terrain de basket
The English phrase "basketball court" is terrain de basket in French.
terrain de basket refers to the specific area or court where basketball is played.
Meaning: area (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of terrain (meaning ground, field or court) and de basket (meaning of basketball).
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the plural form "basketball courts", you say terrains de basket, adding an s to terrain but not to basket.
Did you know?
- Because of the linguistic overlap, if you tell a friend you are wearing your basket, they will think you are talking about your basketball shoes rather than the sport itself.
- While terrain is used for basketball, a tennis court is called a court de tennis. Using terrain for tennis would sound unnatural to a native speaker.
- The word terrain is a distant relative of the English word 'dry'. Both come from the Proto-Indo-European root *ters-, which originally described the dryness of the earth.
Examples in context
- Je vais jouer au basketball sur le terrain de basketball ce soir.I'm going to play basketball on the basketball court tonight.
- On va au terrain de basket.We are going to the basketball court.
- Le terrain de basket est fermé.The basketball court is closed.
- On se retrouve sur le terrain de basket ?Shall we meet on the basketball court?
- Il y a beaucoup de monde sur le terrain de basket.There are many people on the basketball court.
Example conversation
Two friends are deciding where to play a game.
- HugoOn va au terrain de basket ?Are we going to the basketball court?
- EmmaOui, Hugo, c'est une bonne idée.Yes, Hugo, that's a good idea.
- HugoTu as apporté le ballon ?Did you bring the ball?
- EmmaNon, je l'ai oublié dans ma voiture.No, I forgot it in my car.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries basket, de, terrain, CC BY-SA 4.0.
