[Grammar] Have you been playing any sport(s)?

[beachboy]

1) Have you been playing any sport?
2) Have you been playing any sports?
Are both sentences correct? If so, in what context shall I use one or the other?

 

[Yankee]

#2 would be most commonly used in AmE.

 

[jutfrank]

They are both correct but they have different meanings. The following advice applies to the words sport/sports in general. Hopefully, this will help you work out the different meanings of your two sentences.

The singular form sport is good to talk about either a single sport or sporting activity in general (where you can think of it as an uncountable noun.)

The plural form sports is good if you want to talk about more than one particular sports.

Here are a few more examples of use of sport as an uncountable noun:

I hate sport.
Do you watch much sport?
Today's topic is 'sport'.

Here are a couple more examples of sports as a plural noun:

What sports did you do at school?
How many sports can you name in ten seconds?
Today's topic is 'sports'.

 

[beachboy]

I understand. But in what context would it be more natural to ask "Have you been playing any sport?"

 

[jutfrank]

I understand. But in what context would it be more natural to ask "Have you been playing any sport?"

Actually, as a BrE speaker, contrary to what I said above, that doesn't sound very natural to me.

In BrE, we might ask Have you been doing any sport?, where sport means sporting activity.

 

[beachboy]

Actually, as a BrE speaker, contrary to what I said above, that doesn't sound very natural to me.

In BrE, we might ask Have you been doing any sport?, where sport means sporting activity.

I can "feel" "Do you watch much sport (like 1 hour a day)?', but, unlike "Have you been doing any sports?", I can't contextualize "Have you been doing any sport?"

 

[Yankee]

Good info in your post re. countable/uncountable, but the examples of uncountable:

I hate sport./Do you watch much sport?/Today's topic is 'sport', you would not see used in that context in AmE. Rather, the countable form would be used.​

​

 

[jutfrank]

I can "feel" "Do you watch much sport (like 1 hour a day)?', but, unlike "Have you been doing any sports?", I can't contextualize "Have you been doing any sport?"

Well, if I ask Have you been doing any sport? the uncountable use of sport probably suggests, as I say, that I am not thinking of any particular sports. I'm probably asking about sporting activity in general.

Maybe I'm a doctor who doesn't know anything about you and and I'm wondering about your exercise habits. Maybe, that by using sport in this general, less-defined way, I'm including things like running, or fitness training, or any kind of physical activity that may not strictly count as a sport.

 

[jutfrank]

Good info in your post re. countable/uncountable, but the examples of uncountable:I hate sport./Do you watch much sport?/Today's topic is 'sport', you would not see used in that context in AmE. Rather, the countable form would be used.

Noted, thanks.

But you wouldn't say in AmE Do you watch much sports?, would you? How would you ask this question in US English?

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[GoesStation]

But you wouldn't say in AmE Do you watch much sports?, would you? How would you ask this question in US English?

​

We might. It feels more natural to me with a slightly different word order: Do you watch sports much?

I'm not a sports fan myself.

 

[jutfrank]

We might. It feels more natural to me with a slightly different word order: Do you watch sports much?

I'm not a sports fan myself.

Oh, okay. So you're using sports uncountably as British English uses sport. (The use of much shows that this is the case.)

Well, I think I would advise learners generally to use the simpler British way on this matter. (Although, since beachboy is Brazilian, he may prefer the American way.)

 

[GoesStation]

Well, I think I would advise learners generally to use the simpler British way on this matter.

I think they should use the convention of the variant they're learning.

 

[jutfrank]

I think they should use the convention of the variant they're learning.

To generalise perhaps quite grossly, many (I'd say perhaps even the majority of) learners these days are not learning any particular variety, but a kind of international standard English (ISE). This is becoming more the case every year.

This international form is the form I (try to) teach at my school, and on this forum.

 

[Yankee]

Noted, thanks.

But you wouldn't say in AmE Do you watch much sports?, would you? How would you ask this question in US English?

​

Actually, you might hear that, but "Do you watch any sports?" or more simply "Do you watch sports?" are other possibilities.

 

[jutfrank]

"Do you watch any sports?" or more simply "Do you watch sports?" are other possibilities.

Right, but I didn't mean that exactly. The question was Do you watch much sport?, with the focus on quantity (much).

Could you also say in AmE Do you watch a lot of sports?, to be used in the uncountable sense (I mean that the question is about how much time is spent watching rather than how many different sports are watched.)

 

[GoesStation]

Could you also say in AmE Do you watch a lot of sports?, to be used in the uncountable sense (I mean that the question is about how much time is spent watching rather than how many different sports are watched.)

Yes. We only use the singular to refer to a particular sport.

 

[beachboy]

Tell me if I got it right...

- Have you been doing any sport?
- Yes, I've been playing some tennis and doing karate whenever I have a chance (focusing on time spent).

- Have you been doing any sports?
- Yes, I've been playing tennis and doing karate (focusing on quantity of sports).

 

[beachboy]

If I'm right, I dare say that although "Have you been eating any pizzas?" is grammatical it's much less natural than "Have you been eating any pizza?" Is that right?

I was also wondering if there is a comma between "grammatical" and "it's", and if there is a full stop before "Is that right". Shall I open another thread?

 

[Tarheel]

Tell me if I got it right...

- Have you been doing any sport?
- Yes, I've been playing some tennis and doing karate whenever I have a chance (focusing on time spent).

- Have you been doing any sports?
- Yes, I've been playing tennis and doing karate (focusing on quantity of sports).

Americans would say "Have you been playing any sports?".

It's just a casual conversation. Also, if you want to know more ask another question. However, people will usually tell you some things without you asking. Example:

Ron: Do you play sports?
Bob: Yes, I play tennis once a week.

(You know a lot (indicated by playing tennis and doing karate.))

 

[Tarheel]

If I'm right, I dare say that although "Have you been eating any pizzas?" is grammatical it's much less natural than "Have you been eating any pizza?" Is that right?

"Have you been eating any pizza(s)?" doesn't seem natural at all to me. Try:

Do you lke pizza?

Or:

Have you had any pizza lately?

Or:

What kind of pizza do you prefer?

(I like everything.)