SPORTS COLLOCATIONS

COLLOCATIONS: DO, PLAY OR GO WITH SPORTS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

There are three verbs that collocate with sports and other free time activities: go, do and play, but they are not interchangeable.

Go	Do	Play
riding	aerobics	badminton
jogging	gymnastics	table-tennis
hitch-hiking	taekwondo	football
fishing	judo	basketball
sailing	karate	chess
windsurfing	kung-fu	cricket
skiing	ballet	board games
snowboarding	exercise	snooker
swimming	yoga	hockey
dancing	athletics	baseball
skating	archery	rugby
cycling	a crossword puzzle	volleyball
running	tai chi	squash

COMMON ERRORS

·      You do or play sport — NOT make sport

·      You do exercises — NOT make exercises

·      You play computer or other games — NOT do games

·      You have or play a game of cards — NOT make a game

·      You go skiing — NOT make skiing

·      You do activities — NOT make or practice activities

·      You train — you do something again and again (you practice taking a penalty)

WINNING AND LOSING — SPORT COLLOCATIONS IN CONTEXT

Sportsmen and sportswomen want to win matches, not lose matches. But you can’t win all the time! Sometimes a team or player deserves to win, but gets narrowly defeated or beaten.Before they go in for a competition (enter a competition), athletes train hard.

They probably attend (do) at least five training sessions a week. They are likely to put up a fight to gain (get) a place in the next stage (round) of the competition. Of course, a sportsperson’s ultimate aim is to break the world recordin their sport. If they succeed, they set a new world record and become a world record holder. They are sure to come up against fierce (intense) competition as they try to achieve their ambitions. Sometimes they are satisfied if they just achieve a personal best.

Some sports people so desperately want to win that they take drugs to enhance their performance. This will be discovered when they fail a drugs test.

FOOTBALL COLLOCATIONS IN CONTEXT

You can play or have a football match (game of football). It might be a home or an 

Away match, depending on whether you’re playing on your team’s home ground or not.

The aim is to score a goal. Players may tackle an opponent to try to take possession of the ball. If you tackle in an illegal way, you foul your opponent. This will lead to the referee blowing his whistle and an opponent taking a penalty or taking a free kick. If someone isn’t playing very well the manager may decide to drop the player from the team or bring on a substitute. Both team hope that they will have taken the lead by half-time