Premier League & Football Leagues in Chinese 足球联赛
zúqiú liánsài
Premier League in Chinese is 英超 (yīng chāo).
Also searched for as: premier league, la liga, football league.
Week in, week out: the league. 15 words and phrases for Football leagues in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
The everyday word for a league is 联赛 (lián sài), and Chinese-speaking fans talk about both the 中超 (zhōng chāo), Chinese Super League, and the 英超 (yīng chāo), Premier League, which has a huge following across China, Singapore and Malaysia. These words help you follow the season week by week: where your team sits on the 积分榜 (jī fēn bǎng), league table, the drama of 降级 (jiàng jí), relegation, and the deals done in the 转会窗口 (zhuǎn huì chuāng kǒu), transfer window.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 联赛 | lián sài | league |
| 英超 | yīng chāo | the Premier League |
| 中超 | zhōng chāo | the Chinese Super League |
| 赛季 | sài jì | season |
| 积分榜 | jī fēn bǎng | league table |
| 积分 | jī fēn | points |
| 升级 | shēng jí | to be promoted |
| 降级 | jiàng jí | to be relegated |
| 保级 | bǎo jí | to avoid relegation |
| 转会 | zhuǎn huì | transfer |
| 转会窗口 | zhuǎn huì chuāng kǒu | transfer window |
| 德比 | dé bǐ | derby |
| 主场 | zhǔ chǎng | home ground; home game |
| 客场 | kè chǎng | away game |
| 射手榜 | shè shǒu bǎng | top scorers' chart |
Usage tips
- Other big leagues follow the same pattern as 英超: 西甲 (xī jiǎ) is La Liga, 意甲 (yì jiǎ) Serie A, 德甲 (dé jiǎ) the Bundesliga and 法甲 (fǎ jiǎ) Ligue 1.
- Club names are usually shortened or transliterated: 曼联 (Màn lián) is Manchester United, 曼城 (Màn chéng) Manchester City, 利物浦 (Lì wù pǔ) Liverpool and 阿森纳 (Ā sēn nà) Arsenal.
- Scores use 比 (bǐ), so 二比一 (èr bǐ yī) is 2–1, and results are 赢 (yíng), win, 输 (shū), lose, or 打平 (dǎ píng), draw, as in 一比一打平 (yī bǐ yī dǎ píng).
Common mistakes
- Using 推广 (tuī guǎng), which means 'promote' in the marketing sense, for a team going up; promotion is 升级 (shēng jí) and relegation is 降级 (jiàng jí).
- Translating 'home game' with 家 (jiā): a home game is 主场 (zhǔ chǎng), 'host ground', and an away game is 客场 (kè chǎng), 'guest ground', so 在家比赛 sounds like playing in your living room.
Mini dialogue
- A昨天的德比你看了吗？Zuó tiān de dé bǐ nǐ kàn le ma?Did you watch the derby yesterday?
- B看了，我们队客场赢了，二比一！Kàn le, wǒ men duì kè chǎng yíng le, èr bǐ yī!I did. We won away, two-one!
- A太好了，现在在积分榜上排第几？Tài hǎo le, xiàn zài zài jī fēn bǎng shàng pái dì jǐ?Brilliant. Where are you in the table now?
- B第四，比上个赛季好多了。Dì sì, bǐ shàng gè sài jì hǎo duō le.Fourth, much better than last season.
- A我们队就惨了，可能要降级。Wǒ men duì jiù cǎn le, kě néng yào jiàng jí.My team's in trouble. We might go down.
- B别担心，转会窗口还没关呢，还能买人。Bié dān xīn, zhuǎn huì chuāng kǒu hái méi guān ne, hái néng mǎi rén.Don't worry, the transfer window's still open, so there's time to sign players.
Example sentences
- 英超是世界上最有名的联赛。The Premier League is the most famous league in the world.
- 你看英超吗？Do you watch the Premier League?
- 中超的外援很多。There are lots of foreign players in the Chinese Super League.
- 新赛季八月开始。The new season starts in August.
- 我们队在积分榜上排第三。Our team is third in the table.
- 赢一场得三分，积分最多的拿冠军。A win gets you three points, and the team with the most points wins the league.
- 他们终于升级了！They've finally been promoted!
- 这支球队今年可能会降级。This team might get relegated this year.
- 最后一轮他们成功保级。They survived relegation on the last day.
- 他转会到了皇马。He transferred to Real Madrid.
- 转会窗口明天关闭。The transfer window closes tomorrow.
- 曼彻斯特德比非常激烈。The Manchester derby is very intense.
- 明天是主场比赛。Tomorrow is a home game.
- 客场赢球很难。It's hard to win away.
- 他在射手榜上排第一。He's top of the scoring charts.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Football leagues speaking island has 8 everyday questions about Football leagues to prepare your own answers to.