What do you like doing in your free time? Free time activities

Hello!  In this unit, we are going to learn how to talk about free time activities and how to contrasts ideas.

1- Introduction

1.1- Free time activities

Let’s read the following information about how children spend their free time.

Hello! My name is Jess. I am nine years old and I love playing board games in my free time. My favorite one is chess.  My friends don’t like chess, so I always play it with my grandfather on Sunday after lunch. My friends like doing different activities.

These are my friends:

And, this is what they enjoy doing:

Kevin loves playing video games.

Sheila enjoys listening to music in her free time.

Daniel loves running in the park.

Mark loves jumping on the trampoline.

Cathy likes cooking.  She wants to be a chef one day.

When we, my friends and I, are together we like playing dice.

1.2- Reading comprehension

Read the texts about Jess and her friends again and complete the passage with the words on the right.

Now, read the information about Jess and her friends again and choose the correct option.

1.3- Focus on Grammar 1: verbs to express likes and dislikes + verb-ing

After these verbs: like – dislike (= don´t / doesn´t like) – love – enjoy – hate, we need a verb with –ing.

Examples:

• I like playing video games.
• She loves cooking.
• We enjoy playing dice.
• They dislike (= don´t like) playing chess.
• We hate going swimming in winter.

Subject	Verb to express likes and dislikes	Verb with -ing	Example
We She He They I	Like Dislike (= don´t / doesn´t like) Love Enjoy Hate	cooking playing going listening  running	We like reading. She hates cooking. He enjoys jumping. They love playing video games. I dislike playing chess.

1.4- Focus on Grammar 2: Expressing contrast

When we want to talk about two different ideas, for example, one we like and one we do not like we use the conjunction “but”.

For example: 

• I do not like eating cheese but I like eating pizza.

I do not like eating	cheese	but	I	like eating pizza
⇓ Action I don´t like		⇓ contrast		⇓ Action I like

I love going to the park but I don´t like playing football there.

I love going to the park	but	I	don´t like playing football there.
⇓ Action I like	⇓ contrast		⇓ Action I don´t like

I hate playing basketball but I enjoy watching it on TV.

I hate playing basketball	but	I	enjoy watching it on TV
⇓ Action I hate	⇓ contrast		⇓ Action I enjoy

1.5- Grammar practice 1

Look at the prompts below, and write what these kids like, love, enjoy, don´t like or hate like doing.

Remember to 

• use the conjunction but to express contrast.
• conjugate the verbs, for example, … plays …
• write the auxiliary for negative sentences, for example …does not …
• add –ing to the verbs, for example, … going …
• Include go or play according to the activity.

1) Emma / like / swimming / not like / tennis.

2) Jason / enjoy / football / hate / basketball.

3) Liz / not like / table tennis / love / tennis.

4) Jackson / love / skateboarding / dislike roller-skating.

5) William / like / dice / not like / cook.

6) Alfie / enjoy / video games / not like / listen to music.

7) Olivia / not like / board games / love / chess.

8) Sophie / love / cook / not like / jump on the trampoline.

Examples:

1) Emma likes going swimming but she does not like playing tennis.

2) Jason enjoys playing football but he hates playing basketball.

Let’s begin with some help.

3) Liz does not like ______________ table tennis but she loves ____________ tennis.

4) Jackson _________________ skateboarding but he ____________ roller-skating.

5) William ________ playing dice but he _______________________________.

Can you continue on your own?

6) Alfie______________________________________________________________.

7) Olivia _____________________________________________________________.

8) Sophie ____________________________________________________________.

Solution:

Please have try to work on the exercises on your own before having a look at the answers below.

3) Liz does not like playing  table tennis but she loves  playing tennis.

4) Jackson loves going skateboarding but he dislikes going roller-skating.

5) William likes playing dice but he does not like cooking.

6) Alfie enjoys playing video games but he does not like listening to music.

7) Olivia does not like playing board games but she loves playing chess.

8) Sophie  loves cooking but she does not like jumping on the trampoline.

1.6- Focus on grammar 3: Prepositions of time (in – on – at) to express routines

In order to talk about routines we generally use the adverbs of frequency such as always or every day among others.  But, we can also use the prepositions of time (in – on – at) to talk about when we normally do an activity.

For example,

• I go to the cinema on Saturday (this means I go to the cinema every Saturday)
• I go to school in the morning.  (this means I go to school every morning)
• I get up at 7 o’clock. (this means I always get up at the same time, 7 o’clock)

This is how we use them:

Preposition	When we use it	Examples
In	Parts of the day: in the morning in the afternoon in the evening	I go to school in the morning. I do my homework in the afternoon. I play video games in the evening.
	Months: In January	I go on holiday in January. I watch TV in July, when it’s cold.
	Seasons: Summer	I go swimming in Summer. I play football in Autumn.
On	Days of the week: Monday – Tuesday	I go to the supermarket on Saturday. I play tennis on Sunday.
At	Times At 8 o’clock	I get up at 8 o’clock. I start school at  8.30.

1.7- Grammar practice 2

Read the sentences and choose the correct preposition to fill in the blanks.