(Photo by Carlos Sottovia)
In English, we use three different verbs to talk about sports:
play ~ do ~ go
1) Use PLAY for team sports or sports played with a ball:
football
baseball
basketball
rugby
tennis
hockey
volleyball
cricket
soccer
badminton
golf
I love to play badminton.
I played basketball when I was in high school.
In my spare time, I play soccer with my friends.
Do you play any sports?
When I was a kid, I loved playing baseball with my family.
2) Use GO for sports that end in –ing (gerunds):
skiing
swimming
climbing
diving
fishing
running
jogging
skating / figure skating
I love to go jogging in the morning before I go to work.
My grandfather and I go fishing every time I visit him.
Every winter, my family and I go skiing in the Rockies.
What are you doing this weekend? Let’s go swimming!
*NOTE: There is NO to between go and the activity. You do NOT ‘go to swimming.’ You just ‘go swimming.’
The sports that end in –ing are all in gerund form. They can also be used in their verb form:
ski
swim
climb
dive / scuba dive
fish
run
jog
skate / figure skate
Do you scuba dive? Yes! I love scuba diving.
I learned how to ski when I was 9 years old.
She skates at the local community centre.
He runs marathons for fun!
3) Use DO with sports that you don’t need any equipment to do:
aerobics
karate / martial arts
yoga
gymnasticsShe does a lot of yoga – that’s why she looks so great!
My daughter used to take swimming lessons, but now she does gymnastics.
Do you do any sports?
To stay in shape, I jog every morning, I play tennis and I also do aerobics.
~
- Make is not used in English to talk about sports.
- Practice is rarely used to talk about sports. It is only used to talk about professional athletes who need to practice their skills before a game or an important event. The average person does not practice a sport.
Melanie is a TESL-certified English teacher. She lives near Toronto, Canada. Through her blog, videos, podcasts, and social media, she helps thousands of people around the world improve their English. She makes English a little less confusing and a little more fun! She also helps people understand Canadian and American culture. She believes that natural interaction with a native speaker helps people practice what they have learned and builds their confidence with English!
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for teaching the differences among play, go, and do when talking about the sports.
English can be a very confusing language! I'm glad you enjoyed this lesson! Thanks : )
Hi.
I’m a English student, and I’m trying to find out the differences between Roller Skating, Rollerblading, Skateboarding, etc.
How can I call every skater according the skate they use?
How can I call all of them as a kind of sport?
Hope I’ve been clear!
Thanks a lot for your help.
Marcelo
Hi, Marcelo!
The best way to find out the differences between roller-skating, rollerblading/in-line skating, skateboarding & figure skating is to use Google. Type ‘skateboarding’ in the search box, for example, then on the results page click ‘images.’ This will show you pictures of each activity.
Someone who does these activities is a ‘skater.’ Someone can also be a roller skater, a rollerblader/in-line skater, a skateboarder, a figure skater. When you use ‘skater,’ people will know what you’re talking about from the context of the conversation.
All of these activities are part of category 2 – they are gerunds & regular verbs.
I hope this answered your questions!
Melanie
= )
hi melanie,
does “go running” means “go jogging”
Kind of! ‘Jogging’ is a slower form of ‘running.’ A jog is a slow run.
= )
Hi Melanie!
I’ve got a great doubt about the verbs we use with the ING and the ones we don’t. For example, once I saw in a test: “Would you like to have some tea?”, but I learnt that verbs which follow verbs like LOVE, LIKE HATE…etc, have to be in the ING form, so I thought the right answer would be “Would you like having some tea?” Is there a difference to this rule when we make questions or statements?
I like very much your website! It helps me a lot, and I’m sure it does as well to others.
Thank you!
Eliana
Hi, Eliana! Thank you for your kind words about my website!
Gerunds (verbs in -ing form that acts like nouns) are a very confusing part of English. ‘Love,’ ‘like,’ & ‘hate’ are part of a group of verbs that can be followed an infinitive AND a gerund. However, the verb in your example question “Would you like to have some tea?” is actually ‘would like,’ not ‘like.’ ‘Would like’ is part of another group of verbs that can only be followed by an infinitive (when followed by another verb).
Englishpage.com has an in-depth tutorial on gerunds & infinitives:
http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/gerund_or_infinitive_same_list.htm
I hope this helped!
= )
Hi Melanie:
I love your website. you have a very good information thay are going to use and sharing with my students.
thank you
Hi Melanie,
I’m currently improving my english and soon I’ll be taking the FCE exam. That’s why I’ve been using several internet resources and finding your blog has been a wonderful surprise to me. It has been very useful.
Thanks a lot for help us!
Hi Melanie,
thanks for your great teaching tips? Could you plz tell me which verb we use to talk about boxing,fencing and wrestling.
Use the information in the post above to answer your own question!
Boxing
Fencing
Wrestling
What category are these sports in? 1, 2, or 3?
1. Are these team sports or sports played with a ball? Use ‘play.’
2. Do these sports end in –ing? Use ‘go.’
3. Are these sports that are not in category 1 or 2, and are these sports you can do without any equipment? Use ‘do.’
= )
Hi melaine,
my english techer told me that i practise judo not play judo.
whats the differense? When do i use practise or play?
thanks you
Hello Misato,
Take a look at how to use ‘play’ in section 1.:
“Use PLAY for team sports or sports played with a ball.”
Is judo a team sport? Is judo a sport played with ball? If judo is not a team sport or played with a ball, then you don’t use ‘play.’
Now, take a look at the end of the article:
“Practice is rarely used to talk about sports. It is only used to talk about professional athletes who need to practice their skills before a game or an important event. The average person does not practice a sport.”
Judo is a sport in section 3:
“Use DO with sports that you don’t need any equipment to do.”
Some people who are very serious about judo and have done judo for many years use the verb ‘practice.’ However, in normal everyday conversation, use ‘do’ to talk about judo.
“I’ve been doing judo for 10 years.”
= )
Hi Melanie,
could you tell me how i could memorize the phrasal verbs or something ?? I have an exam and I only remember three or four
Thanyou
Hi, Carme,
You can’t memorize phrasal verbs. There are too many of them. You need to learn them in context.
What exam are you studying for?
In my weekly podcast, I use core vocabulary & phrasal verbs. Listening to the podcast & learning phrasal verbs in context will help you remember them easier:
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/the-english-teacher-melanie-podcast/
Good luck to you!
Hi Melanie,
Thanks for the lesson
weight training is an exception. although it ends in -ing, it is used with “do”.
am I right?
Hi, Afhsin,
In English, people don’t ask ‘am I right?’ after a statement. It’s very rude. I think this is something you’ve translated from your native language into English. It’s better to ask,
“Is ‘weight training’ an exception? I’ve heard it used with ‘do.’”
or
“Is weight training’ used with ‘go’ or ‘do’? I’ve heard it/seen it used with ‘do.’”
or
“Can ‘weight training’ be used with ‘do’? I think it’s an exception.
You are absolutely correct about ‘weight training’! It is used with ‘do.’ I hadn’t even thought about ‘weight training’ when I wrote this article. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
= )