Sport or Sports?
2020-03-07
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1This week, we answer a question from a listener in China, who asks:
2Question: What is the difference between sports and sport? VOA Fan, China
3That is an interesting question. I'm sure you know that "sports" can be the plural form of the word "sport."
4You may not know that we can use the word as a verb or adjective. More on that later.
5The simple answer is that in the United States, we use the noun "sport" to talk about any contest or game that involves physical activity.
6When we talk about "sports" we mean the plural form of the noun.
7That is how we talk about basketball, football and baseball as a group.
8But if you are in Britain, or you speak British English, you would use the noun "sport" to talk about the same group of activities.
9I looked at the BBC News website and their top menu shows "Sport" for the news about Football, Cricket, Tennis, Golf and so on.
10Let's look at some examples.
11My son is a computer programmer. He says:
12I am not interested in sports.
13A British person who shares my son's opinion would say,
14I am not interested in sport.
15When getting to know someone new, a British person may ask:
16Do you do any sport?
17That does not sound right to my American ears. I would ask,
18Do you play any sports?
19You can also use the adjective "sport" to describe something.
20If you do not make money by fishing, that it, you only fish for fun, you are a "sport fisherman."
21As a verb, "sport" means to wear something.
22It is mostly used when someone is wearing something that is attention-getting.
23He is sporting a bright blue jacket in the photo.
24And that's Ask a Teacher!
25I'm Jill Robbins.
1This week, we answer a question from a listener in China, who asks: 2Question: What is the difference between sports and sport? VOA Fan, China 3Answer: 4Dear VOA Fan: 5That is an interesting question. I'm sure you know that "sports" can be the plural form of the word "sport." You may not know that we can use the word as a verb or adjective. More on that later. 6British and American English 7The simple answer is that in the United States, we use the noun "sport" to talk about any contest or game that involves physical activity. When we talk about "sports" we mean the plural form of the noun. That is how we talk about basketball, football and baseball as a group. 8But if you are in Britain, or you speak British English, you would use the noun "sport" to talk about the same group of activities. I looked at the BBC News website and their top menu shows "Sport" for the news about Football, Cricket, Tennis, Golf and so on. 9Let's look at some examples. My son is a computer programmer. He says: 10I am not interested in sports. 11A British person who shares my son's opinion would say, 12I am not interested in sport. 13When getting to know someone new, a British person may ask: 14Do you do any sport? 15That does not sound right to my American ears. I would ask, 16Do you play any sports? 17Other ways to use 'sport' 18You can also use the adjective "sport" to describe something. If you do not make money by fishing, that it, you only fish for fun, you are a "sport fisherman." 19As a verb, "sport" means to wear something. It is mostly used when someone is wearing something that is attention-getting. 20He is sporting a bright blue jacket in the photo. 21And that's Ask a Teacher! 22I'm Jill Robbins. 23Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 24________________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26menu - n. a list of things that you can choose from 27Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.