Lesson 12
Hobbies and Free Time
الهوايات ووقت الفراغ
Express your interests, likes and dislikes, and what you do in your free time. This unit introduces expressing preferences using يُحِبّ and لَا يُحِبّ.
Hobby Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
قِرَاءَةqirāʾareading
رِيَاضَةriyāḍasport / exercise
سِبَاحَةsibāḥaswimming
سَفَرsafartravel
طَبْخṭabkhcooking
وَقْت الْفَرَاغwaqt al-farāghfree time
أُحِبُّ الْقِرَاءَةَ وَالسَّفَرَ لَكِنِّي لَا أُحِبُّ الطَّبْخ
Uḥibbu l-qirāʾata wa-s-safara lākinni lā uḥibbu ṭ-ṭabkh
I love reading and travel but I do not like cooking.
مَا هِوَايَتُك؟ هِوَايَتِي قِرَاءَةُ كُتُبِ التَّفْسِير
Mā hiwāyatuk? Hiwāyatī qirāʾatu kutubi t-tafsīr
What is your hobby? My hobby is reading books of tafsīr.
- يُحِبّ + verbal noun: أُحِبُّ الْقِرَاءَة (I love reading) the verbal noun acts as a gerund after the verb of liking.
- لَا + present verb: Simple negation of present action لَا أُحِبّ (I don't like), لَا أَذْهَب (I don't go).
- لَكِن / لَكِنَّ: "But" لَكِن followed by a new sentence; لَكِنَّ followed by a noun (pulls it to accusative).
- Islamic hobbies: قِرَاءَةُ الْقُرْآن, حِفْظ الْقُرْآن, حُضُور الدُّرُوس reading and studying the deen are themselves hobbies for many Muslim learners.