This cheat sheet covers common Spanish words and sentence patterns for talking about sports, hobbies, and free time. Students need these phrases to describe what they do, ask classmates about activities, and give simple opinions. It helps connect vocabulary with useful verbs so students can build complete sentences instead of memorizing isolated words.
The most important ideas are using jugar for playing sports or games, hacer for doing activities, and gustar for saying what someone likes. Students should also know how to use time phrases such as los fines de semana and después de la escuela. Opinion words like divertido, aburrido, fácil, and difícil help make answers more personal and detailed.
Key Facts
- Use jugar a to say someone plays a sport or game, as in Juego al fútbol and Ella juega al tenis.
- Use hacer to say someone does an activity, as in Hago gimnasia, Hacemos yoga, and Ellos hacen ejercicio.
- Use me gusta plus a singular noun or infinitive verb, as in Me gusta el fútbol and Me gusta nadar.
- Use me gustan plus a plural noun, as in Me gustan los videojuegos and Me gustan los deportes.
- Use no before the gustar phrase to make it negative, as in No me gusta correr.
- Use ¿Qué te gusta hacer? to ask What do you like to do?
- Use time phrases to add detail, such as los fines de semana, después de la escuela, todos los días, and a veces.
- Use porque to give a reason, as in Me gusta bailar porque es divertido.
Vocabulary
- los deportes
- Sports or athletic activities, such as fútbol, baloncesto, béisbol, tenis, and natación.
- los pasatiempos
- Hobbies or activities people do for fun during free time.
- el tiempo libre
- Free time when a person is not in school, working, or doing required tasks.
- jugar
- A stem-changing verb meaning to play a sport or game, as in juego, juegas, juega, jugamos, and juegan.
- hacer
- An irregular verb meaning to do or to make, often used with activities such as ejercicio or gimnasia.
- gustar
- A verb used to say what someone likes, usually with me gusta, te gusta, le gusta, nos gusta, or les gusta.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using jugar without a before a sport is wrong because Spanish usually says jugar a plus the activity, such as jugar al fútbol.
- Writing me gusto for I like is wrong because gustar works differently in Spanish; use me gusta for one thing or an infinitive and me gustan for plural things.
- Forgetting the article after a is wrong in phrases like juego al tenis, because a plus el becomes al.
- Using hacer for every sport is wrong because many sports use jugar a, while hacer is better for activities such as hacer ejercicio, hacer yoga, and hacer gimnasia.
- Leaving out porque in an opinion sentence makes the answer less complete; add a reason such as Me gusta correr porque es divertido.
Practice Questions
- 1 Write 3 Spanish sentences about sports you play or do, using jugar a or hacer correctly.
- 2 Translate this sentence into Spanish: I like to swim on weekends because it is fun.
- 3 Ask 2 classmates in Spanish what they like to do in their free time, then write their answers using le gusta or les gusta.
- 4 Explain why Me gustan nadar is incorrect, and choose the correct form for saying I like to swim.