Talking About What You Like Doing

1What do you do when the bell rings?

It is break time at a primary school in Huye. Mugisha runs straight to the football pitch. Keza and Umutoni pick up a skipping rope. Ishimwe sits under the avocado tree with his drawing book, because he does not enjoy running at all.

Four children, four different choices, and none of them is wrong. Today you will learn to say what you like doing in your free time, what you dislike and what you prefer. You will also practise listening with respect when a friend chooses something different.

2Reading: What is sport?

This short text is adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia articles Sport and Association football. Read it twice: once for the meaning, and once to spot the verbs that end in -ing.

A sport is a game or activity in which people use their bodies and compete with each other. Football, basketball, volleyball, running and cycling are all sports. Some sports are played by one person alone, and others are played by teams. Some are played indoors and some outdoors.

A person who is very good at a sport and competes in it is called an athlete. Many people enjoy doing sport with their friends. Teams and players often have a coach, who teaches them how to play better.

Sport is good for your health. It makes your heart and body strong, and it can help people to feel less worried and less sad. For children, playing sport helps the body, the mind and the feelings to grow.

Some people prefer watching sport to playing it. People who support a team are called fans. Some fans watch matches on television. Others go to a stadium and pay to watch. People who watch a game in person are called spectators.

Football is the most popular sport in the world. Each team has eleven players on the field. Only one of them, the goalkeeper, may touch the ball with the hands. The other players try to kick the ball into the other team's goal. The team that scores more goals wins. A match lasts 90 minutes, with a short break in the middle called half-time.

Read and think

Answer each question in your head or in your exercise book first. Then tap Show answer to check.

3Saying what you like: verb + -ing

Look at this sentence from the text: Many people enjoy doing sport with their friends. After enjoy, the next verb takes -ing. The same thing happens after these verbs of liking and disliking:

With like, love and hate you may also hear to + verb (I like to swim). But with enjoy and dislike, only the -ing form is correct: I enjoy dancing, never I enjoy to dance.

4Choosing between two: prefer ... to ...

When you compare two activities, use prefer + -ing + to + -ing:

• Some people prefer watching sport to playing it. (from the text)
• Mugisha prefers playing football to reading comics.

Notice the small word to. Many pupils write prefer ... than, but after prefer we always use to.

5Spelling the -ing form

• Most verbs just add -ing: play → playing, read → reading.
• Verbs that end in a silent e drop the e: dance → dancing, ride → riding.
• Short verbs that end consonant–vowel–consonant double the last letter: swim → swimming, run → running, skip → skipping.

6Words for free time

Leisure (say LEH-zhuh) is the time when you are free from work and school, and the things you do in that time. A hobby is an activity you do often, just for fun, such as drawing, singing or keeping rabbits.

7Asking and answering politely

Umutoni: What do you like doing in your free time?
Byiringiro: I love playing volleyball. What about you?
Umutoni: I prefer reading stories to playing ball games.
Byiringiro: That's interesting. Why?
Umutoni: Because I can do it anywhere, even when it is raining.

Byiringiro does not laugh at Umutoni's choice. He asks why. That is how good teammates listen.

Try it yourself

Write your answers in your exercise book, then check.