Talking about sports and hobbies, verbs play, go and do

1. Sports and hobbies
We all enjoy doing different sports and hobbies. They
are very good topics of conversation. We often ask
questions like:
What sports do you do?
Do you have any hobbies?
How long have you been painting for?
When did you start playing badminton?
What do you enjoy about diving?

2. PLAY, GO or DO SPORTS
There are 3 verbs used to talk about sports.
PLAY = football, tennis, hockey, basketball (basically any
sports PLAYED with a ball)
GO = swimming, hiking, skiing, sailing (movement)
DO = yoga, pilates, karate, Tai-chi.
The verb “practise” in English is used to talk about
technique when doing a sport NOT FOR SPORT IN
GENERAL
e.g. I need to practise my starts in the 100m sprint.
It is also used for music and languages


3. Where do you play/do/go ……?
There are different words for the places we
use for sport e.g.
PITCH = Football, rugby, cricket, hockey
COURT = Basketball, tennis, volleyball
TRACK – Athletics, cycling, horse racing, car racing
COURSE – Golf, cross country running
GYM- Pilates, spinning, weight-lifting gym
RING – Boxing
RINK- Ice skating, ice hockey

4. Equipment
Here are some words for sports equipment
NET, RACKETS, BALL, SHUTTTLECOCK - tennis,
badminton, squash
BOOTS, SHORTS, SHINPADS, STICKS –
 football, rugby, hockey
CLUBS, TEE, BALLS, HOLES – Golf
BOARD, SAIL, KITE, PADDLES, LIFEJACKETS –
windsurfing, kite surfing, sailing, canoeing

5. Hobbies and Games
Painting – brushes, easel
Hiking – boots, rucksack
Photography - camera
Chess – board and pieces
Scrabble – board, tiles
Cards – deck of cards
Stamp/coin collecting

6. Hobbies and Games
Painting – brushes, easel
Hiking – boots, rucksack
Photography - camera
Chess – board and pieces
Scrabble – board, tiles
Cards – deck of cards
Stamp/coin collecting