Spanish about Sports – Vocabulary and Phrases

Are you going to practice a sport with your Spanish-speaking friends? Do you have to write a text in Spanish about sports? You’ve come to the right place!

In this post, we will first learn some phrases about sports. Then we have several vocabulary lists.

Notice that, when we talk about playing a sport using the verb “jugar”, we need the preposition “a” preceding the sport. And because most sports are masculine nouns, in that case “a + el” becomes “al”.

Examples:

Yo juego al fútbol.
I play soccer.

Tú juegas al baloncesto.
You play basketball.

Phrases

Juego al tenis todas las semanas.
I play tennis every week.

¿Quieres jugar al tenis conmigo?
Do you want to play tennis with me?

Nadar es muy bueno para la salud.
Swimming is very good for your health.

¿Quién ganó el partido?
Who won the match?

El Real Madrid ganó el partido contra el Barcelona, y ahora va primero en la liga.
Real Madrid won the match against Barcelona, and now leads the league.

Yo soy seguidor del Atlético.
I am an Atlético fan.

El partido terminó 3 a 2.
The match ended 3 -2.

¿Qué deportes practicas habitualmente?
What sports do you play regularly?

Practico bádminton y tenis de mesa.
I practice badminton and table tennis.

Vocabulary: Sports and Athletes

Sports

el deporte	sport
el fútbol	soccer
el fútbol americano	American football
el baloncesto	basket
el béisbol	baseball
el tenis	tennis
el tenis de mesa	ping pong
el esquí	ski
el atletismo	track and field
el boxeo	boxing
el ciclismo	cycling
el golf	golf
el hockey (sobre hielo)	(ice) hockey

Athletes

In most sports, the words for the people that practice them fall into one of these 2 categories:

• Ending in “-ista” for both male and female (“el futbolista, la futbolista”)

Other examples:

deportista	sportsman/woman
futbolista	soccer player, football player
baloncestista	basket player
beisbolista	baseball player
tenista	tennis player
ciclista	cyclist
golfista	golfer

• Ending in “-or” for male and “-ora” for female:

el esquiador la esquiadora	skier
el boxeador la boxeadora	boxer

There are a few exceptions that don’t fall into those 2 categories. For example, “atleta” is athlete for both male and female (“el atleta, la atleta”)

Other Vocabulary

Actions

hacer deporte	to do sport
jugar al tenis	to play tennis
ir al gimnasio	to go to the gym
hacer ejercicio	to exercise
correr	to rum
nadar	to swimm
competir	to compete

Places and things we use

el estadio	stadium
el campo de fútbol	soccer field
la pista de baloncesto	basketball court
la pista de tenis	tennis court
la piscina	swimming pool
el balón	ball (for football, basket…)
la pelota / la bola	ball (for tennis, ping pong, golf…)
la raqueta	racket
la bicicleta	bicycle
la canasta	basket
el bate	bat

Competitions

el partido	match
la carrera	race
el equipo	team
el resultado	the score
la competición	competition
el torneo	tournament
la liga	league
la final	final
las semifinales	semifinals
el campeón	champion
el trofeo	trophy
la copa	cup