Hobbies in Arabic: 8 Ways to Talk About Your Free Time

01Begin with reading and writing

Qiraa names reading as an activity; kitaba names writing. They do not mean book and pen. A hobby word tells us what someone enjoys doing, rather than which object they use.

Read the two labels, cover them, and recall the activity beside the book. Then try the first question.

02Add two creative activities

Use rasm for drawing and taswir for photography in this hobby context. Taswir has other meanings in other contexts, so the camera helps show the meaning practised here.

Uhibbu means I like or I love. Here it expresses enjoyment of an activity. The hobby takes al in this pattern; before the t of taswir, its pronunciation becomes attaswir.

03Choose swimming or walking

The words name the activities themselves. They do not say how often you do them or how skilled you are. Someone can enjoy swimming while still learning it.

• Sibaha: swimming.
• Mashy: walking.
• Use the hobby word after uhibbu to state a preference.

Al also joins the s sound in assibaha. Keep the full short example together when you practise.

04Add cooking and travel

Tabkh is cooking, the activity of preparing food. Safar is travel. Neither word names a particular meal or destination.

You now have eight activities. Sort them in a way that helps you remember: things you enjoy at home, creative activities, or activities that take you elsewhere. The categories are a memory aid; your hobbies do not need to fit only one group.

05Make the sentence your own

Wa means and. Attach it to the next Arabic word when writing. In the example, it joins two activities you enjoy.

• Keep uhibbu at the start.
• Choose one activity, or connect two with wa.
• Use the same uhibbu form for a masculine or feminine speaker.

Start with a truthful preference you can remember. You can talk about your free time without listing everything you do or giving a long explanation.