[Vocabulary] Play and Game

Status
Not open for further replies.

Mr.Lucky_One

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Could anyone explain me the differences between these 2 nouns?

Here are 2 sentences for instance.
1) It's gonna be an exciting game on TV tomorrow evening.
1) It's gonna be an exciting play on TV tomorrow evening.

By the way, is the question "Could someone explain me..." correct too?
I alway thought I should use "any"-pronouns in questions and negative sentences, but I heard many times questions like "Can/Could someone...?" on TV. Is it non-standart English?
 

bhaisahab

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 12, 2008
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
Ireland
Could anyone explain me the differences between these 2 nouns?

Here are 2 sentences for instance.
1) It's going to be an exciting game on TV tomorrow evening.
1) It's going to be an exciting play on TV tomorrow evening.

By the way, is the question "Could someone explain me..." correct too?
I alway thought I should use "any"-pronouns in questions and negative sentences, but I heard many times questions like "Can/Could someone...?" on TV. Is it non-standart English?

Have you looked up "game" and "play" as nouns in a dictionary?
"Could someone explain to me...?" is correct.
 

Mr.Lucky_One

Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Yes, I have.
As far as I know "play" as noun can have the meaning that is close to such words as "perfomance" or "spectacle" or "theatrical". But I just wanted to know if it was correct to use the word "play" about sport.
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
Yes, I have.
As far as I know "play" as noun can have the meaning that is close to such words as "perfomance" or "spectacle" or "theatrical". But I just wanted to know if it was correct to use the word "play" about sport?

"Play" as a noun generally refers to an acted performance on stage. Shakespeare wrote plays.

A sporting contest is a "game" or a "match".

Just to confuse the issue, though, within a game/match are parts called "plays". "Ronaldinho made a great play just a moment ago".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top