enforex_pages_landing_block_41b843e8-633e-4a3d-bb25-dbf3bc270b0a

Submitted by analitica2 on Fri, 03/14/2025 - 09:37

Learning a language is hard work, but it's more enjoyable if you decide to start by mastering the vocabulary of your hobbies or interests. So, if you're passionate about sports, it's essential that you know how to have a conversation about your favorite team.

At don Quijote we want to help you with that and bring you the definitive list of sports vocabulary in Spanish you need. Soccer? Basketball? Tennis? Learn all the terms used to talk about sports in Spanish with us.

You can also read this article in Spanish here.

List of sports in Spanish

Before we get fully into the vocabulary, you need to know the name of your favorite sport in Spanish. Here is a very complete list of sports in Spanish so you can find yours:

  • Fútbol – Soccer or Football
  • Baloncesto - Basketball
  • Tenis - Tennis
  • Pádel - Paddle tennis
  • Natación - Swimming
  • Waterpolo - Water polo
  • Voleibol - Volleyball
  • Hockey
  • Balonmano - Handball
  • Fórmula 1 - Formula 1
  • MotoGP
  • Atletismo - Athletics
  • Ciclismo - Cycling
  • Golf
  • Béisbol - Baseball
  • Bádminton - Badminton
  • Rugby
  • Patinaje - Skating
  • Esquí - Skiing
  • Surf - Surfing
  • Equitación - Horse riding
  • Karate
  • Judo
  • Boxeo - Boxing
  • Artes marciales - Martial arts
  • Escalada - Climbing
  • Esgrima - Fencing
  • Piragüismo – Canoeing

Spanish sports vocabulary | donQuijote

Submitted by analitica2 on Fri, 03/14/2025 - 09:35
Spanish sports vocabulary

Spanish sports vocabulary. The list of sports in Spanish and specific vocabulary for each sport in Spanish. Spanish sports words: football, basketball, tennis...

spanish sports vocabulary

Learning a language is hard work, but it's more enjoyable if you decide to start by mastering the vocabulary of your hobbies or interests. So, if you're passionate about sports, it's essential that you know how to have a conversation about your favorite team.

At don Quijote we want to help you with that and bring you the definitive list of sports vocabulary in Spanish you need. Soccer? Basketball? Tennis? Learn all the terms used to talk about sports in Spanish with us.

You can also read this article in Spanish here.

List of sports in Spanish

Before we get fully into the vocabulary, you need to know the name of your favorite sport in Spanish. Here is a very complete list of sports in Spanish so you can find yours:

  • Fútbol – Soccer or Football
  • Baloncesto - Basketball
  • Tenis - Tennis
  • Pádel - Paddle tennis
  • Natación - Swimming
  • Waterpolo - Water polo
  • Voleibol - Volleyball
  • Hockey
  • Balonmano - Handball
  • Fórmula 1 - Formula 1
  • MotoGP
  • Atletismo - Athletics
  • Ciclismo - Cycling
  • Golf
  • Béisbol - Baseball
  • Bádminton - Badminton
  • Rugby
  • Patinaje - Skating
  • Esquí - Skiing
  • Surf - Surfing
  • Equitación - Horse riding
  • Karate
  • Judo
  • Boxeo - Boxing
  • Artes marciales - Martial arts
  • Escalada - Climbing
  • Esgrima - Fencing
  • Piragüismo – Canoeing

These are just some of the best-known sports, but there are many more. Are you missing anything? Let us know!

Spanish sports words

In addition to learning sports vocabulary in Spanish, you also need to know some general terms. In most sports, the people who attend the estadios or campos (stadiums or fields) are aficionados (fans) and they are also called afición (fandom). The songs to cheer on your favorite team are called cánticos, but you will also be able to hear the team's anthem before the game.

In a soccer or basketball game you need a árbitro (referee) to control and direct the fouls or collisions between the jugadores (players). And many sports have prórroga (extra time) after the end of regulation time.

Now that you know the main terms, let's look at the specific vocabulary of each sport. Come and learn Spanish in Spain will allow you to get to know, attend and experience first-hand matches of great teams or international players, as well as use all the relevant terms of your favorite sport in Spanish in context.

