These days, it feels like football or soccer (as it is known in the US) is everywhere! Are you enjoying the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France? What about the exciting Copa América? Are you following the Total Africa Cup of Nations? If you like the game and want to expand your Spanish vocabulary of football terms, this lesson introduces some of the most common football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish.
First things first. The Spanish word for football or soccer is fútbol, a word whose stress goes on the second-to-last syllable:
Y este... y juego al fútbol también a veces.
And well... I also play soccer sometimes.
Caption 11, Bajofondo Tango Club - Mar Dulce
Play Caption
However, in Mexico and other places across Central America people usually say futbol, with the stress on the last syllable:
Antes también jugué al futbol.
Before, I also played football.
Caption 28, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana - Manuel Orozco Sánchez
Play Caption
By the way, if you are American and you are wondering how to say “football” in Spanish, the answer to that is fútbol americano.
From the word fútbol, we got the word futbolista (football player / soccer player). We can also use the term jugador as an alternative to futbolista. As a general rule, un equipo de fútbol (a soccer team) has eleven players (futbolistas / jugadores) on the field. Let’s see the names of the different kinds of players that you see in a typical partido de fútbol (soccer game / soccer match):
Portero, arquero, guardameta (goalkeeper)
Defensor (defender)
Mediocampista, centrocampista, volante (midfielder)
Delantero, atacante (forward)
You can also find various and more specific names for the different players in the field. For instance, in the defense you can hear names like the following:
Defensa central (central defender)
Lateral derecho (right back)
Lateral izquierdo (left back)
By the way, you can use the terms campo de juego, cancha de fútbol or terreno de juego to refer to the playing field.
Mirá a Carlitos. La ves en la cancha de fútbol y no te imaginás.
Look at Carlitos. You see her on the soccer field and you can't imagine.
Caption 27, Muñeca Brava - 8 Trampas
Play Caption
In terms of other people that are involved in the game, we also have the following:
Árbitro (referee)
Juez de línea (assistant referee)
Entrenador (coach)
Suplente (substitute player)
El capitán del equipo (the captain of the team)
Keep in mind that substitute players sit on the banca or banquillo (bench). And let’s not forget about the fans who sit in the estadio (stadium). You can call them hinchas or aficionados or you can also use the corresponding collective nouns hinchada or afición (a group of fans).
If you want to say soccer ball in Spanish, you can either use balón de fútbol or pelota de fútbol. Or simply, pelota or balón. Some people call the soccer ball esférico.
And what about that magical moment when the ball enters the goal (the netted structure behind the goalkeeper)? Of course, we are talking about the goal, which in Spanish is called gol… or as many Latin sportscasters would very loudly say: ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Another option you may hear for the term goal is the word tanto.
By the way, there are many words you can use in Spanish to talk about the goal (the netted structure). You can refer to as la portería, el arco or la valla. Each one of the two vertical goal posts is called palo or poste while the horizontal crossbar is called travesaño or larguero. Also, the small area that the goalkeeper guards (the goal area) is known in Spanish as área chica or área de meta. The bigger area (the penalty area) is known as área de penal.
There are many more things that are connected to the game. Let’s learn some more words:
El pito (the whistle)
Las botas de fútbol, los guayos, los botines de fútbol (soccer shoes)
Los tacos (the studs)
Las canilleras or las espinilleras (shin guards)
La camiseta (the t-shirt)
La copa (the cup)
El Mundial (the World Cup)
Campeonato europeo de fútbol, Mundial en Sudáfrica...
The European soccer championship, the World Cup in South Africa...
