Talking About Sports in Mandarin: Key Verbs and Phrases ⚽️

In this lesson, you’ll learn essential Mandarin vocabulary for talking about sports and making plans. Follow along with the dialogue between two brothers, Wang Wei and Wang Lei, as they decide on an activity and a time to meet. You’ll master key verbs like “to run,” “to play basketball,” and “to play soccer.”

💬 Video Transcript

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 哥哥，你好。
(Wáng Wěi: Hello, older brother.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 王伟，你好。你在做什么？
(Wáng Lěi: Hello, Wang Wei. What are you doing?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 我没有做什么。我觉得有点累。
(Wáng Wěi: I’m not doing anything. I feel a bit tired.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 你累了？我们去做运动，怎么样？
(Wáng Lěi: You’re tired? How about we go do some sports?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 做运动？好啊！我们做什么运动？
(Wáng Wěi: Do sports? Okay! What sports should we do?)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 我喜欢跑步。你喜欢跑步吗？
(Wáng Lěi: I like running. Do you like running?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 我也喜欢跑步。跑步很好。
(Wáng Wěi: I also like running. Running is very good.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 太好了！我们都喜欢跑步。
(Wáng Lěi: That’s great! We both like running.)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 哥哥，你还喜欢什么运动？
(Wáng Wěi: Older brother, what other sports do you like?)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 我还喜欢打篮球。你呢？你喜欢打篮球吗？
(Wáng Lěi: I also like to play basketball. What about you? Do you like to play basketball?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 我不喜欢打篮球。我喜欢踢足球。
(Wáng Wěi: I don’t like to play basketball. I like to play soccer.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 你喜欢踢足球。我不太喜欢踢足球。
(Wáng Lěi: You like to play soccer. I don’t really like to play soccer.)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 没关系。我们都喜欢跑步。
(Wáng Wěi: No problem. We both like running.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 对。那我们去跑步吧。
(Wáng Lěi: Right. Then let’s go running.)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 好。我们去哪里跑步？
(Wáng Wěi: Okay. Where are we going to run?)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 我们去公园跑步，怎么样？
(Wáng Lěi: How about we go run in the park?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 去公园跑步？这个主意很好。
(Wáng Wěi: Run in the park? That’s a great idea.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 公园很大，也很漂亮。
(Wáng Lěi: The park is very big, and also very beautiful.)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 是的。在公园跑步很好。我们什么时候去？
(Wáng Wěi: Yes. Running in the park is very good. When are we going?)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 我们今天去吗？
(Wáng Lěi: Are we going today?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 今天？今天我有点儿忙。
(Wáng Wěi: Today? I’m a little busy today.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 那我们明天去，好吗？
(Wáng Lěi: Then let’s go tomorrow, okay?)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 明天？好。明天我们去公园跑步。
(Wáng Wěi: Tomorrow? Okay. Tomorrow we’ll go running in the park.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 太好了！明天我们一起去跑步。
(Wáng Lěi: That’s great! We’ll go running together tomorrow.)

王伟 (Wáng Wěi): 嗯，明天见，哥哥。
(Wáng Wěi: Mmm, see you tomorrow, older brother.)

王磊 (Wáng Lěi): 明天见，王伟。
(Wáng Lěi: See you tomorrow, Wang Wei.)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words and phrases from the dialogue that you should know.

🔍 Grammar Focus

Let’s look at a common grammar point from the dialogue: using 也 (yě) and 还 (hái) to express “also” or “in addition.”

Expressing “Also” with 也 (yě) and 还 (hái)

In Mandarin, both 也 (yě) and 还 (hái) can translate to “also,” but they are used in slightly different contexts.

1. 也 (yě) - “also,” “too” Use 也 (yě) when you are saying that someone or something shares a quality or does the same action as a previously mentioned one. It shows agreement or similarity.

From the script:

• 王磊: 我喜欢跑步。你喜欢跑步吗？ (Wáng Lěi: I like running. Do you like running?)
• 王伟: 我 也 喜欢跑步。 (Wáng Wěi: I also like running.)

Here, Wang Wei uses 也 (yě) to state that he shares the same interest as Wang Lei.

2. 还 (hái) - “also,” “in addition” Use 还 (hái) when you are adding another, different piece of information about the same subject. It means “in addition to what I just said…”

From the script:

• 王磊: 我 还 喜欢打篮球。 (Wáng Lěi: I also like to play basketball.)

Wang Lei has already said he likes running. He uses 还 (hái) to add a second, different sport that he also enjoys. He is adding to his own list of interests.

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Test your memory with these flashcards based on the new vocabulary.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the main points to remember from this lesson:

• Different sports use different verbs: 打 (dǎ) for sports played with hands (like basketball, 打篮球) and 踢 (tī) for sports played with feet (like soccer, 踢足球).
• To make a suggestion, you can use the pattern: [Activity], 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng)? For example: “我们去公园跑步，怎么样？” (How about we go running in the park?).
• Use 也 (yě) to agree or show similarity (“I also like…”). Use 还 (hái) to add more information about the same topic (“In addition, I like…”).
• To form a simple yes/no question, you can add the particle 吗 (ma) to the end of a statement. For example: “你喜欢跑步吗？” (Do you like running?).

🎯 Practice Quiz

Let’s see what you’ve learned!

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below.