2007-11-19 17:52:52 · 9 answers · asked by marianna101 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
the sentence is grammatically correct but that is not how it is commonly said, so it sounds stilted.
better to say it without the 'the'
2007-11-19 18:22:34 · answer #1 · answered by bitoy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No one has quite gotten it right. "Play" has several definitions and usages. One is "to participate in sports" as in "I play basketball." Another meaning is "to use a musical instrument" as in "I play the guitar."
Note that context has a lot to do with phrasing your sentence. "I play the guitar but not the piano" is a good sentence. Curiously, "I play guitar, not piano" is also good. This might carry a connotation that you (the listener) should have known that guitar-playing is a better activity than piano-playing. A lot depends on context. Nuances are subtle.
Hence, it could easily be that "I play basketball, not football" is just as good.
So while it might get past your grammar checker, the sentence "I can play the basketball" makes no sense unless you are using a basketball as a musical instrument.
And there is the understood implication that the skill level is low if you say, "I play AT basketball." This self-deprecating statement acknowledges that you're not very good at basketball.
2007-11-20 03:41:15 · answer #2 · answered by going_for_baroque 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The way you have it now, it sounds like a basketball is a musical instrument or something. It should read:
I can play basketball. OR I can play WITH the basketball (or, a basketball).
2007-11-20 02:46:12 · answer #3 · answered by jan51601 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a correct statement once you realize that basketball is not only a game, but also an object. The phrase "play the ball" is correct, ergo just because you insert a specific type of ball, does not make the sentence incorrect.
2007-11-20 02:12:15 · answer #4 · answered by Kenny W 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In English, "the" is only used when we want to talk about one thing, for example, "the chair in the corner" or "the girl with brown hair." Basketball isn't one thing, so we'd say, " I can play basketball."
2007-11-20 02:07:15 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. No, not in English. It sounds like the basketball is a kind of instrument, not a game.
2007-11-20 02:01:06 · answer #6 · answered by Animal 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is incorrect because that sentence does not need the definite article "the".
2007-11-20 02:00:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
make it simple like this "I can play basketball"
2007-11-20 01:58:40 · answer #8 · answered by ken 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sports don't take the definite article:
I play squash, tennis, golf, football ... etc.
2007-11-20 03:51:51 · answer #9 · answered by Bethany 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