Friends, Recreation and Pastimes (友だちと趣味)
What you must know
Hobby and free-time vocabulary: 趣味 (hobby), 音楽 (music), 映画 (movie), スポーツ, テニス, 読書 (reading), 買い物 (shopping), 旅行. Verbs: 見ます (watch), 聞きます (listen), 読みます (read), します (do/play), 遊びます (play/hang out). Invitation and response patterns: 〜ませんか (won't you…?), 〜ましょう (let's…), いいですね (that sounds good), ざんねんですが (unfortunately). Frequency: よく, ときどき, たまに, あまり, ぜんぜん.
Traps to watch
- します vs 遊びます. Sports and games take をします (テニスをします); 遊びます is for playing/hanging out, not for a specific sport.
- Invitation vs offer. 〜ませんか invites; 〜ましょう suggests. In multiple choice, match the nuance.
- を vs が with すき. すき takes が: 音楽がすきです. But the action takes を: 音楽を聞きます.
- Frequency with negatives. あまり and ぜんぜん require negative endings.
Rule of thumb
For hobbies, remember the pair: thing + が + すき and thing + を + verb. Keep the two patterns separate.
Worked example
Write: "I like music. I often listen to Japanese music. Would you like to listen together?"
- 音楽がすきです。
- よく日本の音楽を聞きます。
- いっしょに聞きませんか。 Note が with すき, を with 聞きます, and ませんか for the invitation.