Talking about drawing in free time | Learn Spanish in English

Spanish lesson set in a contemporary Madrid everyday setting: At home, two adults talk about drawing in free time and trying the hobby with an old pencil..

EN → ES / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Talking about drawing in free time to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

keh AH-sehs ehn too TYEHM-poh LEE-breh? What do you do in your free time?
B

Me gusta dibujar en casa.

meh GOOS-tah dee-boo-HAR ehn KAH-sah. I enjoy drawing at home.
A

Suena como un pasatiempo relajante.

SWEH-nah KOH-moh oon pah-sah-TYEHM-poh reh-lah-HAHN-teh. That sounds like a relaxing hobby.
B

Normalmente hago pequeños bocetos en mi cuaderno.

nohr-mahl-MEHN-teh AH-goh peh-KEH-nyohs boh-SEH-tohs ehn mee kwah-DEHR-noh. I usually sketch small things in my notebook.
A

¿Practicas a menudo?

PRAHK-tee-kahs ah meh-NOO-doh? Do you practice often?
B

Un poco, sobre todo cuando tengo tiempo.

oon POH-koh, SOH-breh TOH-doh KWAHN-doh TEHN-goh TYEHM-poh. A little, mostly when I have time.
A

Tal vez yo también pueda probarlo.

tahl BEHS yoh tahm-BYEHN PWEH-dah proh-BAR-loh. Maybe I can try it too.
B

Puedes usar mi lápiz viejo.

PWEH-dehs oo-SAR mee LAH-pees BYEH-hoh. You can use my old pencil.

Word by Word

Qué Qué is the interrogative word asking what in ¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?. It begins a question about an activity, and the same pattern can ask what someone does in another time or setting.
haces haces means do in ¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?, asking about the activity someone performs. It comes from hacer and is used here in a question about a person’s usual activities.
en en marks the time or place in this dialogue: en tu tiempo libre means in your free time, while en casa means at home. Use en before a time expression or place.
tu tu marks that the free time belongs to the person addressed in tu tiempo libre. It is placed before a noun to express your.
tiempo tiempo means time in tu tiempo libre. Here it names the period available for activities, and it also appears in tengo tiempo when talking about having time.
libre libre means free or available in tu tiempo libre, describing tiempo. The phrase tu tiempo libre refers to time available for personal activities.
Me Me identifies the person who experiences the liking in Me gusta dibujar. In the full pattern Me gusta + an infinitive, it shows who likes the activity.
gusta gusta says that the activity is pleasing in Me gusta dibujar; with Me, the full phrase means I like drawing. The reusable pattern is Me gusta + an infinitive for liking an activity.
dibujar dibujar means to draw and names the activity liked in Me gusta dibujar. After gusta, an infinitive such as dibujar can identify the activity someone likes.
casa casa means house or home; with en, en casa means at home. Use en casa when describing being or doing something at home.
Suena Suena means sounds or seems in Suena como un pasatiempo relajante, giving a reaction to how the hobby appears. Use Suena como... to comment on an impression of something.
como como introduces the comparison in Suena como un pasatiempo relajante, linking Suena with what the hobby seems like. It is reusable after an expression about how something sounds or appears.
un un and capitalized Un are the same form with sentence-position capitalization in this dialogue. In Suena como un pasatiempo, un introduces one unspecified hobby; in Un poco, it helps express a small amount.
pasatiempo pasatiempo means hobby in un pasatiempo relajante. It names an activity done for enjoyment and can follow un when referring to one hobby.
relajante relajante means relaxing and describes pasatiempo in un pasatiempo relajante. It identifies the hobby as something that produces a relaxed feeling.
Normalmente Normalmente means usually or normally and sets the usual frequency of the action in Normalmente hago pequeños bocetos. It commonly appears before the verb or clause it qualifies.
hago hago means do or make here, specifically make in hago pequeños bocetos. It comes from hacer and is used before an object when describing something the speaker makes or does.
pequeños pequeños means small and describes bocetos in pequeños bocetos. It helps identify the sketches by size and appears before the noun in this expression.
bocetos bocetos means sketches, the small drawings made in hago pequeños bocetos. It is used here as the object after hago when naming what is made.
mi mi means my and identifies cuaderno as belonging to the speaker in mi cuaderno. It comes before a noun to show possession.
cuaderno cuaderno means notebook in en mi cuaderno. It names the place where the sketches are made and follows mi to show whose notebook it is.
Practicas Practicas asks whether the person addressed practices, in ¿Practicas a menudo?. It comes from practicar and is used here with a menudo to ask how regularly the activity happens.
a menudo a menudo is the whole expression meaning often in ¿Practicas a menudo?. The a and menudo work together as one frequency expression, placed after the verb here to say the practice happens often.
poco poco means a small amount in Un poco, the short answer to whether the person practices often. It is useful when replying that an activity happens only to a limited degree or amount.
sobre todo sobre todo is the whole expression meaning mostly or especially in sobre todo cuando tengo tiempo. Sobre and todo work together to highlight the main condition, and the phrase can come before the clause it emphasizes.
cuando cuando means when and introduces the time condition in cuando tengo tiempo. Use cuando before a clause to connect an action with the time it happens.
tengo tengo means have in tengo tiempo, so the phrase says that the speaker has time. It comes from tener and is used with tiempo when talking about having time for an activity.
Tal vez Tal vez means maybe or perhaps in Tal vez yo también pueda probarlo. Tal and vez work together to present the following idea as possible rather than certain, and the phrase can begin a sentence.
yo yo means I and explicitly identifies the speaker in Tal vez yo también pueda probarlo. It is useful before the verb when the speaker wants to make the subject clear or add emphasis.
también también means also or too in Tal vez yo también pueda probarlo, adding that the speaker may try in addition to the other person. It can be placed near the verb or clause that shares the added action.
pueda pueda expresses possible ability in Tal vez yo también pueda probarlo: the speaker may be able to try it. It comes from poder and, after Tal vez, presents the ability as a possibility.
probarlo probarlo means try it here: probar is the action of trying and lo refers to the hobby or activity already mentioned. Use an infinitive with lo when the thing being tried is understood from context.
Puedes Puedes means can or are able to in Puedes usar mi lápiz viejo. It comes from poder, and the pattern Puedes + infinitive says what action someone can do.
usar usar means to use and follows Puedes in Puedes usar mi lápiz viejo. The pattern puedes + infinitive says what action someone can do.
lápiz lápiz means pencil, the object offered in Puedes usar mi lápiz viejo. It can follow a possessive and an adjective when identifying a particular pencil.
viejo viejo means old and describes lápiz in mi lápiz viejo. It helps identify the pencil by its age or condition in this offer.

