Questions & Answers about Wir spielen Fußball.
Why is there no article before Fußball?
Just like in English, German generally leaves out the article when talking about playing sports or games. You say Wir spielen Fußball (We play football/soccer), not Wir spielen den Fußball.
Does Fußball refer to soccer or American football?
Fußball literally means "foot" (Fuß) and "ball" (Ball), and it refers to what is called soccer in the US. If Germans want to talk about the American sport, they use the English word: American Football.
What is the strange "ß" letter in Fußball and how is it pronounced?
That letter is called an Eszett or "sharp S". It is unique to the German alphabet and is simply pronounced like a sharp, hissing "s" (like in the English word "snake" or "glass"). In Switzerland, it is actually just written as a double "s" (Fussball).
Is Fußball in the accusative case here?
Yes! Even though this short sentence doesn't use one of your new accusative prepositions (like für or ohne), it still uses the accusative case. Fußball is the direct object (the thing being played). Because we drop the article for sports, you just don't see a visible accusative word like den here.
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