Common verbs for talking about hobbies in Chinese
Learn Sports and Hobbies Vocabulary in Chinese: Common verbs for talking about hobbies in Chinese
Common verbs frequently used for talking about hobbies in Chinese include:
- 打 (dǎ) — to play (used for many ball sports and games, e.g., 打篮球 dǎ lánqiú “to play basketball”)
- 看 (kàn) — to watch/look at (used for activities like 看电影 kàn diànyǐng “to watch movies”)
- 听 (tīng) — to listen (used for 听音乐 tīng yīnyuè “to listen to music”)
- 学习 (xuéxí) — to learn/study (used for activities like 学外语 xué wàiyǔ “to learn foreign languages”)
- 画 (huà) — to draw or paint
- 唱 (chàng) — to sing
- 跳 (tiào) — to jump or dance (跳舞 tiào wǔ means “to dance”)
- 游 (yóu) — to swim (游泳 yóu yǒng)
- 读 (dú) — to read
These verbs combine with hobby nouns, for example, 我喜欢打篮球 (Wǒ xǐhuān dǎ lánqiú) means “I like playing basketball,” and 我喜欢看书 (Wǒ xǐhuān kàn shū) means “I like reading books.” Using 我喜欢 (wǒ xǐhuān, “I like”) before these verbs is the common way to express hobbies or interests in Chinese.
Overall, these action verbs are integral to discussing hobbies in Chinese, helping to form sentences about what one enjoys doing in free time.