How to Talk About Your Hobbies

Learn how to talk about your hobbies

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com.

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

For example, “I like fishing.” is

Mi piace pescare.

Two neighbors, Giuseppe Mancini and Adam Russo , are having a conversation in an apartment building lobby.

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

pescare

"fishing"

pescare

hobby

"hobby"

hobby

Listen to the conversation.

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Mi piace pescare.

Once more with the English translation.

Qual è il tuo hobby?

"What's your hobby?"

Mi piace pescare.

"I like fishing."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Giuseppe Mancini asks,

"What's your hobby?"

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Let's start with the word, hobby, "hobby." Hobby. Hobby.

Pronunciation note: the letter h in Italian is never pronounced.

In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Hobby is masculine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence.

Before hobby is il tuo, a phrase meaning "your." Il tuo.

Tuo means "your." Tuo. Tuo.

Tuo is masculine and singular to agree with hobby.

Before tuo is the article il. Think of it like "the" in English. Il. Il.

Il is also masculine and singular to agree with hobby.

Note: in this sentence, the article il does not have a corresponding English translation.

In Italian, possessive adjectives, like mio, "my," tuo, "your," and so forth, often pair with an article, like the il in il tuo.

Together, it's il tuo, a phrase for "your." Il tuo.

All together, il tuo hobby. "Your hobby." Il tuo hobby.

Moving to the start of the sentence, qual, literally meaning "which," in this context it translates as "what." Qual. Qual.

Note: qual is also masculine singular to agree with hobby.

Pronunciation note: qual is the shortened form of quale. When quale is followed by a word which starts with its same final vowel sound, e, it’s shortened to qual.

Next is è, "is," as in "what is..." È. È.

È is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere.

All together, it's Qual è il tuo hobby? This literally means "Which is your hobby?" But it translates as "What's your hobby?"

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Adam Russo says,

"I like fishing."

Mi piace pescare.

First is mi piace, "I like." Mi piace.

Let's start with piace, " is pleasant." Piace.

"It" is omitted, as it's understood from context.

Piace is from the verb piacere meaning "to be pleasant." Piacere.

Before piace is the pronoun mi, translating as "for me," in this context. Mi. Mi.

Together it's mi piace, "for me is pleasant," but translates as "I like. Mi piace.

Next is pescare, literally "to fish," but it translates as "fishing." Pescare. Pescare.

All together it's Mi piace pescare. literally "for me is pleasant fishing," but it translates as "I like fishing."

Mi piace pescare.

The pattern is

Mi piace ACTIVITY.

I like ACTIVITY.

Mi piace ACTIVITY.

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

Note: the placeholder is a verb and must be placed in the infinitive, or, in other words, the dictionary form.

Imagine you like reading, leggere. Leggere. Leggere.

Say

"I like reading."

Ready?

Mi piace leggere.

"I like reading."

Mi piace leggere.

Again, the key pattern is

Mi piace ACTIVITY.

I like ACTIVITY.

Mi piace ACTIVITY.

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Mi piace pescare.

"I like fishing."

Mi piace pescare.

Mi piace leggere.

"I like reading."

Mi piace leggere.

Mi piace viaggiare.

"I like traveling."

Mi piace viaggiare.

Mi piace nuotare.

"I like swimming."

Mi piace nuotare.

Mi piace giocare a calcio.

"I like playing soccer."

Mi piace giocare a calcio.

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

Mi piace giocare a calcio.

"I like playing soccer."

First is mi piace. "I like." Mi piace.

Next is giocare, literally "to play," but it translates as "playing." Giocare. Giocare.

After this is a calcio literally "at soccer," but it translates as "soccer." A calcio.

First is the preposition a, meaning "at." A. A.

It's used after giocare, when referring to a recreational activity or a sport.

Note: in this sentence, the preposition a does not have a corresponding English translation.

Last is calcio, "soccer." Calcio. Calcio.

This pattern is:

Mi piace giocare a ACTIVITY.

I like playing ACTIVITY.

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

Mi piace ACTIVITY.

I like ACTIVITY.

Let's review the new words.

Viaggiare. "Travelling."

Viaggiare. Viaggiare.

Nuotare. "Swimming."

Nuotare. Nuotare.

Let's review.

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

Ready?

Do you remember the word for "fishing?"

Pescare.

Do you remember how Adam Russo says,

"I like fishing."

Mi piace pescare.

Do you remember how to say "hobby"?

Hobby.

And how to say "your hobby"?

Il tuo hobby.

Do you remember how Giuseppe Mancini asks,

"What's your hobby?"

Qual è il tuo hobby?

And do you remember the word for "reading?"

Leggere.

And the word for "swimming?"

Nuotare.

Do you remember the word for "traveling?"

Viaggiare.

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Martina Moretti , and you like reading, or leggere.

Respond to the question.

Ready?

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Mi piace leggere.

Listen again and repeat.

Mi piace leggere.

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Patrizia Palmieri , and you like traveling, or viaggiare.

Ready?

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Mi piace viaggiare.

Listen again and repeat.

Mi piace viaggiare.

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Matteo Marino , and you like swimming, or nuotare.

Ready?

Qual è il tuo hobby?

Mi piace nuotare.

Listen again and repeat.

Mi piace nuotare.

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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