Football vocabulary in Spanish  

The sport par excellence in Spain and in most of the world is football. Football vocabulary in Spanish contains many words derived from English or directly in this language, so it can be easy.

Among the equipment used by players in a football match, you can find:

  • Balón - Ball
  • Portería - Goal
  • Red - Net
  • Espinilleras - Shin guards
  • Camiseta – T-shirt
  • Botas de fútbol Football boots

You should also know that the place where the game is played is a campo (field) or estadio (stadium), made up of líneas de banda (touchlines), área de penalti (penalty area) and banderines de córner (corner flags), among other elements.

The most common moves are regatear (dribbling), chutar (shooting), cabecear (heading), despejar (clearing), centrar (crossing), interceptar (intercepting), hacer un pase filtrado (playing a through ball), amagar (feinting) and recuperar el balón (winning the ball back). On the other hand, the positions of the players on a football pitch are delantero centro (center forward), extremo (winger), mediocampista defensivo/ofensivo (defensive/offensive midfielder), defensa central (center back), lateral (full back), portero (goalkeeper).

As for the key rules and terms of football:

  • Fuera de juego - Offside
  • Penalti - Penalty
  • Córner - Corner
  • Saque de banda - Throw-in
  • Falta - Foul
  • Tarjeta amarilla - Yellow card
  • Tarjeta roja - Red card
  • Tiempo añadido / Tiempo extra - Added time or extra time
  • Tiempo de descuento - Time remaining
  • VAR
  • Gol - Goal
  • Hat-trick
  • Chilena

Basketball vocabulary in Spanish

Another world-famous sport is basketball. Here you will find all the Spanish vocabulary for this sport that you might need during your intensive Spanish course or in conversations with your classmates.

The equipment and elements of the basketball court consist of a balón (ball), aro (hoop), canasta (basket), tablero (backboard), cancha (court), línea de tiro libre (free throw line), línea de tres puntos (three-point line), línea de fondo (baseline), línea de medio campo (half-court line), línea de banda (sideline), banquillo (bench), cronómetro (stopwatch), uniforme (uniform) and zapatillas (sneakers).

Not forgetting the movements characteristic of this sport: driblar or regatear (dribbling), encestar (score a basket), bloquear (blocking), asistir (assisting), pivotar (pivoting), fintar (feinting), hacer un mate (dunking), tiro en suspension (jump shots), tiro libre (free throws), alley-oop, robo de balón (steals) and tapón (blocks).

The positions of the players on a basketball court are base (point guard), escolta (shooting guard), alero (forward), ala-pívot (power forward) and pivot (center).

In addition, these words will be useful to you and are used in basketball:

  • Cancha or pista de baloncesto - Basketball court
  • Asistencia - Attendance
  • Punto - Point
  • Tiro - Shot
  • Rebote - Rebound
  • Mate - Dunk
  • Finta - Fint
  • Falta personal – Personal foul
  • Doble drible – Double dribble
  • Zona – Zone
  • Tiempo muerto – Time out
  • Posesión - Possession
  • Rebote ofensivo - Offensive rebound
  • Rebote defensivo - Defensive rebound

Tennis vocabulary in Spanish

Tennis is a very popular sport in Spain thanks to players such as Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. It is not surprising that these names come up in conversation, so below you will find the most relevant tennis vocabulary in Spanish.

Tennis players use a raqueta (racket) and a ball to play matches. The tennis court is called pista de tenis and is made up of a red (net) that separates the two players or teams.

In terms of moves, you can identify el saque plano, cortado or liftado (flat serve, cut or topspin), la volea (volley), el golpe de derecha (drive), el revés (backhand), dejada (drop shot), smash, passing shot, slice and top spin

The scoring system in tennis is not like in other sports, the points are added up in a different way. That's why in a tennis match you'll see the scoreboard go through these numbers: 15-30-40; and it doesn't add up one by one like in soccer, nor are there triple points like in basketball.

