DO or PLAY or GO?

Play is used with ball sports or competitive games where we play against another person, there is a score and/or someone wins:

“How often do you play tennis?” - tennis is a ball sport

“I play poker with my friends on Friday night.” - poker is a competitive game. We play to win.

“I don't like playing computer games.” - again, computer games are competitive so we use play

Play is also used with instruments.

Do you play an instrument? Yes, I play the trumpet.

Does Josh play an instrument? Yes, he plays the trombone.

What instrument does Irma play? She plays the cello.

Do is used for a recreational activity or a non-team sport that does not use a ball:

“I heard that you do karate.” - karate is a non-team activity.

“I do crossword puzzles in my free time.” - crossword puzzles are not competitive

“I do Zumba on Wednesdays.” – Zumba is an individual activity where there is no score

“Are you doing your exercises now?” – exercising is not a competitive activity

Go is used with activities that end -ing. They are usually sports that can be done by one person and are not ball sports. We go somewhere to do something.

“I'm going fishing on Sunday.” –There may be other people fishing with you, but you are responsible for your own catch.

“Are you going skiing this winter?”

“She said she was going swimming.”

Practice is used to talk about training (training ≠ working out). It often involves preparing for a future competition.

“The Habs play two hockey games a week, but they practice hockey four times a week” –When they practice, they are not actually competing.

“She is practicing her routine for the dance competition.” –There will be a winner at the competition, but not when she practices

Anglais pré-collégial © 2023 by Rebecca Peters, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit/Entente Canada-Québec is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/