French Phrases: Sports vocabulary

This section looks at general sports vocabulary and names of sports in French. You may also be interested in the separate page on the Olympic Games in French for the names of Olympic sports.

le base-ball	-	baseball
le basketball	-	basketball
le cricket	-	cricket
le foot(ball)	-	football, soccer
le football américain	-	American football
le golf	-	golf
le hockey	-	hockey
le rugby	-	rugby
le rugby à treize	-	Rugby League
le rugby à quinze	-	Rugby Union
le tennis	-	tennis
le volley(-ball)	-	volleyball

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Spelling note: in the recent proposed reform to French spelling, it is recommended that the hyphen be removed from baseball and volleyball.

Sportspeople

Here is how to refer to various sportsmen and sportswomen in French:

un joueur	-	a (male) player
une joueuse	-	a (female) player
un basketteur	-	a (male) basketball player
une basketteuse	-	a (female) basketball player
un footballeur	-	a (male) football player, soccer player
une footballeuse	-	a (female) football player, soccer player
un golfeur	-	a (male) golfer
une golfeuse	-	a (female) golfer
un hockeyeur	-	a (male) hockey player
une hockeyeuse	-	a (female) hockey player
un joueur de tennis	-	a (male) tennis player
une joueuse de tennis	-	a (female) tennis player
un(e) rugbyman	-	a rugby player
un tennisman	-	a tennis player
un volleyeur	-	volleyball player
une volleyeuse	-	a female volleyball player

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Here are some general French words for people involved in a game of sport:

l'arbitre	-	the referee
le coach	-	the coach
un coéquipier	-	a (male) teammate
une coéquipière	-	a (female) teammate
le public	-	the spectators, the crowd
les spectateurs	-	the spectators
un sponsor	-	a sponsor
un supporte(u)r	-	a (male) supporter, fan
une supportrice	-	a (female) supporter, fan

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