Table of Contents
Talking About Favorite Things
1. What Does “Favorite Thing” Mean?
A favorite thing is something you like the most or enjoy more than other similar things. For example, your favorite thing to eat might be pizza, or your favorite thing to do might be reading.
2. Talking about favorite things
When you talk about your favorite things, you talk about the best liked or most enjoyed things.
Examples:
- “What’s your favorite color?” “Green.”
3. Study the dialogue:
Leila is talking to her new friend Cathy:
| Leila: | What kind of films do you like best? |
| Cathy: | Science fiction. And you? |
| Leila: | Comedy. And who’s your favorite actor? |
| Cathy: | Tom Cruise. |
| Leila: | I like Robert De Niro more. |
A. Asking about favorite things:
- What’s your favorite sport?
- What sport do you like best?
- What sport do you like most?
- What kind of sport do you like best?
- Who’s your favorite football player?
B. Responding:
- My favorite sport is football.
- I like football best.
- I like football the most.
- My favorite football player is Ronaldo.
Favorite Things to Talk About
Here are some common favorite things to talk about in English conversations:
- Favorite food or drink
- Favorite music, singer, or band
- Favorite film or TV show
- Favorite season or holiday
- Favorite sport or player
- Favorite book or writer
- Favorite place to visit
👉 These topics are often used in small talk, classroom activities, or when getting to know new people.
Activity: List Your Favorite Things
To practice talking about favorites, try this classroom or self-study activity:
- Make a list of your favorite things in different categories. For example:
- Favorite food: pizza
- Favorite sport: football
- Favorite color: blue
- Favorite singer: Adele
- Work in pairs (or imagine a conversation if you are alone). Ask and answer questions using your list:
- What’s your favorite food?
- My favorite food is pizza. What about you?
- I like pasta best.
This activity helps you practice both asking about favorites and giving answers in real conversations.
Things to remember
- “Favourite” is the British spelling.
- “Favorite” is the American spelling.
Cultural Note: Why We Talk About Favorites
In English-speaking cultures, asking about someone’s favorite things is a common way to start or continue a conversation. It works well as small talk because it’s simple, personal, and helps people find common interests.
For example:
- In everyday small talk, people might ask: “What’s your favorite TV show these days?”
- In job interviews, the question “What’s your favorite book?” or “What’s your favorite subject?” may be used to learn more about your personality, interests, or values.
- In classrooms or group activities, “favorite” questions are often used as icebreakers to help people get to know each other.
Learning how to ask and answer these questions will not only improve your English but also make it easier to connect with people in real-life situations.
Examples of Talking About Favorites
Here are some more examples of how people talk about favorites in everyday conversation:
- My favorite season is summer because I love the beach.
- The thing I like best is spending time with my family.
- One of my favorite things to do on weekends is hiking.
- What’s your favorite thing about your city? – The food!
- My favorite subject at school is English.
- The sport I enjoy most is basketball.
- One of my favorite things to watch on TV is cooking shows.
- I like rock music best—it gives me energy.
- My favorite book is Harry Potter. I’ve read it many times.
- What’s your favorite thing about learning English? – Meeting new people.
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