meredithkreisa Last updated: March 23, 2022

At Your Leisure: Discuss Hobbies in Spanish with 50+ Terms

Talking about your hobbies means talking about something you love.

Combine your passion for your hobby with your passion for Spanish learning and you will have double the motivation to learn.

There is just one caveat—to have awesome Spanish conversations about your favorite activities, you will need plenty of Spanish vocabulary.

In this post, you will find over 50 words and phrases that will help you start talking about your hobbies in Spanish!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

How Talking About Hobbies Can Help Improve Your Spanish

What do you talk about when you have exhausted every discussion about the weather? What is your go-to conversation topic after you have talked about your day? Knowing Spanish vocabulary about hobbies will help you engage in small talk and allow you to continue a conversation (and practice your Spanish for longer!).

Most hobbies are relatively neutral topics, so there is less risk of offending someone than if you were to dive into the controversial stuff, like politics and current events.

That being said, be careful about who you openly support when discussing sports. That can still cause some tension!

Learning Spanish vocabulary related to your hobbies will also help you connect with people with similar interests. Connecting with like-minded individuals is always a recipe for good times. And when those people share your interests and speak Spanish, the experience will be even more delightful (and educational).

Your hobby-related vocabulary will even help you understand material about your favorite pass-times. Learning key vocabulary can improve your understanding of authentic reading materials, videos or streaming programs about your hobbies.

For instance, if you love sewing, you might enjoy the YouTube channel Arte y Costura (Art and Sewing). Love sports? Dive into ESPN Deportes (ESPN Sports). You might even look for magazines about your favorite hobbies. For instance, entertainment fans will love “Rolling Stone México.”

You can also look for clips related to your hobby on the FluentU program. Here, you’ll find an array of authentic Spanish videos that can be sorted by genre and language skill level. You can also build flashcards from the words in these videos by using the interactive captions.

Key Words and Phrases

Me gusta…

I like…

Please note that this verb is a little tricky. Because of its unique construction, the main subject of the sentence is not the person doing the liking, but the thing that is being liked.

For instance, with me gustan los perros (I like dogs), you might notice that gustan is plural. That is because perros is the subject of the sentence. It can be easier to think of the sentence as meaning “dogs please me” (as silly as that might sound in English).

Me interesa…

I am interested in…

Like me gusta, the construction is a little different from the English equivalent: the subject is whatever interests you. Think of this phrases as translating to “…interests me.”

Once you have that rule down, you can pair this phrase with anything that strikes your fancy. For instance, you might say me interesa el cine (I am interested in cinema/Cinema interests me).

Pasatiempo

Pastime/hobby

Mi pasatiempo favorito es…

My favorite pastime is…

Tiempo libre

Free time

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

What do you do in your free time?

It is important to note that this statement is informal, so you can use it with friends and people you are familiar with. In a more formal setting, you might say ¿Qué hace usted en su tiempo libre?

Sports and Physical Activities

Deportes

Sports

Correr

To run

Nadar

To swim

Esquiar

To ski

If water skiing is more up your alley, you can also say esquiar en el agua (to ski on the water).

Kárate

Karate

Ciclismo

Cycling

Bailar

To dance

Ejercitar

To exercise

Patinar

To skate

This verb can be used in several contexts of skating. For instance, it can mean “to rollerblade,” “to skate” or to “ice skate.” If you want to use patinar to refer to ice skating, you might clarify by using patinar sobre hielo (to skate on ice).

Jugar

To play

You can pair this verb with any sport or game you enjoy participating in. For instance, me gusta jugar fútbol means “I like to play soccer.”

Fútbol

Soccer

Fútbol americano

American football

Baloncesto/Básquetbol

Basketball

Baloncesto and básquetbol both mean “basketball.” The main difference is that básquetbol is more common in Latin America.

Béisbol

Baseball

Hockey

This is a tricky one. In Spanish, hockey means “competitive crochet.” Just kidding. It totally means “hockey.”

However, the pronunciation can vary a bit, and there is no real consensus on what is correct. It may be pronounced the Anglicized way or made more Spanish, making it sound a lot like “Okay.” You might even hear people mixing and matching between the two pronunciations, making it sound something like “Hockay” or “Okee.”

Golf

Tenis

Tennis

The Great Outdoors

Acampar

To camp

Pescar

To fish

Cazar

To hunt

Jardinería

Gardening

Excursionismo

Hiking

Naturaleza

Nature/outdoors

Musical Hobbies

Música

Music

Cantar

To sing

Tocar…

To touch or to play

You can use tocar to say that you play an instrument. For instance, toco el clarinete means “I play the clarinet.”

While in English “to play” can be used with games, sports or instruments, in Spanish there is a clear distinction between two words that can mean “to play”: jugar and tocar.

Jugar is used to discuss playing games and sports. Tocar, which is usually translated as “to touch,” is used to mean “to play” an instrument.

Instrumento

Instrument

Guitarra

Guitar

If you are a little more rock and roll than that, you might also use guitarra eléctrica (electric guitar).

Piano

Escuchar

To listen

This one is perfect for anyone who loves listening to music! For instance, you might say me gusta escuchar música (I like to listen to music).

Making Art

Arte

Art

Sacar fotos

To take photos

Fotografía

Photography

Dibujar

To draw

Pintar

To paint

Pintar is usually used to refer to painting but it can also mean “to draw.”

Coser

To sew

Tejer

To knit, to weave or to crochet

Tejer can be used to refer to any of the above, so if you are into the fabric arts it is an invaluable vocabulary word.

Cocinar

To cook

Escribir

To write

Cine

Cinema

This can be used to discuss movies in general or movie theaters. For instance, me gusta el cine would likely be interpreted as “I like cinema.” Me gustaría ir al cine is more likely to mean “I would like to go to the movie theater.”

Televisión

Television (unsurprisingly)

Much like in English, this word can be used to refer to the television set itself or the medium in general.

Teatro

Theater

Other Hobbies and Pass-times

Leer

To read

Crucigramas

Crosswords

Ajedrez

Chess

Dominó

The game of dominoes (which is popular in Latin America)

Jugar cartas

To play cards

Coleccionar

To collect

If you are into collecting, you might pair this verb with a noun to indicate what you collect.

Some popular options might include estampillas/sellos (stamps—estampillas is more common in Latin America), tarjetas postales (postcards), muñecas (dolls), monedas (coins), antigüedades (antiques), tarjetas de béisbol (baseball cards) and figuras de acción (action figures).

Juegos

Games

Ir de compras

To go shopping

Jugar videojuegos

To play video games

Go ahead and share your interests! With these Spanish hobby-related vocabulary words, you will never be at a loss for something fun to talk about.