Playing Basketball: Spanish story (A1)
Sofía wants a real game on a neighborhood court in Madrid. Her cousin from Mexico City calls it básquet. She scores only after the others leave. A1 reading.
Jugar al baloncesto
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About this article
What you'll learn
Present tense, querer plus an infinitive, and court words: cancha, canasta, balón, básquet.
Sofía wants to join the boys on a court in her Madrid neighborhood. Her cousin Diego, from Mexico City, says básquet or básquetbol. She says baloncesto, from balón and cesto. In the game almost nobody passes to her. She scores one basket only when the court is empty. Clear present-tense Spanish for A1.
After reading
Article learning block
Phrases, words, grammar, and quick practice from this text.
Phrases for training
Add useful phrases to SRS or mark them as already known.
un deporte muy popular
newa very popular sport
Un deporte muy popular describes a sport many people play and watch.
Names where basketball is big in the Spanish-speaking world: Spain, Argentina and Mexico.
entre dos equipos
newbetween two teams
Entre dos equipos shows the match format: two sides compete.
Core phrase for explaining how a game is organized.
meter la pelota
newput the ball in
Meter la pelota means to put the ball into the basket.
States the main objective of basketball.
conseguir puntos
newscore points
Conseguir puntos means to earn points during the game.
Appears three times in the scoring paragraph: conseguir, consigue, consigue.
botando la pelota
newdribbling the ball
Botando la pelota means moving while bouncing the ball on the floor.
Explains the allowed way to move with the ball.
trabajar en equipo
newwork as a team
Trabajar en equipo means cooperating with teammates on court.
Highlights the social value of the sport, and works far outside sport too.
mantenerse sano
newstay healthy
Mantenerse sano means to keep in good health through activity.
Links the sport to health benefits.
Key words
Vocabulary that carries the school-day topic.
Court
cancha
court
Cancha is the playing court; rectangular describes its shape.
Essential word for the place where the game happens.
Basket
cesto
basket
Cesto is the basket. The first ones are fruit baskets with a bottom; today it has an open net.
The target, and the word inside baloncesto.
Referee
árbitro
referee
Árbitro is the referee who controls the match.
Key role at the jump ball and on fouls.
Quarters
cuartos
quarters
Cuartos are the four periods of a game: ten minutes each in Europe, twelve in the NBA.
Carries one of the facts the article is built on.
Ball
pelota
ball
Pelota is the ball, central to every action in the game.
Most frequent noun in the text.
Match
partido
match, game
Un partido is a match, the everyday word for a game in any sport: un partido de fútbol, un partido de baloncesto.
One of the most useful sports words in Spanish, and it runs through the text.
Grammar in context
Patterns from the text worth noticing after reading.
Ser: description
es un deporte muy popular
it is a very popular sport
Ser + noun defines what basketball is: a very popular sport.
Shows ser for definition and characteristics.
Present: start
El partido empieza con un salto inicial
the match starts with a jump ball
Empieza is the present tense of empezar, to start. The whole article explains the rules in the present.
Typical verb for describing how the game begins.
Poder + infinitive
pueden moverse por la cancha
they can move
Poder + infinitive says what is allowed: pueden moverse. In the negative it gives the rules: no pueden correr, tampoco pueden golpear.
The pattern the whole rules paragraph is built on, three times in a row.
Hay: existence
Hay varias formas de conseguir puntos
there are several ways
Hay + noun states that something exists or is available. It does not change for singular or plural.
Structure for listing the ways to score points.
Impersonal se
Se juega entre dos equipos
it is played between two teams
Se + a third-person verb says what people do in general, with no named subject: se juega, se dice. English uses you, they, or the passive.
The text uses it four times: for the rules (se juega) and for the two Spanish names of the sport (se dice).
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