Quick answer
¿Juegas al fútbol?
Do you play football? Jugar takes the preposition a plus the article, so it is jugar al tenis, jugar a la pelota.
The words
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| el deporte | the sport |
| el fútbol | the football |
| el baloncesto | the basketball |
| el tenis | the tennis |
| la natación | the swimming |
| el equipo | the team |
| el jugador | the player |
| el partido | the match |
| el entrenamiento | the training session |
| el gol | the goal |
| el árbitro | the referee |
| la pelota | the ball |
| el campo | the pitch |
| ganar | to win |
| perder | to lose |
The phrases you will actually say
Worth knowing
The question ¿de qué equipo eres? literally asks which team you are, and in Spain the honest answer matters socially, since the Real Madrid and Barcelona rivalry maps onto regional identity rather than simple sport. Use jugar a for games and hacer or practicar for non-ball sports, so hago natación but juego al tenis. El partido is a match but also a political party, which is why headlines can read oddly. Vocabulary splits by region: Spain says el baloncesto and Latin America mostly el básquetbol, and while la pelota works everywhere, Spain usually says el balón for a large ball. One trap: el campo is the football pitch, but a tennis court is la pista.
Practice
Practise your sports words
0/8 matched — tap a Spanish word, then its translation
Check yourself
How do you say "I play tennis"?