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Hobbies & leisure 100
100
phrases
How you spend your time
10
爱好 is a hobby and 兴趣 is an interest, and Chinese keeps them apart more carefully than English does: an 兴趣 is what draws you, an 爱好 is what you actually do. 我没什么爱好 - I don't really have hobbies - is a normal and unembarrassed answer.
Films and series
10
追剧 - "chasing a drama" - means following a series as it airs, and 更新到第几集 asks how many episodes are out. 别剧透 - no spoilers - is built from 剧 (drama) and 透 (to leak through), and is as universally enforced as anywhere else.
Music
10
我唱歌跑调 - I sing out of tune - uses 跑调, literally "the tune runs away", which is a better image than English manages. 这个歌手很红 says a singer is popular with 红, red, the colour that means success throughout Chinese culture.
Reading
10
看书 - to read - uses 看, to look at, not a dedicated reading verb, which is why 看书容易困 says reading makes you sleepy in the same breath as looking at anything else. 我看到一半 - I'm halfway through - measures progress by position rather than by pages.
Games
10
关 is the measure word for a game level - 这关太难了, this level is too hard - and 局 counts rounds: 再来一局, one more round. Both are worth knowing because 个 will not do. 我又输了 puts 又 before the verb to mean "yet again".
Sport
10
几比几 - "how many to how many" - asks the score, and 比 is the word between the numbers. 加油 literally means "add oil" and is the all-purpose cheer, used for athletes, exam candidates and anyone having a hard week. It is probably the single most useful word in this category.
Getting out
10
爬山 - to climb a mountain - covers everything from a serious hike to a stroll up a hill with steps, and Chinese mountains usually have steps. 下次再约 - let's arrange it again next time - is how an outing ends, and 约 is the verb for making a plan with someone.
Photos
10
合影 - a group photo - is a compound of "combine" and "image", and taking one is a normal way to mark almost any occasion in China. 修图 is to edit a photo, and the expectation that photos will be edited is closer to universal here than in most places.
Exhibitions and making things
10
解压 - to relieve pressure - is the word that explains most modern Chinese hobbies: 做手工很解压, handicrafts are good for stress. 书法 is calligraphy, which remains a living practice rather than a museum subject, and 我在学书法 is a sentence people really say.
The weekend
10
在家躺着就行 - "just lying at home is fine" - is the honest weekend plan and shares its verb with 躺平, the giving-up-the-race slang in the advanced section. 周末过得真快 - the weekend went so fast - is the Sunday-evening sentence in any language.
Related categories
Weather & seasons 100
Phone & messaging 100
Accommodation 100
Work & office 100
School & study 100
Home & daily life 100
Body & health 100
Internet & phone 100
中文