The weekly column topic is Your favorite place on Earth! this week, so today I’d like to share some ways of talking about your favourite things in English.

The simplest way to talk about your favourite thing is to say “My favourite (thing) is…” / “My favourite (things) are…” 

Ex. My favourite new movie is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Ex. My favourite drinks are coffee, chai, and beer.

It’s equally simple and common to say “(Specific thing) is my favourite (kind of) (general thing).”

Ex. Huskies are my favourite dogs.

Ex. Guinness is my favourite kind of beer.

Note: Use the spelling “favorite” in American English and “favourite” (with “u”) in British English. As a Canadian, I use the spelling with “u” in it!

Avoid saying “My best (thing) is…”

Ex. My best movie is Green Book. (incorrect)

While the person who directed the movie could say this (commenting on their achievement) a person who likes the movie should not say this! If you want to use “best,” consider using a relative clause to say something like…

Ex. Green Book is the best movie (that) I’ve ever seen. / The best movie (that) I’ve ever seen is Green Book.

Sometimes it’s hard to choose a single favourite. If you can’t decide, you can use “One of my favourite (things) is…” or “(Some / A few / Two/Three/etc.) of my favourite (things) are…”

Ex. One of my favourite holidays is Halloween.

Ex. Some of my favourite places in Toronto are High Park and the Evergreen Brick Works.

Note: Be sure that the general noun that you’re talking about is in the plural form (e.g. holidays, places), even when using “One of my favourite (things) is…”

You can also use a relative clause to say the same thing. Feel free to leave out the relative pronoun (that/which) in this case.

Ex. One of the books (that/which) I (like/love/enjoy) (most) is a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories I got when I was young.

Ex. Some of the outdoor activities (that/which) I (like/love/enjoy) (most) are hiking and rock climbing.

Finally, feel free to change the verbs in these sentences to the past tense to talk about things you liked in the past.

Ex. My favourite sport when I was in high school was soccer.

Ex. Enya used to be one of my favourite singers.

Ex. When I was a kid, one of the games that I loved most was Super Mario Bros. 3.

I hope this will help you to talk about some of your favourite things in English!