Talking About Sports

Hook

Football, tennis, swimming, running: sport is a great topic for small talk, and many conversations with new friends start with “Do you play any sports?” Here is how to talk about the sports you play, watch, and are good (or bad) at.

Notice

  • I play basketball on Saturdays.
  • My brother watches football on TV every weekend.
  • Do you play any sports? — Yes, I play tennis.
  • I go running three times a week.
  • She’s good at swimming. He’s not very good at tennis.
  • My favourite team is Real Madrid.

What word comes after good?

Rule

  • play + team and ball sports: play football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, golf
  • go + -ing sports: go swimming, running, cycling, skiing
  • do + some sports: do yoga, do karate, do gymnastics
  • be good at / bad at + sport or verb-ing: He’s good at football. I’m bad at running.
  • Words: a team · a player · a match / game · win / lose · a fan · the score
  • Questions: Do you play any sports? · What’s your favourite sport / team? · Are you good at…?

Watch Out

  • ✗ I’m good in football. → ✓ I’m good at football.
  • ✗ I play swimming. → ✓ I go swimming.
  • ✗ She is good at swim. → ✓ She is good at swimming. (at + -ing)
  • ✗ I do football. → ✓ I play football.

Practice

  1. play or go? ___ tennis
  2. play or go? ___ swimming
  3. Complete: My sister ___ (play) volleyball every week.
  4. Complete: He’s good ___ football.
  5. Make a question: you / play / any sports
  6. Opposite of win
  7. Complete: “I’m bad at ___ (run).”
  8. Someone who loves a team is a ___.
Show the answers
  1. play
  2. go
  3. plays
  4. at
  5. Do you play any sports?
  6. lose
  7. running
  8. fan

Your Turn

Write five sentences about sport in your life: what you play or do, how often, what you watch, your favourite team and something you are good or bad at.

Connect

Our Daily Unscramble game is a quick word puzzle: a nice break after sport vocabulary.

Play Daily Unscramble →

Check sports words in our Vocabulary Quiz (A1).

Try our Vocabulary Quiz →

CEFR A1 — Spoken Interaction: I can talk about sports and free-time activities in simple exchanges.

Azizul Hakim
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