GCSE Italian: Free Time and Hobbies Revision Guide

Key vocabulary

• il tempo libero — free time
• giocare a calcio — to play football
• nuotare — to swim
• leggere — to read
• guardare la TV — to watch TV
• ascoltare la musica — to listen to music
• andare in bicicletta — to go cycling
• fare shopping — to go shopping
• ballare — to dance
• cantare — to sing
• uscire con gli amici — to go out with friends
• il fine settimana — the weekend

Grammar point: regular present tense verbs

Italian verbs belong to three groups depending on their infinitive ending: -are (parlare, giocare), -ere (leggere, scrivere), and -ire (dormire, preferire). To conjugate, remove the ending and add the correct one for each person.

Parlare (to speak): parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano.
Example: Gioco a calcio ogni sabato — "I play football every Saturday".

Leggere (to read): leggo, leggi, legge, leggiamo, leggete, leggono.
Example: Leggi molto? — "Do you read a lot?"

Dormire (to sleep): dormo, dormi, dorme, dormiamo, dormite, dormono.
Example: Dormiamo fino a tardi il weekend — "We sleep late at the weekend".

Talking about hobbies

Combine a present tense verb with a hobby to build full sentences: Il sabato gioco a calcio e poi ascolto la musica — "On Saturdays I play football and then I listen to music". Use time expressions like ogni giorno (every day), il weekend (at the weekend), and due volte alla settimana (twice a week) to add detail.

Common mistakes

• Using the wrong verb ending, e.g. writing "parla" for "I speak" instead of "parlo".
• Mixing up -are and -ere endings, e.g. adding "-i" instead of "-e" for the "lui/lei" form of an -ere verb.
• Forgetting that "giocare a" is used for sports/games but "suonare" is used for playing a musical instrument.