WNBA playoffs: A’ja Wilson pours in 36 as Aces oust bloodied Caitlin Clark and Fever
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EN: Use 'as' to connect two actions happening at the same time, meaning 'while' or 'when'. In news headlines, the simple present tense is often used for past events to sound immediate.
Fans cheered as the team scored the final goal.
EN: In sports journalism headlines, English writers routinely use the simple present tense ('Scores', 'Beat') instead of past tense to convey urgency and excitement, making readers feel like the action is happening right now.
EN: Use the simple past tense (verb + -ed) to talk about completed actions in the past. Here, 'scored' is the past form of 'score'.
He scored 20 points in yesterday's basketball game.
EN: The WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is the premier professional basketball league for women in North America. 'Playoffs' refer to the elimination tournament held after the regular season to decide the league champion.
EN: Use the pattern 'lead [someone] to [a result]' to show who guided or brought a team or group to an achievement. 'Led' is the past tense of 'lead'.
He led his team to victory in the final minutes.
EN: In sports English, 'defending champion' refers to the team or player that won the previous championship and is now trying to keep their title. Scores like '94-83' are spoken as 'ninety-four to eighty-three'.
EN: Use the verb 'beat' to mean defeating an opponent or team in a game. The past tense of 'beat' is also spelled 'beat'.
Our team beat their rivals yesterday.
EN: In American sports coverage, a star player's name is often paired with their team (e.g., 'Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever') to highlight the player's prominence and storyline in the matchup.
EN: Use 'so' to connect a cause and its result. The first clause explains the reason, and the second clause after 'so' shows the outcome.
It started to rain, so we went inside.
EN: In sports tournaments like the WNBA playoffs, 'move on' or 'advance' means progressing to the next stage of competition after winning a playoff series.
EN: Apposition: A noun phrase placed next to another noun phrase to explain or describe it (here, 'the most valuable player' explains what 'MVP' means).
He met Mr. Smith, the school principal.
EN: MVP stands for 'Most Valuable Player,' an award given annually to the best performing player in a sports league.
EN: Use the adverb 'well' (not 'good') after an action verb like 'played' to describe how the action was done. 'Very' makes it stronger.
He sang very well at the concert.
EN: In North American sports playoffs, teams often compete against each other in a multi-game 'series' (e.g., best-of-three or best-of-seven). The word 'series' is spelled the same in both singular and plural forms.
EN: Use 'and' to connect two past actions done by the same person: [Subject] + [Verb 1 (past)] + [Object 1] + and + [Verb 2 (past)] + [Object 2]. You do not need to repeat the subject 'she'.
He played basketball and made ten points.
EN: In sports terminology, 'Game 1' refers to the first match in a multi-game playoff series. The two most fundamental statistics for basketball players are 'points' (scoring) and 'rebounds' (retrieving the ball after a missed shot). Achieving high numbers in both indicates a dominant performance.
EN: The pattern '[number] of [number]' is used to describe success rates or fractions, meaning out of a total number of attempts. For example, 'made 11 of 18 shots' means 11 shots went in out of 18 attempts.
He answered 8 of 10 questions correctly.
EN: In basketball reporting, 'grabbed' is a dynamic verb commonly used instead of simply 'got' or 'caught' to convey the physical effort and control required to secure a rebound.
EN: We use 'also' before the main verb to add new information meaning 'in addition' or 'too'.
My friends also watched the basketball game.
EN: Use 'and' to connect two complete, simple sentences (clauses) that share related ideas. In sports reporting, verbs like 'added' and 'scored' are commonly used to show points earned by players.
Tom scored 10 points and Mark added 15.
EN: In English sports recaps, writers avoid repeating the same noun or verb when listing statistics. Here, 'points' is omitted after '18' because it was already mentioned after '23', and the writer varies verbs by using both 'added' and 'scored'.
EN: Use the simple past tense (verb + -ed, e.g., 'scored') to talk about completed actions at a specific time in the past.
He scored twenty points in yesterday's game.
EN: In basketball (including the WNBA and NBA), a game is divided into four periods called 'quarters', each lasting 10 or 12 minutes.
EN: Use '[number] more + noun' to express additional quantities beyond what was already mentioned.
He drank two more cups of water.
EN: In basketball reporting, tracking how many points a star player scores after a strong first quarter is common. Defenses often adjust their strategy to slow down top scorers like Caitlin Clark.
EN: Use the pattern 'This is the [ordinal number] year (that)...' to describe an action or event happening again over consecutive years. The relative word 'that' or 'in which' is commonly omitted in conversational English.
This is the third time our team won the game.
EN: In American sports, 'to end a team's season' means to eliminate them from the playoffs, meaning that team can play no further games until next year.
EN: We use the simple past tense (verb + -ed) to talk about actions that happened and finished in the past. Time phrases like 'Last year' often introduce past tense sentences.
Last month, our team played in the championship.
EN: In North American sports like the WNBA and NBA, the 'playoffs' (or postseason) is an elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the league champion. Meeting the same team in consecutive playoffs often creates a rivalry.
EN: Use the simple past tense (such as 'won') to talk about completed actions in the past. Time phrases like 'in overtime' and 'in the last game' tell us when and how the action happened.
Our team won the championship last week.
EN: In basketball and North American sports, 'overtime' refers to an extra period played when the score is tied at the end of regulation time. In playoff series, overtime games are especially dramatic and memorable.
EN: Use 'to + verb' (infinitive) to show the purpose or reason for an action, meaning 'in order to do something'.
She practiced every day to win the match.
EN: In sports tournaments like the WNBA playoffs, 'advance' specifically means moving forward to the next stage after winning a series or elimination round.
Key vocabulary words with IPA pronunciation, definitions, example sentences, and interactive quizzes.
Phrases with type tags, bilingual definitions, usage notes, and example sentences.
The team or player that won the competition the previous time it was held.
To progress to the next stage or round of a competition.
An award given to the player judged to have contributed the most to their team's success (MVP).
During an extra period of playing time added when a game ends in a tie.