球類運動名詞前冠詞的使用問題

如果將球類運動名詞視為一種運動或一種動詞的比賽，則它的面前不用冠詞。如：

The boy is crazy about [on] football. 那孩子對足球著了迷。

Basketball is my favourite game. 籃球是我最喜歡的體育項目。

We beat them at basketball yesterday. 我們在昨天的籃球賽中贏了他們。

They played football every Saturday afternoon. 他們每周星期六下午踢足球。

On Saturday we watched football and on the following day we went to church. 星期六我們看足球賽，第二天去教堂做禮拜。

但是，若不是指球類運動，而是指球類運動所用的球，則可用冠詞或其他限定詞。如：

The basketball is new, which was bought yesterday. 這個籃球是新的，是昨天才買的。

另外，若球類運動名詞用于另一名詞作定語，則其前是否用冠詞以及用什么冠詞，取決于后面所修飾的名詞。如；

The boy is the first player of the football team. 這孩子是足球隊的第一主力隊員。

Our football team disappointed us when they lost the match. 我們的足球隊在比賽中輸了，使我們失望。

The basketball game was boring; we saw enough and went home. 那場籃球賽很沒勁，我們看夠了就回家了。

Watching the basketball match between the two teams was really exciting. 觀看這兩個球隊的籃球賽實在是激動人心。