American Football
/əˈmɛʁɪkən ˈfʊtbɔ(ː)l/masculine
American football in German is called American Football or Football.
Meaning: American football (noun)
Ways to say it
| German | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|
| American Football | /əˈmɛʁɪkən ˈfʊtbɔ(ː)l/ | masculine |
| Football | /ˈfʊtbɔ(ː)l/ | masculine |
Because the German word for soccer is Fußball, you must use these specific terms to describe the sport played with an oval ball to ensure you are understood.
Which one should you use?
It is important to distinguish these from Fußball, which refers exclusively to soccer in German.
How does it change in a sentence?
The term American Football is a masculine noun and takes the masculine article der in the nominative case.
How do you pronounce it?
/əˈmɛʁɪkən ˈfʊtbɔ(ː)l/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use Fußball when they mean American football, but in German, Fußball exclusively means soccer. Use American Football or Football instead.
Did you know?
- Because American Football is a loanword, Germans often use English terminology for gameplay, such as 'touchdown' and 'quarterback', instead of translating them.
- In German sports media, you will often see NFL used as a noun to refer to the sport itself rather than just the league.
- While German often creates new words by combining existing ones, for this sport, Germans preferred to borrow the English terms directly to avoid any confusion with Fußball.
Examples in context
- Football ist ein spannender Sport.American football is an exciting sport.This sentence shows how to describe the sport as exciting using Football.Tatoeba #8493314 by Luiaard, translation #8493315 by Luiaard
- Ich mag Fußball, Rugby, Football und so weiter.I'm fond of football, rugby, American football, and so on.This sentence lists different sports including Football.Tatoeba #638117 by al_ex_an_der, translation #11605062 by sundown
- Im American Football gibt es für einen Touchdown sechs Punkte.In American football, a touchdown scores six points.This sentence provides a rule about scoring a touchdown in American Football.Tatoeba #1109675 by Haehnchenpaella, translation #326828 by mamat
- Heute haben wir eine Präsentation über den Amerikanischen Football.Today, we have a presentation about American Football.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about sports they want to watch on TV.
- MaximilianMagst du eigentlich American Football?Do you actually like American football?
- HannahNein, ich finde American Football eher langweilig.No, I find American football rather boring.
- MaximilianEcht? Ich finde den Sport sehr cool.Really? I think the sport is very cool.
- HannahVielleicht schauen wir lieber ein Fußballspiel.Maybe we would rather watch a football match.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “american football” translations and entries American Football, Football, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
