German Individual Sports Vocabulary
This set covers individual sports from running and boxing to tennis and gymnastics, with words like der Boxhandschuh, die Hürde, and das Turnen. Watch out for der Köcher: it means quiver for arrows, but in golf slang it's also used for the bag you carry your clubs in, a sense that has nothing to do with archery in English.
Learn these 22 words
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All 22 words
plural: die Boxhandschuhe
boxing glove
Er zieht sich seine Boxhandschuhe an. — He is putting on his boxing gloves.
- joggenA2
jog
Ich jogge gern im Park. — I like jogging in the park.
- reitenA2
ride (horse)
Möchtest du reiten lernen? — Would you like to learn to ride?
plural: die Tennisschläger
tennis racket
Mein Tennisschläger ist ziemlich alt. — My tennis racket is quite old.
gymnastics
Turnen macht den Kindern großen Spaß. — Gymnastics is a lot of fun for the children.
plural: die Aufschläge
serve
Ihr Aufschlag war unglaublich schnell. — Her serve was incredibly fast.
basketball
Sie spielt sehr gern Basketball. — She really likes playing basketball.
plural: die Boxringe
boxing ring
Die beiden Boxer standen im Boxring. — The two boxers stood in the boxing ring.
- GolfB1
golf
Kannst du Golf spielen? — Can you play golf?
plural: die Hürden
hurdle
Er sprang elegant über jede Hürde. — He jumped elegantly over every hurdle.
athletics
Sie interessiert sich sehr für Leichtathletik. — She is very interested in athletics.
plural: die Marathons
marathon
Er läuft jedes Jahr einen Marathon. — He runs a marathon every year.
plural: die Sprints
sprint
Der Sprint dauert nur wenige Sekunden. — The sprint lasts only a few seconds.
tennis
Ich spiele gern Tennis. — I like to play tennis.
plural: die Beinarbeiten
footwork
Seine Beinarbeit beim Boxen war exzellent. — His footwork in boxing was excellent.
plural: die Finten
a feint / ruse
Der Fechter nutzte eine geschickte Finte. — The fencer used a clever feint.
plural: die Köcher
quiver / golf bag
Der Bogenschütze trägt seinen Köcher auf dem Rücken. — The archer carries his quiver on his back.
plural: die Paraden
parade / save / parry
Mit einer guten Parade konnte er den Ball abwehren. — With a good save, he was able to block the ball.
- rangelnB2
to wrangle / wrestle / jockey
Die Wrestler rangeln um die beste Position. — The wrestlers grapple for the best position.
plural: die Schlagabmtausche
slug-fest / fight
Der Schlagabtausch zwischen den Boxern war intensiv. — The exchange of blows between the boxers was intense.
plural: die Schwitzkästen
a headlock
Der Ringer hielt seinen Gegner im Schwitzkasten. — The wrestler held his opponent in a headlock.
- parierenC1
to parry / fence / deflect
Der Fechter parierte den Angriff seines Gegners geschickt. — The fencer parried his opponent's attack skillfully.
How to learn this set
Several words here come straight from combat and fencing vocabulary that got borrowed into general sports talk: die Finte, die Parade, and parieren all describe attack and defense moves, so learn them together rather than by sport. Notice the shared root in der Boxhandschuh and der Boxring: once you know der Box- prefix means boxing-related, you can guess at compounds you haven't seen yet. For gender, group the loanwords first (der Marathon, der Sprint, der Aufschlag, das Tennis) since they don't follow obvious German patterns, then drill the compounds separately by their last element (die Hürde gives die in der Hürdenlauf-type words).
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Frequently asked questions
Is der Marathon masculine in German?
Yes, it's der Marathon. Most loanword sports terms in this set follow the gender of a similar existing noun or default to masculine, so der Marathon, der Sprint, and der Aufschlag are all der.
Why is der Schwitzkasten called a 'sweat box'?
Because that's a literal breakdown of the compound: schwitzen (to sweat) plus der Kasten (box, case). It describes the headlock hold in wrestling or boxing where your head gets trapped under an opponent's arm, and Germans use it for that cramped, sweaty feeling.
What's the difference between die Parade and parieren?
Die Parade is the noun for the defensive move itself, a parry or save, while parieren is the verb for doing it. You'd say Der Boxer parierte den Schlag (the boxer parried the punch) but Das war eine gute Parade (that was a good parry).
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