Talking about hobbies *Fully in Japanese with English subs*

Talking about hobbies in Japanese + こと and の explained!
Today let’s learn how to talk about hobbies in Japanese!

★　Vocab　語彙　ごい　goi 　★

趣味　しゅみ　shumi = hobby

My hobby is <noun>.
= しゅみは <noun> です。
shumi wa <noun> desu.

Tips that textbooks don’t tell  ✔ :
*You wouldn’t put わたしの (watashi no =my) in front of しゅみ (shumi =hobby)
unless you really need to specify that you are talking about YOUR hobby.*

*You can omit です if you are being casual.*
—————————————–

趣味は何？ (inf.)
shumi wa nani

趣味は何ですか？ (form.)
shumi wa nan desu ka
= What is your hobby?

E.g

趣味は水泳です。
shumi wa suiei desu
= My hobby is swimming.

趣味は空手です。
shumi wa karate desu
= My hobby is karate.

趣味はゴルフです。
shumi wa gorufu desu
= My hobby is golf.

趣味は釣りです。
shumi wa tsuri desu
= My hobby is fishing.

Other common ones are :
ダンス = dance
ヨガ = yoga
テニス = tennis
ハイキング = hiking
山登り (yama nobori) = mountain climbing
コスプレ = cosplay

But the nouns that you can put there are limited and
usually end up sounding too formal, so we usually put a verb.

When putting a verb (only in plain form, never masu form),
don’t forget to put こと (koto)  after the verb.
E.g

趣味は泳ぐことです。
shumi wa oyogu koto desu
= My hobby is swimming.

* 水泳 (suiei) is a noun for “swimming”, but it can sound formal
so using a verb – およぐこと can sound better if you don’t want to sound too formal.*

趣味は日本語を勉強することです。
shumi wa nihon-go wo benkyou-suru koto desu
= My hobby is learning Japanese.

趣味は映画を見ることです。
shumi wa eiga wo miru koto desu
= My hobby is watching movies.

*Some people say ” 映画鑑賞 (eiga-kanshou)” instead.
鑑賞 (kanshou) means appreciation of arts.
趣味は映画鑑賞です。
shumi wa eiga-kanshou desu
*But again it can sound too formal.*

趣味は料理をすることです。
shumi wa ryouri wo suru koto desu
= My hobby is cooking.

*You could say
趣味は料理です。
shumi wa ryouri desu  *

趣味はお菓子を作ることです。
shumi wa okashi wo tsukuru koto desu
= My hobby is making sweets.

*Some people say
お菓子作り (okashi-dzukuri) = making sweets (as a noun)
趣味はお菓子作りです。
shumi wa okashi dzukuri desu *

趣味は本を読むことです。
shumi wa hon wo yomu koto desu
= My hobby is reading books.

*You could say
趣味は読書です。
shumi wa dokusho (=reading books as a noun) desu
But again it sounds more formal than ほんをよむこと. *

趣味は絵を描くことです。
shumi wa e wo kaku koto desu
= My hobby is drawing pictures.

趣味はカラオケで歌うことです。
shumi wa karaoke de utau koto desu
= My hobby is singing in Karaoke.

趣味は音楽を聞くことです。
shumi wa ongaku wo kiku koto desu
= My hobby is listening to music.

趣味はギターを弾くことです。
shumi wa gitaa wo hiku koto
= My hobby is playing guitar.

————————–
So what does this こと mean?
This こと (koto) is hard to translate, but it means “event” or “matter“.
But you can simply remember that
a plain form verb + こと is basically  <verb>ing in English.

There is a particle ” の (no) ” that does a similar job.
You might know this の as a possesive particle.
For example, わたし (= I) + の is : my / mine.

But if you put this の after an adjective :
しろいの  = white one 
かわいいの = cute one
E.g
A: どれが好き？ (dore ga suki) = Which one do you like?
B: ちいさいの！(chiisai no) = The small one!

And if you put this の after a verb, の is helping a verb turn into a NOUN.
ねるの  = sleeping
ねるのが好き。
neru no ga suki
= I like sleeping.

You cannot put a verb without の in front of  particles が , は and  を.
宿題をするのを忘れた。
shukudai wo suru NO wo wasureta
= I forgot to do my homework.

日本語を勉強するのは楽しいです。
nihon-go wo benkyou suru NO wa tanoshii desu
= Learning Japanese is fun.
The differences between こと VS の :

So こと can be translated like <verb>ING like の,
but の cannot be with です.
E.g
趣味はサッカーをすることです。
shumi wa sakkaa wo suru koto desu
= My hobby is playing football.

BUT not するのです。 – this is WRONG.

However, if you want to put a verb in front of a particle,
using こと can make it too formal and unnatural.
E.g
外食をするのが好きです。
gaishoku wo suru NO ga suki desu
= I like eating out.

You could say :
外食をすることが好きです。
gaishoku wo suru koto ga suki desu
– But it’s a bit unnatural. Like a textbook speech.

Be careful, の at the end of a sentence is just adding a nuance of
giving an explaination, seeking for an explaintion or inviting to a conversation.
E.g
なんで笑ってるの？
nande waratte(i)ru NO?
= Why are you laughing?

明日はどこに行くの？
ashita wa doko ni iku NO?
= Where are you going tomorrow? ( I want your explaination.)

ねえ、聞いて！彼氏ができたの！ (Girls’ speech)
nee, kiite! kareshi ga dekita NO!
= Hey, listen! I got a boyfriend! (inviting to a conversation. I want you to ask me questions.)
* In affirmative sentences (not questions), guys use んだ instead of の. *
E.g
彼女ができたんだ！ (both girls’ and guys’ speech)
kanojo ga dekita N DA!
= I got a girlfriend!
* Put んです instead of の or んだ for formal speech.*

————————–

By the way
“to find a hobby” in Japanese is
趣味を見つける
shumi wo mitsukeru

E.g
趣味を見つけた方がいいですよ。
shumi wo mitsuketa hou ga ii desu yo
= You should find a hobby.

You can also say
趣味を作る
shumi wo tsukuru
= lit. to make a hobby

趣味がある？ (inf.)
shumi ga aru
趣味がありますか？ (form.)
shumi ga arimasu ka?
= Do you have a hobby?

みんなは趣味がある？聞かせてね☆
minna wa shumi ga aru? kikasete ne
= Do you guys have hobbies? Let me hear!