Key rules and terms of tennis in Spanish:

  • Saque or servicio - Serve
  • Doble falta - Double fault
  • Punto de ruptura - Break point
  • Punto de partido - Match point
  • Ace
  • Let
  • Saque directo - Direct serve
  • Línea de fondo - Baseline
  • Empuñadura - Grip
  • Overgrip
  • Cordaje - String
  • Deuce
  • Tie-break
  • Set

As in soccer or basketball, tennis has many technical terms that have remained untranslated in English, so it is easy to remember them if it is your native language.

Vocabulary of other sports in Spanish

Boxing is not as famous as soccer, but if you are interested in this sport, you should learn these terms:

  • Guantes - Gloves
  • Protector bucal - Mouth guard
  • Vendajes - Bandages
  • Ring
  • Esquina - Corner
  • Saco de boxeo - P unching bag
  • Nocaut (KO) - Knockout
  • Nocaut técnico (TKO) - Technical knockout
  • Conteo de protección - Protective count
  • Asalto - Assault
  • Guardia alta or guardia baja - High guard or low guard
  • Juez - Judge
  • Decisión dividida/unánime - Split/Unanimous Decision

The movements of boxers in the ring are jab, gancho (hook), uppercut, crochet, cross, esquivar (dodge), clinch, fintar (feint), contragolpe (counter punch) and golpe al hígado (liver punch), among others.

Let’s continue with another sport: swimming. This sport has several styles, it can be team, individual or synchronized. However, the vocabulary of swimming in Spanish is simple.

Among the swimming strokes are crol (crawl), brazada (breaststroke), espalda (backstroke), mariposa (butterfly), estilo libre (freestyle), nado de supervivencia (survival swim). Other Spanish sport terms related to this sport are:

  • Piscina - Swimming pool
  • Gorro – Swimming cap
  • Gafas – Swimming goggles
  • Bañador - Swimsuit
  • Respiración - Breathing
  • Bucear or Sumergirse - Diving
  • Flotar - Floating
  • Trampolín - Trampoline
  • Carriles - Rails
  • Aletas - Fins
  • Viraje - Turning
  • Patada de delfín - Dolphin kick
  • Deslizamiento - Slide
  • Salida en flecha - Arrow exit
  • Volteo - Flipping
  • Respiración bilateral - Bilateral Breathing

Sports with cars and motorcycles are also popular in Spain, especially Formula 1 and MotoGP. The equipment of the pilotos (drivers) is similar, as they both wear cascos (helmets), are vehículos monoplazas (single-seater vehicles) and have neumáticos (tires).

The movements are adelantar (overtaking), acelerar (accelerating), derrapar (skidding), hacer una parada en boxes (making a pit stop), tomar una curva (cornering), apurar la frenada (braking) and hacer un undercut or overcut (undercutting or overcutting).

Formula 1 vocabulary in Spanish:

  • Neumáticos pueden ser blandos, duros or intermedios - Tires can be soft, hard or intermediate
  • Alerón delantero y trasero - Front and rear wing
  • Volante – Steering wheel
  • DRS
  • Halo de seguridad - Safety halo
  • Pole position
  • Vuelta rápida - Fastest lap
  • Bandera roja o amarilla – Red or Yellow flag
  • Coche de seguridad - Safety car
  • Grip
  • Carga aerodinámica - Downforce
  • Estrategia de neumáticos - Tire strategy
  • Motor híbrido - Hybrid engine
  • Penalización en parrilla - Grid penalty

MotoGP vocabulary in Spanish:

  • Guantes - Gloves
  • Mono de cuero protector - Protective leather suit
  • Rodilleras - Knee pads
  • Botas - Boots
  • Deslizaderas - Sliders
  • Protector de espalda - Back protector
  • Pole position
  • Vuelta rápida - Fastest lap
  • Bandera roja - Red flag
  • Caídas en alta velocidad - High speed crashes
  • Box – Pit box
  • Setup de suspensión - Suspension setup

This sports vocabulary in Spanish will help you to improve and expand your knowledge about your favorite sport. So don't hesitate to come to Spain and discover all the matches you can watch live, with international and national players in world famous teams. Live the sport with don Quijote in one of our Spanish language schools!

