Sports in Chinese 运动
yùndòng
Sport in Chinese is 运动 (yùn dòng).
Also searched for as: sport, exercise, play sports.
Hobby specifics: staying active. 20 essential sports words 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 word for sport in Chinese is 运动 (yùn dòng), which also means exercise in general. These words cover the sports people play and watch, from 足球 (zú qiú), football, and 篮球 (lán qiú), basketball, to 乒乓球 (pīng pāng qiú), table tennis, and 羽毛球 (yǔ máo qiú), badminton, two hugely popular games in China. You'll also learn how to talk about matches, teams, winning and losing, and the right verb for each sport.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 运动 | yùn dòng | sport; exercise |
| 足球 | zú qiú | football |
| 篮球 | lán qiú | basketball |
| 网球 | wǎng qiú | tennis |
| 乒乓球 | pīng pāng qiú | table tennis |
| 羽毛球 | yǔ máo qiú | badminton |
| 游泳 | yóu yǒng | swimming |
| 跑步 | pǎo bù | running |
| 健身 | jiàn shēn | to work out |
| 健身房 | jiàn shēn fáng | gym |
| 瑜伽 | yú jiā | yoga |
| 比赛 | bǐ sài | match; competition |
| 赢 | yíng | to win |
| 输 | shū | to lose |
| 队 | duì | team |
| 球员 | qiú yuán | player |
| 教练 | jiào liàn | coach |
| 锻炼 | duàn liàn | to exercise |
| 自行车 | zì xíng chē | bicycle |
| 滑雪 | huá xuě | skiing |
Usage tips
- Ball sports choose their verb: football is 踢 (tī) 'kick', while basketball, tennis, table tennis and badminton use 打 (dǎ), so 踢足球 (tī zú qiú) but 打篮球 (dǎ lán qiú).
- To ask which team someone supports, say 你支持哪个队？ (nǐ zhī chí nǎ ge duì?), and count matches with 场 (chǎng): 一场比赛 (yī chǎng bǐ sài).
- 锻炼 (duàn liàn) stresses keeping fit, as in 锻炼身体 (duàn liàn shēn tǐ), while 运动 (yùn dòng) can mean either exercise in general or a particular sport.
Common mistakes
- Saying 玩足球 for 'play football' → football is kicked: 踢足球 (tī zú qiú).
- Saying 我们输了他们 for 'we lost to them' → 输 needs 给 before the opponent: 我们输给了他们 (wǒ men shū gěi le tā men), whereas 赢 can take the opponent directly: 我们赢了他们 (wǒ men yíng le tā men).
Mini dialogue
- A你平时喜欢做什么运动？Nǐ píng shí xǐ huan zuò shén me yùn dòng?What sport do you usually like to do?
- B我喜欢打羽毛球，每周打两次。你呢？Wǒ xǐ huan dǎ yǔ máo qiú, měi zhōu dǎ liǎng cì. Nǐ ne?I like badminton. I play twice a week. What about you?
- A我喜欢踢足球。今晚有一场比赛，一起看吗？Wǒ xǐ huan tī zú qiú. Jīn wǎn yǒu yī chǎng bǐ sài, yī qǐ kàn ma?I like football. There's a match tonight, want to watch it together?
- B好啊！你支持哪个队？Hǎo a! Nǐ zhī chí nǎ ge duì?Sure! Which team do you support?
Example sentences
- 你平时喜欢做什么运动？What sport do you usually like to do?
- 男孩子们在操场上踢足球。The boys are playing football on the pitch.
- 他个子高，篮球打得很好。He's tall and plays basketball very well.
- 我每周六和朋友打网球。I play tennis with a friend every Saturday.
- 中国人很喜欢打乒乓球。Chinese people really love playing table tennis.
- 下班后我们去打羽毛球吧。Let's play badminton after work.
- 夏天我常常去游泳。I often go swimming in summer.
- 她每天早上跑步半小时。She goes running for half an hour every morning.
- 我一周健身三次。I work out three times a week.
- 我家附近新开了一家健身房。A new gym has opened near my home.
- 妈妈最近在学瑜伽。Mum has been learning yoga recently.
- 今晚有一场足球比赛。There's a football match tonight.
- 我们队赢了！Our team won!
- 昨天的比赛他们输了。They lost yesterday's match.
- 你喜欢哪个队？Which team do you support?
- 这个球员跑得非常快。This player runs really fast.
- 教练让我们多跑几圈。The coach made us run a few more laps.
- 多锻炼身体才会健康。You need to exercise more to stay healthy.
- 我每天骑自行车上班。I cycle to work every day.
- 冬天我们去东北滑雪。In winter we go skiing in north-east China.
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Sports speaking island has 8 everyday questions about sports to prepare your own answers to.