Your own life: hobbies, health and opinions
Phase 3 stops teaching structures and starts using them. German has a neat trick for talking about what you enjoy.
Gern is the word that does the work
German rarely says I like doing something. It says I do it gladly: Ich lese gern — I read gladly, meaning I like reading. Add the gold adverb gern to any verb and you have said you enjoy it. For nouns, use mögen: Ich mag Musik. And to say you love it, gern becomes sehr gern, or lieben for something you truly love. One tiny word replaces a whole construction — and it needs no backwards grammar, unlike Spanish gustar or Italian piacere.
Hobbies and interests
Pick the five that are actually true of you and drill only those.
- der SportsportIch mag Sport.I like sport.
No article after mag here — German drops it for things in general.
- die MusikmusicIch höre gern Musik.I like listening to music.
- lesento readIch lese gern.I like reading.
- die Gartenarbeitgardening
- kochento cookIch koche gern.I like cooking.
- reisento travel
- die Fotografiephotography
- das Kinothe cinemaIch gehe gern ins Kino.I like going to the cinema.
- das FernsehentelevisionIch sehe gern fern.I like watching TV.
Fernsehen splits in a sentence: ich sehe fern. A separable verb — the front half goes to the end.
- spazieren gehento go for a walkIch gehe gern spazieren.I like going for walks.
What the colours above mean
10 of 10 colours so farA thing, a person or a place.
An action or a state — what is happening.
Describes a noun.
Modifies a verb or an adjective.
the / a / some — and possessives like mon, ma.
Stands in for a noun — I, you, he, it.
Links words together — to, in, of, for.
Joins two parts of a sentence.
Opens a question — where, when, how, why.
Learn it whole. Do not take it apart.
Adverbs of degree — sehr, gut, schlecht — are gold. Possessives stay grey with the gender style.
Saying what you enjoy
Mögen for nouns, gern for activities. Both are gentler than wollen, which means want rather than like.
| Verb | ichreviewed | Sie |
|---|---|---|
| mögento like (a thing) | mag | mögen |
| gernto like (doing something) | … gern | … gern |
| liebento love | liebe | lieben |
| bevorzugento prefer | bevorzuge | bevorzugen |
Only the ich column becomes a review card. The rest are there to be recognised, not produced — which is what keeps a day inside its fifteen minutes.
Health
- [Mir geht es gut]I'm well
Literally to me it goes well. A fixed chunk — do not dissect it.
- [Mir geht es schlecht]I'm unwell
- Ich habe KopfschmerzenI have a headache
Schmerzen means pains, and it attaches to the body part: Kopfschmerzen, Rückenschmerzen, Zahnschmerzen.
- der Arzt / die Ärztinthe doctor
- krankillIch bin krank.I am ill.
No ending after sein, as in Week 6.
- müdetiredIch bin müde.I am tired.
- [ich ruhe mich aus]I'm resting
Another separable verb — sich ausruhen. Take it whole for now.
Where it hurts
Each one glues onto -schmerzen to make a compound noun, which is very German and very convenient.
- der Kopfthe headKopfschmerzena headache
- die Handthe hand
- das Beinthe leg
- der Bauchthe stomachBauchschmerzenstomach ache
- der Rückenthe backRückenschmerzenbackache
- der Armthe arm
- die Zähnethe teethZahnschmerzentoothache
Der Zahn in the singular, die Zähne in the plural — every plural takes die, whatever the gender.
Where it hurts, on a figure
The plain nouns, before the phrases. Point and name — which is exactly what you would do at a pharmacy counter.
Tap a number, or a word, to hear it.
Opinions
- [ich denke, dass…]I think that…[Ich denke, dass] Reisen interessant ist.I think travel is interesting.
Dass behaves like weil — it sends the verb to the end.
- [ich finde, dass…]I find that…
- [meiner Meinung nach]in my opinion[Meiner Meinung nach] ist es gut.In my opinion, it's good.
Starts the sentence, so the verb comes straight after.
- das Problemthe problem
Dass sends the verb to the end too
Ich denke, dass Reisen interessant ist. In English the verb sits in the middle; in German dass pushes it to the back, exactly like weil in Week 8. If you find yourself stuck, drop the dass: Ich denke, Reisen ist interessant is perfectly correct German and leaves the order alone. Use that escape hatch freely while you are building fluency.
Sentence frames
- 1
Ich lese / koche / reise gern.
I like reading / cooking / travelling.
- 2
Ich habe Kopfschmerzen.
I have a headache.
- 3
[Meiner Meinung nach] ist es interessant.
In my opinion, it's interesting.
Substitution drill — what you enjoy
Rotate the verb through the frame. Gern always lands straight after the conjugated verb.
Ich lese gern.
I like ___ing.
Daily mini-tasks
Listening this week
Easy German — street interviews about hobbies
YouTube
Real speech at real speed. Do not expect to catch everything — catch the hobbies, and listen for how often gern turns up.
What stuck?
Check it before you close the page.
Up to 10 of this week's words and frames. Say each one out loud before you look, and say whether you think you have it. Guessing first and then checking is what makes it stick — reading the answer feels better and does less.