Talking about walking as a hobby | Learn Dutch in English

Dutch lesson set in a contemporary Amsterdam everyday setting: In a free-time conversation, two adults talk about walking in a park and going there together..

EN → NL / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Talking about walking as a hobby to practice Dutch conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Is wandelen jouw hobby?

iss WAHN-duh-luhn yow HAW-bee Is walking your hobby?
B

Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.

ick khah in mine VRY-uh tite khrahkh WAHN-duh-luhn I like going for walks in my free time.
A

Waar ga je meestal naartoe?

vahr khah yuh MAY-stuhl nah-TOO Where do you usually go?
B

Ik wandel in het park.

ick WAHN-duh-luhn in uht park I walk in the park.
A

Is de route lang?

iss duh ROO-tuh lahng Is the route long?
B

Het is een korte, makkelijke wandeling.

uht iss uhn KOR-tuh MAH-kuh-luh-kuh WAHN-duh-ling It is a short, easy walk.
A

Dat klinkt ontspannend.

daht KLIHNGKT ont-SPAH-nunt That sounds relaxing.
B

We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.

vuh KUHN-uhn ehr SAH-muh nah-TOO khahn We can go there together.

Word by Word

Is In “Is wandelen jouw hobby?”, “Is” asks whether something is the case and means “is.” It begins a yes-or-no question; new example: “Is dit jouw tas?”
wandelen In “Is wandelen jouw hobby?”, “wandelen” means walking as an activity. This exact form names the activity being discussed; new example: “Wandelen is gezond.”
jouw In “Is wandelen jouw hobby?”, “jouw” means “your” and shows that the hobby belongs to the person being addressed. It comes before the noun it describes, as in “jouw hobby”; new example: “Waar is jouw fiets?”
hobby In “Is wandelen jouw hobby?”, “hobby” means a leisure activity that someone enjoys. It is used after “jouw” to identify the person’s activity; new example: “Muziek is mijn hobby.”
Ik In “Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.”, “Ik” means “I” and identifies the speaker. It is placed at the beginning here as the subject; new example: “Ik woon hier.”
ga In “Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.”, “ga” means “go” or “am going” with “Ik.” Together with the activity that follows, it describes going to do something; new example: “Ik ga werken.”
in In “in mijn vrije tijd”, “in” means “during” and introduces the period when the activity happens. It is used before a time expression; new example: “Ik lees in de avond.”
mijn In “in mijn vrije tijd”, “mijn” means “my” and shows that the free time belongs to the speaker. It comes before “vrije tijd”; new example: “Dit is mijn boek.”
vrije In “mijn vrije tijd”, “vrije” means “free” in the sense of time available for personal activities. It describes “tijd” in this common expression; new example: “Ik heb vrije dagen.”
tijd In “mijn vrije tijd”, “tijd” means “time,” specifically the time available for personal activities. It completes the expression “vrije tijd”; new example: “Ik heb vandaag tijd.”
graag In “Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.”, “graag” shows that the speaker enjoys walking and means “gladly” or “like to.” It is placed with the activity the speaker likes to do; new example: “Ik lees graag.”
Waar In “Waar ga je meestal naartoe?”, “Waar” means “where” and asks about a place. It begins this question about the destination; new example: “Waar woon je?”
je In “Waar ga je meestal naartoe?”, “je” means “you” and identifies the person whose usual destination is being asked about. It comes after “ga” in this question; new example: “Waar werk je?”
meestal In “Waar ga je meestal naartoe?”, “meestal” means “usually” and asks about a regular or typical destination. It can be placed with an action to describe how often it normally happens; new example: “Ik wandel meestal in de ochtend.”
naartoe In “Waar ga je meestal naartoe?”, “naartoe” indicates movement toward a place and means “to there” or “where to.” It is used with “waar” and “gaan” when asking about a destination; new example: “Waar ga je naartoe?”
wandel In “Ik wandel in het park.”, “wandel” means “walk” with “Ik.” It describes the speaker’s walking activity and can be followed by a place with “in”; new example: “Ik wandel naar huis.”
het In “het park”, “het” means “the” and identifies the park as a specific place. The same unit also appears as “Het” in “Het is een korte, makkelijke wandeling.”, where it means “it” at the beginning of the sentence; new example: “Het park is groot.”
park In “Ik wandel in het park.”, “park” means “park,” the place where the speaker walks. It follows “het” in the phrase “het park”; new example: “We gaan naar het park.”
de In “de route”, “de” means “the” and identifies a specific route. It comes before the noun “route”; new example: “De weg is lang.”
route In “Is de route lang?”, “route” means the path or course being discussed. It is the subject after “de” in this question; new example: “Deze route gaat naar het park.”
lang In “Is de route lang?”, “lang” means “long” and asks about the route’s length. It follows “is” to describe the route; new example: “De wandeling is lang.”
een In “een korte, makkelijke wandeling”, “een” means “a” and introduces one unspecified walk. It comes before the describing words and the noun; new example: “Ik zie een park.”
korte In “een korte, makkelijke wandeling”, “korte” means “short” and describes the walk’s length. It is placed before “wandeling” together with “een”; new example: “We maken een korte wandeling.”
makkelijke In “een korte, makkelijke wandeling”, “makkelijke” means “easy” and describes the walk as not difficult. It is another describing word before “wandeling”; new example: “Dit is een makkelijke route.”
wandeling In “een korte, makkelijke wandeling”, “wandeling” means a walk or walking trip. The words before it describe this particular walk; new example: “De wandeling duurt een uur.”
Dat In “Dat klinkt ontspannend.”, “Dat” means “that” or “it” and refers to the walking plan just mentioned. It is the subject of the response; new example: “Dat is goed.”
klinkt In “Dat klinkt ontspannend.”, “klinkt” means “sounds” and expresses the impression something gives. It is used with “Dat” to react to the previous idea; new example: “Dat klinkt goed.”
ontspannend In “Dat klinkt ontspannend.”, “ontspannend” means “relaxing” and describes the impression of the walk. It follows “klinkt” to say how the idea sounds; new example: “De muziek is ontspannend.”
We In “We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.”, “We” means “we” and includes the speaker and at least one other person. It is the subject of the suggestion; new example: “We wandelen samen.”
kunnen In “We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.”, “kunnen” means “can” and expresses that the group is able or permitted to go. It is followed by the action “naartoe gaan,” with “gaan” at the end; new example: “We kunnen morgen komen.”
er In “We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.”, “er” refers to the place previously discussed, the park. Together with “naartoe gaan,” it expresses going there; new example: “Ik ga er morgen naartoe.”
samen In “We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.”, “samen” means “together” and shows that the people will go as a group. It can be used with an action shared by more than one person; new example: “We wandelen samen.”
gaan In “We kunnen er samen naartoe gaan.”, “gaan” means “go” and names the action possible for the group. It appears at the end after “kunnen”; new example: “We kunnen naar het park gaan.”

