tenista
/teˈnista/feminine, masculine
The English phrase "tennis player" is tenista in Spanish.
tenista is a noun used to describe a person who plays tennis.
Meaning: a person who plays tennis (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word tenista is used for both masculine and feminine subjects. To specify the gender of the player, you use the article el for a male (el tenista) or la for a female (la tenista). The plural form of tenista is tenistas.
How do you pronounce it?
/teˈnista/
What mistakes should you avoid?
While tenista can be used for any gender, if you want to refer specifically to a female tennis player, you can also use la jugadora de tenis.
Did you know?
- The word tenis is actually a loanword from English. While it sounds very natural in Spanish, it was adopted directly from the English 'tennis' to describe the sport.
- While tenista is the standard term, Spanish speakers often use the word pelotero in some Caribbean regions to describe someone who plays ball games, including tennis.
- The suffix used in tenista to denote a professional, -ista, traces its lineage back to the Ancient Greek suffix -tḗs. This same root is a distant relative of the English suffix used in words like 'artist'.
Examples in context
- Kenji es un tenista.Kenji is a tennis player.This sentence is useful for identifying a person as a tenista.Tatoeba #1726908 by marcelostockle, translation #239381 by CN
- Tom es un buen tenista.Tom is a good tennis player.This sentence is useful for describing someone as a good tenista.Tatoeba #3052856 by hayastan, translation #2543387 by CK
- ¿Es usted buen tenista?Are you a good tennis player?This sentence is useful for asking if someone is a good tenista using the formal 'usted'.Tatoeba #11835601 by Seael, translation #9194335 by CK
- El jugador de tenis español ganó el torneo de Wimbledon.The Spanish tennis player won the Wimbledon tournament.
- El tenista argentino está en la cima del ranking mundial.The Argentine tennis player is at the top of the world ranking.
- Mi amigo es un tenista muy talentoso.My friend is a very talented tennis player.
- ¿Vamos a jugar al tenis con un tenisista profesional?Shall we play tennis with a professional tennis player?
- Juan es un buen jugador de tenis.Juan is a good tennis player.
- 14 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Alejandro and Lucía are talking about their hobbies.
- AlejandroLucía, ¿eres tenista?Lucía, are you a tennis player?
- LucíaSí, juego todos los fines de semana.Yes, I play every weekend.
- AlejandroYo también soy tenista, pero juego poco.I am also a tennis player, but I play rarely.
- LucíaEntonces podemos jugar un partido juntos.Then we can play a match together.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tennis player” translations and entries tenista, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries tenista, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
