This article contains a long vocabulary list of hobbies in Finnish, as well as an example sentence for each using the verb harrastaa. This verb is used to express what you like doing in your spare time. It’s a difficult verb for many students because most languages don’t have a direct translation for the verb. For example, “Harrastan lukemista” can’t be translated as “I hobby reading” because “to hobby” is not a verb in English.

We can translate these sentences in several ways. “Harrastan lukemista” could be:

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• “I like to read in my spare time.”
• “I enjoy reading as a hobby.”
• “My hobby is reading.” (However, in Finnish, this would be “Minun harrastukseni on lukeminen.“)

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Read more about how you use the verb harrastaa in this article.

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1. Huomioitavaa – Things to consider
2. Urheiluharrastuksia – Sports as hobbies
   1. Vesiurheilu – Water sports
   2. Talviurheilu – Winter sports
   3. Pallopelit – Ball games
   4. Kävely ja juoksu – Walking and running
   5. Tanssi – Dance
   6. Hyppää, heitä, ammu, lennä, kiipeä! – Jump, throw, shoot, fly, climb!
   7. Kamppailulajit – Martial arts
   8. Kuntosali – Gym
3. Luontoharrastuksia – Nature hobbies
4. Sisäaktiviteetit – Indoor activities
   1. Opiskelu ja tieto – Study and knowledge
   2. Korttipelit ja lautapelit – Card games and board games
   3. Keräily – Collecting
5. Taide ja luovuus – Art and creativity
   1. Lukeminen ja kirjoittaminen – Reading and writing
   2. Kuvataide – Visual art
   3. Musiikki – Music
   4. Tekstiiliharrastukset – Hobbies with textiles
   5. Muita materiaaleja – Other materials
6. Ruoka ja juomat – Food and drinks
7. Tietokoneet ja elokuvat – Computers and movies
8. Eläimet – Animals
9. Pyörät ja autot – Bikes and cars
10. Sekalaisia – Miscellaneous

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1. Huomioitavaa – Things to consider

There are a couple of things I want to point out right away here.

Firstly, if someone has many hobbies, it’s fairly rare for them to just list all seven of them in a row: “Harrastan lukemista, kirjoittamista, piirtämistä, maalaamista, television katsomista, tietokonepelejä ja kuntosalia “. Instead, this will usually be divided into several sentences, which don’t all use the verb harrastaa. The above sentence could be rephrased as: “Harrastan lukemista ja kirjoittamista. Lisäksi piirrän ja maalaan päivittäin. Tykkään katsoa televisiota ja pelata tietokonepelejä. Käyn myös viikoittain kuntosalilla“.

Secondly, in the tables below, I’ve opted to give several different sentences when there is more than one option. For example swimming could be both uinti and uiminen, which results in the following sentences: “Harrastan uintia” and “Harrastan uimista“. Both of these sentences are regularly used and there is no difference in meaning.

Thirdly, while writing this article, I’ve noticed that some -minen forms are much less common than you’d think. I’ve made the crucial decision to leave out some of the -minen forms from my tables. For example, I’ve chosen to leave out “Harrastan tenniksen pelaamista” for “I like to play tennis”. Instead, I only list “Harrastan tennistä“. When you google the first of these two, all the results you get are from sources for learners of Finnish. No actual Finnish person has used this sentence online as of yet!

And finally, sentences such as “Harrastan viinejä” might seem strange depending on your native language. Using a regular noun to describe your hobby generally means you like everything related to it: you like buying wines, tasting wines, talking about wines.

2. Urheiluharrastuksia – Sports as hobbies

You can read more about sports here as well.

2.1. Vesiurheilu – Water sports

2.2. Talviurheilu – Winter sports

2.3. Pallopelit – Ball games

If you’ve been in a Finnish course or have read some learning materials, you will without a doubt have come across “Harrastan jalkapallon pelaamista”. This is possible and is a great way to practice this sentence construction. However, in reality, Finns generally just state the hobby: “Harrastan jalkapalloa“. Adding pelaamista is a way to make the distinction between liking to play soccer rather than to watch it (Harrastan jalkapallon katsomista). As such, pelaamista is possible for all these sports, but not used widely (except in Finnish course books).

If you just like watching sports on TV, you could use the phrase “Harrastan penkkiurheilua“. Translated literally, penkkiurheilu means “bench sports” and refers to spectator sports.

2.4. Kävely ja juoksu – Walking and running

2.5. Tanssi – Dance

2.6. Ammu, heitä, hyppää, lennä, kiipeä! – Jump, throw, shoot, fly, climb!