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Warm up!
Fill in the gap with one word
- I like to ______ sports, especially team sports
- I am not very _____ , I prefer to read books at home.
- I have been _____Â yoga for 2 years
Show / Hide answers
- I like to _do / play / watch / practice__ sports, especially team sports
- I am not very _sporty / active _ , I prefer to read books at home.
- I have been _doing / practicing_ yoga for 2 years
Table of Contents
IELTS Speaking Vocabulary: Sports
Essential Vocabulary Â
Sport (n. – countable)Â
Which sport do you practice?
I like doing winter sports, like skiing and skating Â
Sport (n. – uncountable)
I did a lot of sport when I was younger, I don’t do much sport these days.Â
To sport (v.) = to wearÂ
She is sporting a fashionable red hat.Â
Sporty (adj.) = someone who enjoys doing sport
I am not really the sporty type
There are different verbs we can use with the word ‘sport’ and also different sports will take different verbs.Â
Verb + Sport
- Do sports
- Play sports
- Practice sports (more serious)
I like to play many different sports
I mainly do sports on the weekend
- Play soccer / football / tennis
We usually use ‘play’ for competitive team sports
- Do yoga / pilates / judo
We usually use ‘do’ for individual sports without a ball
IELTS Speaking: Doing Sports
Below we have some different ways of saying ‘I like’ a sport
- I’m into _____
- I’m keen on _____
- I’m a big fan of _______
- I’m one for _____
- I really dig _______
I’m keen on playing footballÂ
I really dig basketball
Which sport did you practice as a child?
- I used to ____
- I played____
- I was into ___
- I would ____
I used to play football at school. I played in goals. I was really into football actually. We would also play everyday in the break between classes.Â
Which sports do you do now?
- I’m into _____
- I currently play / do ______
- At the moment, I am doing ______
- I’m fond of _______
I’m into basketball nowadays, I currently play every Saturday. At the moment, I am playing for a local team in a local league.
When a preposition is followed by a verb, that verb needs to be in the gerund (the ING form).
IELTS Speaking: Watching Sports
Do you prefer to do sports or watch them?
- Listen to the first answer and note any interesting collocations or phrasal verbs
Hide / Show collocations
I must confess, although I played lots of sport as a kid, nowadays I just don’t get round to it. (Find time to do something).
After working all day, I prefer to slump down (to drop, to collapse) in front of the telly and watch a good football match.
I guess I have become a bit of a couch potato (a person who spends too much time on the sofa. Someone who is lazy or bone idle)
- A couch = a sofaÂ
- To slouch = to sit but not straight, with a bad posture Â
2. Listen to the second answer and note any interesting collocations or phrasal verbs
Hide / Show collocations
Well, I watch the occasional football match or game of golf, but I am not an avid sports fan, (a big sports fan) to be honest.Â
I certainly don’t play any sports nowadays, unless a walk in the park counts.
I don’t ______ , unless ____ countsÂ
I don’t ______, unless _____ can be considered / included
IELTS Speaking Tip: Tenses
There is not much difficult vocabulary with a topic like ‘sports’.
So you can use simple vocabulary, but use several different tenses. Using a wide range of tenses will help improve your score for grammar in the IELTS Speaking test.
Listen to this simple answer.
How many different tenses do you hear?
Show / Hide answers
5 different tenses
- I play tennis, (present simple)
- I’ve been playing since I was a kid (present perfect continuous)
- I remember I took it up when I was 9Â (simple past)Â
- because I had seen my friends play it (past perfect) And I wanted to try it too,
- I thought when I am older, I will be the best player in the world (1st conditional)
Collocations with ‘Sports’
Here are some common ones, for the word ‘sport’.
- It’s a mainstream sport (popular with everyone)Â
- It’s a competitive sportÂ
- It’s a spectator sport (=a sport many people watch)
Find out more collocations with OZDIC
IELTS Speaking Tip: What if I Hate Sports?
Don’t worry, if you have no interest in an IELTS speaking topic, like ‘sports’.Â
The important thing is that you say something.Â
Try following this simple formulaÂ
- Say why you hate it
- Talk about past experiences of sportÂ
- What you prefer instead
For example,
I’m not really into sports, to be honest.
I’ve never been really sporty.Â
I hated sports at school, it was so competitive,Â
and I used to get tired so easily.
On top of that, I’m not very strong physically, so I always struggled.Â
I’d much rather stay at home and watch TV.
Idioms to Talk About Sports
- To try your hand at = to try a new activityÂ
I’d like to try my hand at paragliding, it looks so much fun!
- To take up = to start a hobby / sportÂ
I’d take up water skiing, if I had the time and lived near a lake
- To root for = to support (a team, a player)
I am not a big United fan, but I am rooting for United because I hate City.
More Free Lessons​
If you liked this lesson, leave a comment below!
There are more lessons you can follow in the links below too.
TRANSPORTATION in IELTS Speaking Learn th different types of transportation, both public and private, as well as the problems transportation systems have.Â
SOCIALISING in IELTS Speaking. Vocabulary and collocations to talk about socialising.
OLYMPICS in IELTS Speaking Essential vocabulary and idioms to talk about Olympic events and athletes, as well as your feelings about them.
MOBILE PHONESÂ in IELTS Speaking Learn vocabulary of phones and ideas to talk about how we use phones in our lives.
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