Caption 26, Marta - Se presenta
Play Caption
Tarjeta amarilla (yellow card)
Tarjeta roja (red card)
Bandera (flag)
El césped (the pitch / the grass)
Mediocampo or media cancha (midfield)
Los vestidores, los camerinos (locker rooms)
Now, when it comes to playing the game, there are many calls and moves that are part of a standard game. Let’s learn some of those football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish:
Saque inicial (kickoff)
Saque lateral (throw-in)
Saque de meta (goal kick)
La asistencia (the assistance)
Un pase (a pass)
Un pase largo (a long pass)
Un cabezazo (a header)
Córner or tiro de esquina (corner)
Fuera de lugar or fuera de juego (offside)
Falta (foul)
Fútbol de toque (a passing game)
La jugada (the move)
La lesión (the injury)
El marcador (the score)
El medio tiempo or el descanso (halftime)
La ocasión (the chance)
Penalti (penalty)
La prórroga (the extra time)
Regate (dribble)
El tiro or el disparo (the shot)
Tiro libre (free throw)
Un error (a mistake)
Una remontada (a comeback)
Victoria (victory)
Empate (tie)
Derrota (defeat)
Now, it is time to review some of those verbs you can easily hear if you watch a soccer/football game in Spanish.
Aprovechar (take advantage)
Arbitrar (to referee)
Atacar (to attack)
Buscar (to look for)
Caer (to fall)
Calentar (to warm up)
El entrenador nos ordena calentar antes de cada partido de fútbol.
The coach orders us to warm up before each soccer match.
Caption 44, Lecciones con Carolina - Pedir, preguntar, y ordenar
Play Caption
Clasificar (to classify)
Correr (to run)
Defender (to defend)
Derrotar (to defeat)
Disputar (to play, to fight for)
Eliminar (to eliminate)
Empatar (to tie)
Ganar (to win)
Igualar (to even)
Imponerse (to prevail)
Intentar (to try)
Jugar (to play)
Marcar (to score or to defend)
Pelear (to fight)
Perder (to lose)
Recuperar (to recover)
Reponerse (to recover)
Romper (to break)
Seguir (to follow)
Sudar (to sweat)
En el campo de fútbol, empecé a sudar.
On the soccer field, I started to sweat.
Caption 11, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2
Play Caption
Toparse (to run/bump into)
Tirar, chutar (to shoot)
That's it for this lesson. We hope you enjoy this brief guide to some of the most common football/soccer vocabulary words in Spanish. Are there any words/terms that we didn’t mention? Please, let us know and don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Let’s talk about adverbs. Adverbs are very important in Spanish grammar and many of them are closely connected to adjectives. In fact, there are a good number of adverbs that can be easily formed if we are familiar with the original adjective. In this lesson, we will see how to use adjectives in order to form Spanish adverbs with the suffix -mente.
Let’s take a look at these very used adverbs in Spanish.
...pero principalmente cubanos que llegaron a este país hace cuarenta años.
...but mainly Cubans who arrived to this country forty years ago.
Caption 6, La Calle 8 - Un recorrido fascinante
Play Caption
Además, este año hay una zona dedicada especialmente a la gastronomía.
Additionally, this year there is an area dedicated especially to gastronomy.
Caption 28, Fuengirola - Feria Internacional de los Pueblos
Play Caption
Nos criamos completamente ciegos, sordos, mudos con respecto al dinero.
We grew up completely blind, deaf, dumb with respect to money.
Caption 70, Cuentas claras - Sobreviviendo enero
Play Caption
As you can see, the suffix mente corresponds to the English suffix ‘ly’. But how do you form Spanish adverbs with -mente? Let’s take a look.
In order to build Spanish adverbs with -mente, you just have to follow this very simple formula:
Feminine form of the adjective + mente
For example, if we want to form an adverb with the adjective último (last), we just need to take the feminine form of that adjective (última) and add the suffix -mente, like this:
última + mente = últimamente (lastly).
