Sport & Fitness
Sport & Fitness — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, false friends and four interactive exercises.
📌 Lesson contents
🎯 Lesson aim
Twenty words for talking about sport 🏃 and a golden rule that few learners know: use play with team games (play football), go with -ing activities (go swimming) and do with individual disciplines (do judo). 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
Davide’s season · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
In September Davide decided to take up running. The first week was humiliating: after eight hundred metres he was already out of breath, and he nearly wanted to give up.
His coach at the athletics club told him to be patient. Every training session started the same way: ten minutes to warm up, then intervals to build stamina, then exercises for strength. Slowly he began to get fit.
In March he entered his first race. His main opponent was a boy from Leeds who had been in the league for years. Davide finished second — a defeat, technically, but two minutes faster than his best time. In April he twisted a foot: the sprain kept him out for a month, and the injury cost him the whole summer season. "Next year," he says, "I'll compete properly."
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words are learned in pairs, not alone: memorise the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| keep in shape | to stay healthy through exercise | Swimming keeps me in shape. |
| break a record | to do better than the best result before | She broke the school record. |
| beat the opposition | to win against the other side | They beat the opposition easily. |
| play for a team | to be a member of a team in matches | He plays for the local team. |
| be knocked out | to lose and leave a competition | They were knocked out in the semi-final. |
| push yourself | to try as hard as you can | You have to push yourself a bit. |
⚠️ Tricky Words and Traps
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Common trap ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| gym | a place with exercise equipment | As a school subject it is PE (physical education) |
| agenda | a list of things to discuss at a meeting | It isn’t a notebook for dates → that is a diary / planner |
| pretend | to act as if something is true | It doesn’t mean “to ask strongly for something” → that is demand |
| scope | the range of a subject or activity | It doesn’t mean “purpose” → that is purpose / aim |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| We smashed them! | very informal | between fans and friends |
| We won three-nil. | neutral | always correct |
| It was a hard-fought victory. | journalistic | sports reports |
| The visiting side prevailed. | formal | written reports, official texts |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I do football every Saturday. | I play football every Saturday. |
| I make swimming twice a week. | I go swimming twice a week. |
| We have won them 2-0. | We beat them 2-0. |
| I am training since two years. | I've been training for two years. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The short hint is your clue.
- I three times a week.💡 I do exercise three times a week.
- Always before running.💡 Always prepare your muscles before you run.
- I joined the gym to .💡 I joined a gym to become healthy and strong again.
- Cycling really builds .💡 Cycling really builds your power to keep going.
- He trains for , not size.💡 She trains for power, not for body size.
- Their was much taller.💡 The team they played against was much taller.
- The showed him a yellow card.💡 The match official showed him a yellow card.
- She managed to in the last minute.💡 She managed to get a goal in the last minute.
- The match ended in a .💡 The match ended with the same number of goals for both teams.
- We them three-nil.💡 We won against them three goals to none.