Hobbies and sport
How to talk about free time: common hobbies and sports, the verbs play, go and do, and phrases for saying how often and how well you do things.
When you need it
Free time is one of the first topics in any English course and in almost every speaking exam, because it is easy to talk about and says a lot about you. You need these words to answer What do you do in your free time?, to join a club or a gym, and to follow a conversation about last night's match. In everyday English people rarely ask What is your hobby?; the natural question is What do you do in your free time? or What are you into?
Core words
The main thing to learn is which verb goes with which activity. English chooses between play, go and do, and the choice follows a simple pattern.
play is for games with a ball, games against another person, and musical instruments. With instruments you normally use the: play the guitar.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| football | American English: soccer | We play football on Sundays. |
| tennis | Do you play tennis? | |
| basketball | Tom plays basketball for the university team. | |
| volleyball | They play volleyball on the beach. | |
| chess | no article | My grandfather taught me to play chess. |
| guitar | play the guitar | Anna plays the guitar in a band. |
| piano | /piˈænəʊ/, play the piano | I played the piano as a child. |
go + -ing is for activities where you move, or go somewhere to do them.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| swimming | double m | Let's go swimming after work. |
| running | double n | I go running three times a week. |
| cycling | /ˈsaɪklɪŋ/ | We went cycling along the river. |
| skiing | double i | They go skiing every winter. |
| fishing | My dad goes fishing at weekends. | |
| hiking | walking in hills or mountains | We went hiking in the mountains. |
do is for most other sports and exercise, especially ones without a ball or a team.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yoga | /ˈjəʊɡə/ | Anna does yoga before breakfast. |
| karate | /kəˈrɑːti/ | Tom did karate at school. |
| athletics | British; American track and field | She does athletics at a local club. |
| exercise | uncountable here | You should do more exercise. |
Hobbies at home usually take like, love or enjoy with the -ing form: I enjoy reading, I love cooking. Others you will meet are painting, drawing, photography and gardening.
People, places and results.
| Word | Note | Example |
|---|---|---|
| team | Which team do you support? | |
| match | American English often game | We watched the match on TV. |
| player | She is the best player in the team. | |
| coach | the person who trains a team | The coach was not happy. |
| gym | /dʒɪm/ | I go to the gym after work. |
| pool | a swimming pool | The pool opens at seven. |
| pitch | British, for football; American field | The players ran onto the pitch. |
| court | for tennis and basketball | The tennis courts are behind the school. |
Useful phrases
- In my free time I ... A neutral way to start: In my free time I read and go running.
- I'm into ... Informal: I'm really into photography at the moment.
- I'm good at ... / I'm not very good at ... I'm good at chess, but I'm not very good at tennis.
- I've been doing it for ... years. I've been playing the guitar for five years.
- take up To start a new hobby: Anna took up yoga last year.
- join a club / a team Tom joined a running club.
- keep fit To stay healthy through exercise: I swim to keep fit.
- go for a walk / a run / a swim One occasion rather than a regular hobby: Let's go for a walk.
- What's the score? During a match. Results: We won 2–1. They lost. It was a draw.
Common mistakes
- ✗ I play in football. / I play in chess.
✓ I play football. / I play chess.
Ukrainian грати у футбол and Russian играть в футбол need a preposition, but English play takes the game directly, with no preposition and no article. - ✗ I play on the guitar. / I play on the piano.
✓ I play the guitar.
Ukrainian грати на гітарі and Russian играть на гитаре use на; English uses the instead. American English often drops it (play guitar), which is also correct. - ✗ I go to swimming on Tuesdays.
✓ I go swimming on Tuesdays.
Go + -ing has no to, because the -ing word is an activity, not a place; to appears only with a place: I go to the pool. - ✗ I am engaged in sport. / I occupy myself with tennis.
✓ I do sport. / I play tennis.
Ukrainian займатися спортом and Russian заниматься спортом have no direct English equivalent; British English says do sport, American English play sports, and most people simply name the activity. - ✗ We won them 3–1.
✓ We beat them 3–1. / We won the match 3–1.
You win a match, a game or a prize, but you beat a person or a team; виграти в них / выиграть у них is beat them.
Try it
- Anna plays ___ piano very well.
- Do you want to go ___ (swim) on Saturday?
- Tom ___ yoga twice a week. (play / go / do)
- Our team ___ them 2–0 last night. (win / beat)
- I'm not very good ___ chess.
- I started running last year. = I ___ up running last year.