Free time + hobbies

SpanishAQAGCSEUnit: Theme 2: Popular Culture
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The basics

Actividades de tiempo libre — Free Time Activities

📚 Actividades de tiempo libre — Free Time Activities

The verb you choose depends on the activity. hacer covers physical and general activities; jugar al / jugar a los covers sports and games; ir a / ir de covers destinations. Using the wrong verb with an activity is one of the most common AQA errors at Foundation level.
Activities with hacer Activities with ver / escuchar / leer / ir Activities with jugar
hacer deporte ver la televisiĂłn jugar al fĂștbol
hacer nataciĂłn escuchar mĂșsica jugar al tenis
hacer ciclismo leer (libros / revistas) jugar al baloncesto
hacer yoga ir al cine jugar a los videojuegos
montar en bicicleta ir de compras jugar a las cartas
pasar tiempo con amigos navegar por internet —

The verb you use depends on the activity: hacer for physical/general activities, jugar al / a los for sports/games, ir + a/de for destinations.

Spotlight
Expresar opiniones — Gustar-type Verbs and Frequency

To talk about what you like or dislike doing in your free time, you need gustar-type verbs. These work back-to-front compared to English: the grammatical subject is the thing liked, and the verb agrees with that thing — not with the person.

Exam tip

Earn the mark scheme marks

💡 Errores frecuentes — Common Errors

❌ Error 1: "Juego fĂștbol los sĂĄbados."

✅ Correcto: "Juego al fĂștbol los sĂĄbados."

Por quĂ©: Sports played competitively use jugar + a + article. With masculine singular sports, a + el contracts to al — you cannot drop the article or omit the preposition. NOT "juego a fĂștbol", NOT "juego fĂștbol". For plural nouns the contraction is not needed: "Juego a los videojuegos" (a + los stays as two words).

❌ Error 2: "Me gustan la mĂșsica."

✅ Correcto: "Me gusta la mĂșsica."

Por quĂ©: La mĂșsica is singular, so the verb must be singular: me gusta. The verb in gustar-type constructions agrees with the grammatical subject (la mĂșsica), NOT the person (me). Many students default to me gustan for all opinions — check whether the thing you like is singular or plural before choosing the verb form.

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