Most of us have a favorite sport or “deporte”, even if we do not play it that often. This lesson will introduce some of the vocabulary for sports in Spanish, and more than a list of sports, we learn how to form basic sentences with sports in Spanish and see them in use through real conversations. Comencemos…
Vocabulary: A list of common sports in Spanish – Los deportes en español
We will begin the lesson by watching a short video introducing the vocabulary for sports in Spanish, “los deportes”. This video includes a list of basic sports in Spanish that we will be using later in the conversation samples. As usual, there are also some tips about the way the vocabulary is used in real situation and each picture has a statement related to the sport on it. If you have trouble getting the message of any part of the video, please activate the captions (cc) below.
Common questions and Spanish sports phrases
We will review the vocabulary presented in the video with some conversations using common questions and Spanish sports phrases. Regarding questions, to ask “what is your favorite sport” in Spanish, you can use the question “¿Cuál es tu deporte favorito?”, or being more specific, “¿Te gusta el + deporte? (Do you like…?). In order to say your favorite sport in Spanish, you can use the phrases: “Mi deporte favorito es + deporte” or “El deporte que más me gusta es el/la + deporte”.
Generally speaking, you will need some of the following verbs when talking about sports in Spanish: GANAR (to win), PERDER(to lose), JUGAR (to play), PRACTICAR (to practice), QUERER(to want), GUSTAR (to like), PREFERIR (to prefer), IR (to go) and VER (to watch). Here are some basic examples of Spanish sports phrases using these verbs, some of which are also included in the conversations.
Listen to these examples and try to identify the words for sports in them as well as other interesting sports phrases.
Conversations about sports in Spanish
Listen to the following examples and identify the vocabulary about sports, as well as some of the phrases we presented earlier.
Example No. 1
- Carlos: ¿Cuál es tu deporte favorito Leo?
- Leo: Uhmm… me gustan varios deportes, pero mi favorito es el fútbol.
- Carlos: A mí me gusta más el béisbol ¿Por qué te gusta el fútbol?
- Leo: Porque es un deporte fácil y divertido. Siempre me divierto mucho jugando con mis amigos.
Example No. 2
- Carlos: Leo, ¿quieres jugar baloncesto?
- Leo: Si, claro vamos a jugar, pero después jugamos tenis ¿sí?
- Carlos: Por supuesto, aunque ya sabes que siempre gano
- Leo: Esta vez no te dejaré ganar… De todas maneras yo siempre gano en tenis de mesa.
- Carlos: Pero es porque haces trampa
Definite articles and adjectives to describe sports in Spanish
Definite articles for sports in Spanish
Focusing a bit on the grammatical structure, you should know that we use the definite articles such as EL and LA before most sports in Spanish, especially when they are mentioned individually. EL is used for sports in masculine form such as FUTBOL, TENIS and so on, whereas LA will be used for sports in feminine form like NATACIÓN as in the sentences “Me gusta el fútbol” and “Prefiero la natación”. Make sure not to use EL or LA when the name of the sport is used after the verbs JUGAR and PRACTICAR, so something like “I play hockey” would be translated as “Juego jóquey” not “Juego el jóquey”.
Using adjectives to describe sports in Spanish
You can use some adjectives to describe sports in Spanish including DIVERTIDO, ABURRIDO, INTERESANTE, ENTRETENIDO, FÁCIL, DIFÍCIL, CANSADO and others. This way you can share your opinion about a particular sport, e.g. “El béisbol es divertido” (baseball is fun). In general, there are different tenses involved in a conversation about sports including expressions in the present tense like “Es un deporte divertido”, in the past tense like “Olvidé ver el partido” (I forgot to watch the match) or the future tense like “Vamos a jugar tenis después”. Please check the examples below and check how both definite articles and adjectives can be used to describe sports in Spanish.
Example No. 3
- Leo: ¿Qué estás viendo en la televisión?
- Carlos: Estoy viendo un partido de jóquey… Ambos equipos son muy buenos.
- Leo: ¿Quién es ese jugador?
- Carlos: Él es Marcos, el capitán del equipo rojo.
Example No. 4
- Leo: Oye Carlos, ¿Por qué no jugamos voleibol?
- Carlos: pero Leo, está haciendo calor… Mejor jugamos después ¿No quieres ir a nadar?
- Leo: No soy muy bueno para la natación… No puedo nadar.
- Carlos: No te preocupes, yo te enseño… Recuerda que hoy vamos a ver la final de futbol americano.
- Leo: Es cierto, se me había olvidado.
Example No. 5
- Leo: uhmm ¿Cómo se llama ese deporte?
- Carlos: Se llama fútbol rugby y es bastante común en Inglaterra.
- Leo: Ahh que interesante. Hay muchos deportes divertidos ¿verdad?
- Carlos: Si, muchas personas practican boxeo, ciclismo, golf y otros deportes entretenidos y saludables.
Listening Activity No. 1: Talking about sports in Spanish – Hablando sobre deportes
Key expressions in the conversation:
- “No soy tan bueno en” means “I am not that good at”
- “Te apuesto a que…” means “I bet that”
- “¿Me estás retando?” means “Are you challenging me?”
Listening practice No. 2: Completing a conversation about sports in Spanish.
Related Spanish Worksheets:
- Common Sports in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- Common Hobbies in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
- Pastimes, Likes & Dislikes in Spanish – PDF Worksheet