Definition

Verb: - To play football/soccer: The action of participating in the sport where two teams compete to kick a ball into the opposing team's goal. This is the primary and most common meaning.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Các cậu bé thích đá bóng ở sân trường. (The boys like to play football on the school field.)
  • Anh ấy đá bóng rất giỏi. (He plays football very well.)
  • Chúng tôi sẽ đá bóng vào chiều Chủ nhật. (We will play football on Sunday afternoon.)

Advanced Usage

• "đá bóng chuyên nghiệp": to play football professionally.
  • Anh ấy mơ ước đá bóng chuyên nghiệp. (He dreams of playing football professionally.)

Variants and Related Words

• Bóng đá (noun): Football/soccer (the sport itself).
  • Bóng đá là môn thể thao phổ biến nhất thế giới. (Football is the world's most popular sport.)
• Cầu thủ (noun): Football player.
  • Cầu thủ đó ghi rất nhiều bàn thắng. (That player scores many goals.)
• Sân bóng đá (noun): Football ground/pitch.
  • Họ đang xây một sân bóng đá mới. (They are building a new football ground.)

Synonyms

• Chơi bóng đá (verb): To play football. This is a near-synonymous phrase.
  • Bọn trẻ đang chơi bóng đá. (The children are playing football.)

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: As a compound verb, 'đá bóng' itself is typically used as a single unit. However, it can be part of common verbal phrases. - Đi đá bóng: To go (somewhere) to play football. - Tôi đi đá bóng với bạn bè mỗi tuần. (I go play football with friends every week.) - Ra sân đá bóng: To go out onto the field to play football. - Các cầu thủ đã ra sân đá bóng. (The players have taken to the field to play football.)

Related Idioms

• "Đá bóng giỏi": To be good at playing football.
  • Cậu ấy đá bóng giỏi lắm. (He is very good at playing football.)
• "Đá bóng vừa thổi còi" (tục ngữ): Literally "to play football and blow the whistle at the same time". This idiom criticizes someone who holds conflicting roles or responsibilities, like being both a player and a referee, implying unfairness or a conflict of interest.
  • Ông giám đốc đó tự phê duyệt dự án của mình, đúng là đá bóng vừa thổi còi. (That director approved his own project; it's truly a case of wearing two hats / a conflict of interest.)

verb

1. to play football
   • sân bóng đá
     football ground