Practical Spanish Spanish sports vocabulary. The list of sports in Spanish and specific vocabulary for each sport in Spanish. Spanish sports words. Spanish sports vocabulary, list of sports in Spanish, Spanish sports words, football vocabulary in Spanish, soccer vocabulary in Spanish Off Marta Díaz

enforex_pages_landing_block_152580b0-70f8-48c5-b230-951feb817979

Submitted by analitica2 on Thu, 03/06/2025 - 10:56

Examples with the conditional in Spanish

A good way to master the conditional in Spanish is to write sentences that start with 'Si...' and use this tense to see how it works in different contexts. But, to help you learn it better, here are some example sentences with the conditional:

  1. Me gustaría un café, por favor (I would like a coffee, please)
  2. ¿Querría algo más aparte del café? (Would you like anything else apart from coffee?)
  3. Si ganara la lotería, compraría una casa en la playa (If I won the lottery, I would buy a house by the beach)
  4. Yo en tu lugar, estudiaría más para el examen (If I were you, I would study more for the exam)
  5. Si hiciera buen tiempo, iríamos a la playa (If the weather was good, we would go to the beach)
  6. Dijo que llegaría a las ocho, pero aún no ha llegado (He said he would be here at eight, but he hasn't arrived yet)
  7. Ayer Luis no contestó el teléfono, estaría ocupado (Luis didn't answer the phone yesterday, he must be busy)
  8. Yo que tú, hablaría con el profesor para aclarar la duda (If I were you, I would talk to the teacher to clear up the doubt)

We hope we have helped you with the use of the Spanish conditional tense. However, if you still have doubts, don't hesitate to sign up for an intensive Spanish course, our teachers will teach you the tricks you need to master the Spanish conditional tense.

Although the key is to practice and correct common mistakes, don't think twice and come to study Spanish in Spain with don Quijote!

enforex_pages_landing_block_8c24d451-0155-43cd-af20-cc348562c7f5

Submitted by analitica2 on Thu, 03/06/2025 - 10:55

Conditional Compound in Spanish

The compound conditional in Spanish is used to talk about situations that would have happened in the past but did not. Thus, the compound conditional in Spanish is formed with the verb haber in the conditional + the participle of the main verb.

Another tip for the compound conditional: this tense in Spanish would be an English equivalent to “would have” + past participle (I would have studied).

Examples of the compound conditional in Spanish:

  • Habría estudiado más si hubiera tenido tiempo (I would have studied more if I had had the time)
  • Nos habríamos ido antes, pero llovía mucho (We would have left earlier, but it was raining a lot)

Common mistakes in the use of the Spanish conditional

Many students find it difficult to differentiate between the conditional and the subjunctive in Spanish. Remember that the conditional in Spanish expresses the consequence of a hypothesis, while the Spanish subjunctive is used when an action is unreal or improbable.

Furthermore, many people who learn Spanish as a second language make these mistakes when using the conditional:

  • It is incorrect to say: “Si tendría tiempo, viajaría” → The correct thing to say would be: “Si tuviera tiempo, viajaría”
  • You can't say: “Dijo que vendrá más tarde” → You must say: “Dijo que vendría más tarde”
  • If you want to sound more formal in a conversation, don't say: “¿Me puedes ayudar?” → Instead you can say: “¿Podría ayudarme?”

enforex_pages_landing_block_96b3971f-609d-406d-8add-6afc562d52b5

Submitted by analitica2 on Thu, 03/06/2025 - 10:42

Uses of the simple conditional in Spanish

The conditional has several uses in Spanish. The simple conditional in Spanish does not use auxiliary verbs as in English. If it helps, you can think of the Spanish conditional as the English “would” (I would like) because it would be the equivalent of the Spanish conditional tense.