Grammar Points

graag + werkwoord

Ik wandel graag.

ick WAHN-duh-luhn KHRAHK

I like walking.

Dutch uses graag after the verb to express that you like doing something.

Waar ... naartoe?

Waar ga je naartoe?

vahr khah yuh nah-TOO

Where are you going?

In questions about direction, waar and naartoe are used together; the verb comes before the subject.

Dutch Vocabulary

graag adv
khrahkh gladly; like to

Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.

hobby noun
HAW-bee hobby

Is wandelen jouw hobby?

jouw det
yow your

Is wandelen jouw hobby?

korte adj
KOR-tuh short

Het is een korte, makkelijke wandeling.

lang adj
lahng long

Is de route lang?

meestal adv
MAY-stuhl usually

Waar ga je meestal naartoe?

naartoe adv
nah-TOO to; toward there

Waar ga je meestal naartoe?

park noun
park park

Ik wandel in het park.

route noun
ROO-tuh route

Is de route lang?

vrije tijd phrase
VRY-uh tite free time

Ik ga in mijn vrije tijd graag wandelen.

waar adv
vahr where

Waar ga je meestal naartoe?

wandelen verb
WAHN-duh-luhn to walk; to go for a walk

Is wandelen jouw hobby?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Is walking your hobby?

Show AnswerIs wandelen jouw hobby?

Where do you usually go?

Show AnswerWaar ga je meestal naartoe?

I walk in the park.

Show AnswerIk wandel in het park.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

your

Show Answerjouw

where

Show Answerwaar

gladly; like to

Show Answergraag

usually

Show Answermeestal