What Is the Difference between Games and Sports

Games and sports are very similar: a game is a physical or mental activity or contest that has rules and that people do for pleasure. A sport is a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other.

The difference is subtle. A game is any mental or physical activity with rules that is done for fun, such as physical activities like baseball and soccer, or board games such as chess and Monopoly, or card games, or electronic games (like apps), or video games. Sports are specific physical activities one can compete in such as baseball, soccer, football, field hockey, running, cycling, rock climbing, swimming, diving, race car driving, kayaking, or weight lifting. There are many more games and sports than what is listed here. Below are some examples of 'game' and 'sport' in sentences:

• We love playing board games together as a family on weekends.
• The kids are outside playing a game with their dolls.
• She loves the game Hide and Seek.
• Jeopardy is the best game show on TV.
• Do you play any sports at school?
• They signed their daughter up for soccer because she said she wanted to play a new sport.
• The newspaper dedicated two pages to sports (football, baseball, and basketball) this week.
• Baseball is a team sport.
• Tennis is her favorite sport.

A game can also be a specific instance of a sporting event. Below are some examples:

• He plays football for his high school team and has a big game this weekend. [Here, 'game' is referring to a single competition of the sport football.]
• The (hockey/soccer/baseball, etc.) game was on TV last night.
• We wont be able to make it to the party because she has a game that day.

I hope this helps. For more posts about words, idioms, grammar, and usage, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Don't forget to subscribe to our Word of the Day e-mails!

Click here to try one of our vocabulary quizzes before you go!