Below, we explain the most important uses of the simple conditional in Spanish:

a) Hypothetical situations

The Spanish conditional is used to talk about things that could happen if certain conditions are met. For example:

  • Si estudiaras más, sacarías mejores notas (If you studied harder, you would get better grades)
  • Si fuera rico, viajaría por el mundo (If I were rich, I would travel the world)

b) Courtesy and formal requests

It is also common to use the simple conditional in Spanish to address others politely:

  • ¿Podría ayudarme, por favor? (Could you help me, please?)
  • Me gustaría reservar una mesa para do (I would like to reserve a table for two)

c) Future in the past

When speaking in the past and mentioning a future action from that moment, the Spanish conditional tense is also used. Examples:

  • Dijo que llegaría tarde (He said he would be late)
  • Pensábamos que haría frío, pero hacía mucho calor (We thought it would be cold, but it was very hot)

d) Probability in the past

Another use is to express assumptions about past events.

  • Serían las diez cuando llegó (It would be ten o'clock when he arrived) (it was probably ten o'clock)
  • Juan tendría unos 30 años cuando se casó (Juan would have been about 30 when he got married) (supposition)

e) Advice and suggestions

The Spanish conditional is useful for making recommendations in a polite way.

  • Yo que tú, estudiaría más (If I were you, I would study more)
  • Deberías descansar un poco (You should get some rest)

enforex_pages_landing_block_df077e46-8df1-4a36-a423-7b8bbbb06b98

Submitted by analitica2 on Thu, 03/06/2025 - 10:37

Would you like to learn how to express hypotheses, wishes or suggestions in Spanish? The Spanish conditional is the perfect tense for this and as a Spanish student you must learn how to use it to communicate effectively.

Understanding its formation and use and communicating more naturally and precisely with native speakers is possible by using the Spanish conditional. This article by don Quijote helps you understand the Spanish conditional tense. Keep reading and don’t miss anything!

You can read this same text in Spanish, French or Italian.

Spanish conditional tense

The Spanish conditional is a verb tense used to talk about hypothetical or future situations from the past. It is also used to express courtesy, wishes and advice.

For example:

  • In a hypothetical situation: “Si tuviera más tiempo, estudiaría otro idioma” (If I had more time, I would study another language)
  • To express courtesy: “Me gustaría un café, por favor” (I would like a coffee, please)

Think of the Spanish conditional tense as a way of talking about things that could happen but are not guaranteed. This can help you understand this Spanish tense conjugation.

How to form the Spanish conditional?

The conditional in Spanish is formed by adding the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive of the verb, according to the person and number. These examples with the three Spanish verb endings will help you see how it works:

.blog-custom-table tr, .blog-custom-table th, .blog-custom-table td{border:solid 1px;padding:6px}
Verb Yo Tú Él / Ella Nosotros Vosotros Ellos
Hablar Hablaría Hablarías Hablaría Hablaríamos Hablaríais Hablarían
Comer Comería Comerías Comería Comeríamos Comeríais Comerían
Vivir Viviría Vivirías Viviría Viviríamos Viviríais Viviríamos
 

However, in Spanish there are also irregular verbs that do not follow the same rules as regular verbs. Some irregular verbs with the Spanish conditional are:

  • Tener (to have) – Tendría (I would have)
  • Hacer (to do) – Haría (I would do)
  • Poder (to be able to) – Podría (I would be able to)
  • Decir (to say) – Diría (I would say)
  • Querer (to want) – Querría (I would want)

The irregular verbs in the Spanish conditional tense are the same as in the simple future. Therefore, if you learn how one works, you will also have mastered the other.

Subscribe to

Manage cookie consent

Cookies on this website are used to personalize content and ads, provide social media features and analyze traffic. In addition, we share information about your use of the website with our social media, advertising and web analytics partners, who may combine it with other information you have provided to them or that they have collected from your use of their services. You can learn more in our Cookies policy

Always active

Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions such as page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

Statistical cookies help website owners understand how visitors interact with websites by gathering and providing information in an anonymous form.

Preference cookies allow the website to remember information that changes the way the site behaves or looks, such as your preferred language or the region you are in.

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors on web pages. This is used to show ads that are more relevant and attractive to the individual user, and therefore more valuable to publishers and third-party advertisers.