling?" |
| Reisen. |
| Reisen. |
| Let's practice. |
| Imagine you're Jonas Jager , and you like soccer, or Fußball in German. |
| Ready? |
| Was sind deine Hobbies? |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| Mein Hobby ist Fußball. |
| Let's try another. |
| Imagine you're Annemarie Adler , and you like traveling, or Reisen in German. |
| Ready? |
| Was sind Ihre Hobbies? |
| Mein Hobby ist Reisen. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Mein Hobby ist Reisen. |
| Mein Hobby ist Reisen. |
| Let’s try one more. |
| Imagine you're Marvin Maas , and you like swimming, or Schwimmen in German. |
| Ready? |
| Was sind Ihre Hobbies? |
| Mein Hobby ist Schwimmen. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| Mein Hobby ist Schwimmen. |
| Mein Hobby ist Schwimmen. |
| 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. |
| What's next? |
| Show us what you can do. |
| When you're ready, take your assessment. |
| You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
| Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
| Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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