Let’s look at some more examples:
Claro (clear): clara + mente = claramente (clearly)
Lento (slow): lenta + mente = lentamente (slowly)
Honesto (honest): honesta + mente = honestamente (honestly)
However, if an adjective doesn’t end in ‘o’, it means that it has one form that is used for both masculine and feminine. In that case, you just need to add the suffix -mente to the adjective in order to get the adverb. Let’s see some examples:
Alegre (happy): alegre + mente = alegremente (happily)
Triste (sad): triste + mente = tristemente (sadly)
Frecuente (frequent): frecuente + mente = frecuentemente (frequently)
Normal (normal): normal + mente = normalmente (normally)
It is also important to mention that if you have a sentence with two adverbs in a series, only the last one will have the suffix -mente at the end. The first one will keep the feminime form of the adjective:
Él camina rápida y alegremente
He walks quickly and happily
Ellos hablaron clara y concisamente
They spoke clearly and concisely
Finally, something important to keep in mind: If the original adjective has a graphic accent on it (tilde), the adverb will also have that accent. Some examples:
Creo que mi mamá comprendió su equivocación rápidamente.
I think that my mom understood her mistake quickly.
Caption 1, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2
Play Caption
Con un poco de práctica, podremos aprender estas reglas muy fácilmente.
With a bit of practice, we will be able to learn these rules very easily.
Caption 54, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 3: La división en sílabas
Play Caption
That's it for this lesson. Now, here is your homework: Take 10 adjectives and try to form the corresponding adverbs using the suffix -mente. Can you write some sentences too? Have fun and don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
¿Y se animará Sebastián Estebanez a comer cucarachas?
Will Sebastian Estebanez dare to eat cockroaches?
Caption 1, Factor Fobia - Cucarachas - Part 2
Play Caption
In Argentina, the reflexive verb animarse is frequently used to mean "to dare," as we see throughout our Factor Fobia series.
¿Se animará o no se animará Sebastián Estebanez en el Factor Fobia?
Will Sebastian Estebanez dare or not dare in Fear Factor?
Caption 26, Factor Fobia - Cucarachas - Part 2
Play Caption
Animarse a más
Dare for more (Pepsi slogan)
¿Te animás a saltar desde el puente?
Do you dare jump from the bridge?
Some parts of the Spanish speaking world are less likely to use animarse when they want to speak of "daring", but would more likely be using another reflexive verb, atreverse.
For example Marley could have equally well have said:
¿Se atreverá Sebastián Estebanez a comer cucarachas?
Will Sebastian Estebanez dare to eat cockroaches?
Here's an interesting headline we found:
¿Se atreverá alguien a comprar Youtube?
Will someone dare to buy Youtube?
(The answer to that is now clear.)
Another use of animarse found throughout most of the the Spanish-speaking world is in the sense of infusing oneself with ánimo (spirit, life, energy). This can mean cheering oneself up or gaining courage/motivation.
¡Animate! Vamos a la fiesta.
Cheer up! Let's go to the party.
Al final me animé a lanzarme al agua helada.
In the end I got up the courage to jump into the freezing water.
Ambos lo deseábamos, pero alguien tenía que animarse y decirlo.
We both wanted it, but someone had to have the guts and say it.
Captions 35-36, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2 - Part 7
Play Caption
In the program Factor Fobia, Marley uses two words that are very similar sounding, atrás and tras.
Tuve un... hace unos meses atrás, me he ido a China.
I had a... some months ago, I've been to China.
Captions 28-29, Factor Fobia - Cucarachas
Play Caption
As is evident, atrás can be used to indicate "ago," as in time past.
Yo empecé hace tres años atrás en el grupo Guamanique,
I started three years ago in the Guamanique group,
se llama Ballet Folklórico Guamanique, que es de Puerto Rico.
it's called the Guamanique Folk Ballet, which is from Puerto Rico.
Captions 3-4, Baile Folklórico de Puerto Rico - Los Bailarines
Play Caption
Muchos años atrás, él fue general.
Many years ago, he was a general.
La última vez que nos vimos habrá sido unos seis años atrás.
Last time we met may have been some six years ago.
Of course, atrás is also commonly used to indicate "backwards" or "towards the back."
Si eso era un primer paso, había sido un paso atrás.
If that was a first move, it had been a move backwards.
Caption 24, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 2
Play Caption
Ella fue atrás.
She went backwards.
Vaya hacia atrás, por favor.
Go backwards, please.
French
German
Italian
Chinese
English
English 
Français
Deutsch
Español
Italiano
Português
