Friday, February 25, 2011

Bilingual Basketball Vocabulary (English/Spanish)


Here is some bilingual basketball vocabulary for my students!
Since its origins in the late 18th century in Western Massachusetts, basketball has become an international sport. But, especially at the professional level, it continues to be considered a US sport. So it shouldn't be surprising that much of the Spanish-language vocabulary of the game comes from English, and that among fans some English terms may be understood more readily than the Spanish equivalents. These terms vary not only between Spain and Latin America, but even between neighboring countries. Even the name of the game isn't uniform throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The vocabulary below represents some of the most common terms used by Spanish speakers.

air ball — el air ball
assist (noun) — la asistencia
backboard — el tablero
bank shot — el tiro a tabla
basket (goal) — el cesto, la canasta
basket (score) — la canasta, el enceste
basketball (ball) — el balón, la pelota
basketball (game) — el baloncesto, el básquetbol, el basquetbol, el básquet
box score — el box score, el sumario
center — el/la pívot
cheerleader — la animadora, el animador, el/la cheerleader
coach — el entrenador, la entrenadora
corner — la esquina
court (playing field) — la pista, la cancha
defend — defender
dribble (noun) — el drible, la finta, la bota, el dribbling
dribble (verb) — driblar
dunk (noun) — el mate, el dunk
fast break — el ataque rápido, el contraataque
forward — el/la alero
free throw — el tiro libre
half, quarter (period of play) — el periodo, el período
hook shot — el gancho
jump ball — el salto entre dos
jump pass — el pase en suspensión
jump shot — el tiro en suspensión
key — la botella, la zona de tres segundos
man-to-man (defense) — (la defensa) hombre a hombre, (la defensa) al hombre
offense — el ataque
overtime — la prórroga, el tiempo añadido pass (noun) — el pase
pass (verb) — pasar
personal foul — la falta personal
pivot (verb) — pivotear
play (noun, as in "three-point play") — la jugada (la jugada de tres puntos)
player — el jugador, la jugadora, el/la baloncestista
playoff — la liguilla, la eliminatoria, el playoff
point (score) — el punto
point guard — el/la base, el armador, la armadora
post — el poste
power forward — el/la alero fuerte, el/la ala-pívot
press (noun) — la presión
rebound (noun) — el rebote
rebound (verb) — rebotar
referee — el/la árbitro, el/la referee
rookie — el novato, la novata, el/la rookie
screen (noun) — el bloqueo
screen (verb) — bloquear
scrimmage — la escaramuza
season — la temporada
shoot — tirar
shot — el tiro
shooting guard — el/la escolta
team — el equipo
technical foul — la falta técnica
timeout — el tiempo muerto
tournament — el torneo
turnover — el balón perdido, la pelota perdida, el turnover
warmup — el calentamiento
wing — el/la alero
zone defense — la defensa en zona
zone offense — el ataque zonal
zone press — el marcaje en zona

1 comment:

Spanish Grammar said...

The Spanish language is one of the world’s most important languages, spoken by people in many parts of the globe. It is commonly spoken and understood. More than 400 million people call Spanish their native language. Mexico, Columbia, Panama, Cuba, Spain, Chile, Uruguay — these are just a few countries where Spanish is the dominant language.But just because many people speak the language, that is not the only good reason why you should learn Spanish.