Grammar Points

gustar + infinitivo

Me gusta dibujar en casa.

meh GOOS-tah dee-boo-HAR ehn KAH-sah.

I like drawing at home.

With gustar, the liked activity is the subject, so Spanish uses gusta before an infinitive.

tal vez + subjuntivo

Tal vez pueda probarlo.

tahl BEHS PWEH-dah proh-BAR-loh.

Maybe I can try it.

Tal vez can introduce the subjunctive when expressing uncertainty; pueda is the subjunctive form of poder.

Spanish Vocabulary

casa noun
KAH-sah home; house

en casa

dibujar verb
dee-boo-HAR to draw

Me gusta dibujar en casa.

gustar verb
goos-TAR to like; to enjoy gusta

Me gusta dibujar en casa.

hacer verb
ah-SEHR to do; to make haces

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

libre adj
LEE-breh free

tu tiempo libre

normalmente adv
nohr-mahl-MEHN-teh usually; normally

Normalmente hago pequeños bocetos.

pasatiempo noun
pah-sah-TYEHM-poh hobby

un pasatiempo relajante

pequeño adj
peh-KEH-nyoh small pequeños

pequeños bocetos

qué pron
keh what

¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

relajante adj
reh-lah-HAHN-teh relaxing

un pasatiempo relajante

sonar verb
soh-NAR to sound suena

Suena como un pasatiempo relajante.

tiempo noun
TYEHM-poh time

en tu tiempo libre

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

What do you do in your free time?

Show Answer¿Qué haces en tu tiempo libre?

I enjoy drawing at home.

Show AnswerMe gusta dibujar en casa.

That sounds like a relaxing hobby.

Show AnswerSuena como un pasatiempo relajante.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to sound

Show Answersuena

free

Show Answerlibre

to do; to make

Show Answerhaces

to draw

Show Answerdibujar