Here are Japanese words for sports to start with: バスケットボール (basukettobooru, basketball), サッカー (sakkaa, football), ゴール (gooru, goal), する (suru, play). Below are 64 words (A1–C1) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 8 themed lists.
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| basketball | バスケットボールbasukettobooru | noun | A1 |
| fan | ファンfan | noun | A1 |
| field | フィールドfiirudo | noun | A1 |
| football | サッカーsakkaa | noun | A1 |
| goal | ゴールgooru | noun | A1 |
| play | するsuru | verb | A1 |
| run | 走るhashiru | verb | A1 |
| tennis | テニスtenisu | noun | A1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| ball | ボールbooru | noun | A1 |
| game | 試合shiai | noun | A1 |
| player | 選手senshu | noun | A1 |
| swimming | 水泳suiei | noun | A1 |
| team | チームchiimu | noun | A1 |
| running | ランニングranningu | noun | A2 |
| training | トレーニングtoreeningu | noun | A2 |
| agility | 敏捷性binshousei | noun | B1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| exercise | 運動undou | noun | A2 |
| match | 試合shiai | noun | B1 |
| formidable | 手強いtegowai | adj | B2 |
| perseverance | 忍耐nintai | noun | B2 |
| qualifier | 予選試合yosen shiai | noun | B2 |
| wildcard | ワイルドカードwairudokaado | noun | B2 |
| win | 勝つkatsu | verb | B2 |
| athleticism | 運動能力undounouryoku | noun | C1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| baseball | 野球yakyuu | noun | A1 |
| volleyball | バレーボールbareebooru | noun | A1 |
| hockey | ホッケーhokkee | noun | A2 |
| shoot | シュートするshuuto suru | verb | A2 |
| assist | アシストashisuto | noun | B1 |
| defender | ディフェンダーdifendaa | noun | B1 |
| goalkeeper | ゴールキーパーgoorukiipaa | noun | B1 |
| handball | ハンドボールhandobooru | noun | B1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| skiing | スキーsukii | noun | A2 |
| surfing | サーフィンsaafin | noun | A2 |
| table tennis | 卓球takkyuu | noun | A2 |
| diving | 飛び込みtobikomi | noun | B1 |
| martial arts | 武道budou | noun | B1 |
| biathlon | バイアスロンbaiasuron | noun | B2 |
| fencing | フェンシングfenshingu | noun | B2 |
| triathlon | トライアスロンtoraiasuron | noun | B2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| serve | サーブするsaabu suru | verb | A2 |
| knockout | ノックアウトnokkuauto | noun | B1 |
| umpire | 審判shinpan | noun | B1 |
| birdie | バーディーbaadii | noun | B2 |
| bogey | ボギーbogii | noun | B2 |
| handicap | ハンディキャップhandikyappu | noun | B2 |
| standings | 順位表jun'ihyou | noun | B2 |
| sudden death | サドンデスsadondesu | noun | B2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| snowboarding | スノーボードsunooboodo | noun | A2 |
| bungee jumping | バンジージャンプbanjiijanpu | noun | B1 |
| kayaking | カヤックkayakku | noun | B1 |
| paragliding | パラグライディングparaguraidingu | noun | B1 |
| rock climbing | ロッククライミングrokkukuraimingu | noun | B1 |
| skydiving | スカイダイビングsukaidaibingu | noun | B1 |
| windsurfing | ウィンドサーフィンuindosaafin | noun | B1 |
| base jumping | ベースジャンプbeesujanpu | noun | B2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| club | ゴルフクラブgorufukurabu | noun | A1 |
| basket | バスケットゴールbasukettogooru | noun | A2 |
| bat | バットbatto | noun | A2 |
| jersey | ユニフォームyunifoomu | noun | A2 |
| mat | マットmatto | noun | A2 |
| net | ネットnetto | noun | A2 |
| racket | ラケットraketto | noun | A2 |
| ring | リングringu | noun | A2 |
Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
These lists show a sample of the A1–C1 words for sports. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.
The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.
You could start with words like バスケットボール (basukettobooru, basketball), サッカー (sakkaa, football), ゴール (gooru, goal), する (suru, play). This page lists 64 Japanese words for sports (A1–C1), each with its English translation and part of speech.
Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Japanese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.