Verbs for sport: 'play' vs 'do' vs 'go' - English In A Minute

Hi, I'm Phil from BBC Learning English.

Today, I'm going to tell you how we use

play, do and go with different sports.

So, for team sports or ball games, we use play.

So, I can say:

I play football. I don't play tennis.

For more individual activities, we use do.

So, we can say:

I do exercise. I don't do judo.

Then, for activities ending in –ING, we often use go.

So, I can say:

I go running.

Or:

I don't go swimming.

Of course, there are some exceptions,

but try to remember.

Play for team sports or ball games.

Do for individual activities

and go for activities ending in –ING.