Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Mi pasatiempo favorito es coleccionar cómics antiguos en español. - My favorite hobby is collecting old comics in Spanish.

In Spanish, the infinitive (coleccionar) often plays the role that the -ing form (gerund) plays in English when we talk about activities in general.

Mi pasatiempo favorito es coleccionar cómics antiguos.
= My favorite hobby is collecting old comics.

After ser (es) you normally use the infinitive to name a hobby or activity:

Mi afición es leer. (My hobby is reading.)
Su trabajo es enseñar. (His/Her job is teaching.)

Using something like coleccionando here would be incorrect in standard Spanish.

Could I say “Coleccionar cómics antiguos en español es mi pasatiempo favorito” instead?

Yes. Both word orders are correct:

Mi pasatiempo favorito es coleccionar cómics antiguos en español.
Coleccionar cómics antiguos en español es mi pasatiempo favorito.

Spanish allows either:

[Hobby] + es + [description], or
[Description] + es + [hobby].

The meaning doesn’t change; the second version just puts more emphasis on the activity (coleccionar cómics antiguos en español).

Why do we use es and not está in this sentence?

Spanish uses ser (es) to define or identify what something is by nature:

Mi pasatiempo favorito es coleccionar cómics.

You’re saying: “What is my favorite hobby? It is collecting comics.”
This is an identity/definition, so ser is required.

Estar is for temporary states, locations, and conditions:

Estoy cansado. (I am tired.)
Los cómics están en la estantería. (The comics are on the shelf.)

So está coleccionar would be wrong here.

Why mi pasatiempo favorito and not mi favorito pasatiempo?

In Spanish, most adjectives usually go after the noun:

pasatiempo favorito (favorite hobby)
casa grande (big house)
cómics antiguos (old comics)

So:

✅ mi pasatiempo favorito
❌ mi favorito pasatiempo (sounds wrong / very unidiomatic)

There are some adjectives that can go before the noun (like buen, mal, gran), but favorito normally follows the noun in everyday Spanish.

Why is it pasatiempo and not hobby? Don’t Spanish speakers use hobby?

Spanish speakers (especially younger people) do sometimes use the anglicism hobby, but:

pasatiempo is the standard and more neutral word.
In Spain you also hear afición a lot:
- Mi afición favorita es coleccionar cómics.

In careful or formal Spanish, pasatiempo or afición is preferred over hobby.

Why is cómics written with an accent and an s?

The singular is:

un cómic (one comic book)

Stress naturally falls on the first syllable in English, so Spanish writes an accent to keep that stress: có-mic.

The plural adds -s:

dos cómics (two comics)

So:

singular: cómic
plural: cómics

In Spain, another very common word is tebeos for comic books:

coleccionar tebeos antiguos

Why is it cómics antiguos and not antiguos cómics?

The usual, neutral order is noun + adjective:

cómics antiguos = old/vintage comics

If you say antiguos cómics, it is grammatically possible but has a different, sometimes odd nuance, more like “former comics” or “comics from long ago” with a stronger emotional or stylistic effect. It’s not the natural way to say “old comics” as a simple description.

So, for straightforward description, use:

cómics antiguos

What is the difference between antiguos and viejos here?

Both can mean old, but there’s a nuance:

cómics antiguos often suggests old and possibly valuable, classic, or from a past era (neutral or positive).
cómics viejos can sound more like old and worn-out, maybe in bad condition (can be neutral or slightly negative).

For collecting as a hobby, cómics antiguos usually sounds better because it suggests “vintage” or “older editions,” not just “old and shabby.”

Why does antiguos end in -os?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun:

cómics is masculine plural.
So the adjective must also be masculine plural: antiguos.

Patterns:

Masculine singular: cómic antiguo
Feminine singular: revista antigua
Masculine plural: cómics antiguos
Feminine plural: revistas antiguas

Why is it en español and not de español, when in English we say “in Spanish”?

Spanish also uses en for languages when you mean “in that language”:

cómics en español = comics in Spanish
películas en inglés = movies in English
un libro en francés = a book in French

de español would usually mean “of Spanish” in some other sense, not the language of the content. So:

✅ cómics en español
❌ cómics de español (wrong meaning)

Does en español mean the comics are from Spain specifically?

No. En español only refers to the language, not the country.

cómics en español = comics written in the Spanish language

They could be from:

Spain
Mexico
Argentina
any other Spanish-speaking country

If you specifically meant from Spain, you could say:

cómics españoles antiguos (old Spanish comics – from Spain) Here españoles is an adjective of nationality, not the language phrase en español.

In Spain, is there any more natural way to say “cómics”?

Yes. In Spain, tebeos is very common and sounds very natural, especially for traditional comic books:

Mi pasatiempo favorito es coleccionar tebeos antiguos en español.

Cómic(s) is also widely understood and used, especially for more modern or international-style comics. Both are fine in Spain; tebeos has a more local, traditional feel.

Could I say “Uno de mis pasatiempos favoritos es coleccionar cómics antiguos en español”?

Yes, that’s a very natural way to say “One of my favorite hobbies is collecting old comics in Spanish.”

Notice the changes:

Uno de mis pasatiempos favoritos (one of my favorite hobbies)
- uno de = one of
- mis pasatiempos = my hobbies (plural)
- favoritos agrees with pasatiempos (masculine plural)

The rest of the sentence stays the same:

es coleccionar cómics antiguos en español.