GCSE Mandarin: Free Time and Hobbies Revision Guide

Key vocabulary

• 爱好 (àihào) — hobby
• 踢足球 (tī zúqiú) — to play football
• 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú) — to play basketball
• 游泳 (yóuyǒng) — to swim
• 看电视 (kàn diànshì) — to watch TV
• 听音乐 (tīng yīnyuè) — to listen to music
• 看书 (kàn shū) — to read books
• 打电子游戏 (dǎ diànzǐ yóuxì) — to play video games
• 购物 (gòuwù) — to go shopping
• 常常 (chángcháng) — often

Grammar point: verb-object structures

Many Mandarin activities are expressed as a verb plus an object, and the verb changes depending on the object — this is different from English, where 'play' works for every sport. Ball sports generally use 打 (dǎ, literally 'to hit') for sports played with the hands, such as 打篮球 (dǎ lánqiú, basketball), but 踢 (tī, literally 'to kick') for football: 踢足球 (tī zúqiú). Learn each verb-object pair as a whole phrase rather than translating word for word.

Grammar point: expressing likes and dislikes with 喜欢

The verb 喜欢 (xǐhuan, 'to like') can be followed directly by another verb phrase to say what activity you like doing: 我喜欢踢足球 (wǒ xǐhuan tī zúqiú) — 'I like playing football'. To say you dislike something, add 不 before 喜欢: 我不喜欢购物 (wǒ bù xǐhuan gòuwù) — 'I don't like shopping'. You can join two hobbies with 也 (yě, 'also'): 我喜欢听音乐，也喜欢看书 (wǒ xǐhuan tīng yīnyuè, yě xǐhuan kàn shū) — 'I like listening to music, and I also like reading books'.

Grammar point: word order with frequency adverbs

Frequency adverbs such as 常常 (chángcháng, 'often') are placed before the verb, not after it as in English: 我常常游泳 (wǒ chángcháng yóuyǒng) — 'I often swim'.

Common mistakes

• Using 打 with 足球 or 踢 with 篮球 — the verb must match the specific sport.
• Placing 常常 after the verb instead of before it.
• Forgetting that 喜欢 is followed directly by a verb phrase, with no extra word needed (do not add 去 before 购物 when it follows 喜欢).