Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhōumò wǒ xǐhuan gēn tóngxué zài gōngyuán dǎ lánqiú. - On weekends I like to play basketball with my classmates in the park.

“with” (preposition)
- 我跟朋友去看电影。
  – I go to watch a movie with my friend.
“and” (linking two nouns)
- 我跟他都是学生。
  – He and I are both students.

Here, it’s the “with” meaning: I like to play basketball *with classmates*.

What’s the difference between 跟 and 和? Could I say 和同学?

Yes, you can say:

周末我喜欢和同学在公园打篮球。

跟 and 和 overlap a lot:

Both can mean “and” (A and B)
Both can mean “with”

General tendencies:

跟: slightly more colloquial and very common in speech
和: slightly more neutral / formal, common in both speaking and writing

In everyday conversation, 跟同学 and 和同学 are practically interchangeable in this sentence.

What does 在 do in 在公园打篮球?

在 marks the location where an action happens.

Structure:

在 + place + Verb (+ Object)

Examples:

我在家学中文。 – I study Chinese at home.
她 在公司 上班。 – She works at a company.
我们 在公园 打篮球。 – We play basketball in the park.

So 在公园打篮球 literally is “at-the-park play-basketball.”

Can I say 打篮球在公园 instead of 在公园打篮球?

Normally, no. The natural order is:

在 + place + Verb + Object
在公园打篮球

Putting the place phrase at the end:

✗ 我喜欢打篮球在公园。 – sounds unnatural.

The only time you might move 在公园 to the end is for strong emphasis or contrast, like answering a question:

A: 你在学校打篮球吗？ – Do you play basketball at school?
B: 不，我打篮球 在公园。 – No, I play basketball in the park.

But in a neutral sentence, say:

我喜欢在公园打篮球。

Why do we use 打 with 篮球? Why not 玩篮球?

For many sports, Chinese uses specific verbs instead of a general “play”:

打篮球 – play basketball
打网球 – play tennis
打羽毛球 – play badminton
踢足球 – play soccer (kick football)

打 is used with many ball or racket sports.

玩 means “to play / to have fun / to hang out”, and is used differently:

玩游戏 – play games
玩手机 – play on your phone
在公园玩 – play / hang out in the park

You might occasionally hear 玩篮球 in casual speech, but the standard, correct phrase is 打篮球.

How does 喜欢 work with verbs? Is 喜欢 + Verb a normal pattern?

Yes. A common pattern is:

喜欢 + Verb (+ Object) = “to like doing …”

Examples:

我 喜欢吃 中国菜。 – I like eating Chinese food.
她 喜欢看 电影。 – She likes watching movies.
他们 喜欢打 篮球。 – They like playing basketball.

So in your sentence:

我喜欢跟同学在公园打篮球。
= I like playing basketball with classmates in the park.

You don’t need an extra word like “to” or “-ing”; just put the verb phrase directly after 喜欢.

Why use 喜欢 and not 爱 for “like”?

Both 喜欢 and 爱 can be translated as “like / love,” but they are used differently:

喜欢: like, be fond of
- 我喜欢打篮球。 – I like playing basketball.
- 他喜欢喝咖啡。 – He likes drinking coffee.
爱: love (stronger, deeper feeling)
- 我爱家人。 – I love my family.
- 她爱他。 – She loves him.

For hobbies, interests, and activities, use 喜欢, not 爱.
So 我爱跟同学在公园打篮球 sounds overly strong/odd; 我喜欢… is natural.

There’s no tense marking. How do we know this means “I like to play” (a habit) and not something else?

Chinese doesn’t use verb tense like English (no -ed, -s, or “will”).
Instead, it uses:

Time words (周末, 昨天, 明天…)
Aspect markers (了, 过, 着, 在…)
Context

Here:

周末 suggests a repeated / habitual action.
喜欢 also naturally describes general preferences / habits.

So the default interpretation is:

周末，我喜欢跟同学在公园打篮球。
→ On weekends, I (habitually) like to play basketball with my classmates in the park.

You wouldn’t add 了 here, because you’re not talking about a completed one-time event, but a general preference.

Why is there no plural marker 们 after 同学? How do we know it’s “classmates” and not “classmate”?

In Chinese, nouns usually do not show plural:

同学 can mean classmate or classmates, depending on context.

Reasons we understand it as plural here:

Playing basketball is usually done with more than one person.
There is no number word like 一个 / 两个, so it’s just a general group: “classmates.”

们 is mainly used:

With personal pronouns:
- 我 → 我们 – I → we
- 你 → 你们 – you (sg) → you (pl)
- 他 → 他们 – he → they
With people words when talking to / about them as a group:
- 同学们好！– Hello, students! (teacher addressing the whole class)
- 老师们 – the teachers (as a group)

So:

跟同学打篮球 – play basketball with classmates (general)
跟同学们打篮球 – also okay, but emphasizes the group as a whole (often in a more formal, “our classmates” sense).

Should there be a measure word like 个 before 同学? When do we need one?

You need a measure word when you:

Specify a number, or
Use a demonstrative (this/that)

For example:

一个同学 – one classmate
三个同学 – three classmates
那个同学 – that classmate
这些同学 – these classmates

But in your sentence, it’s unspecified and general:

跟同学在公园打篮球 – with classmates (no specific number)

In that case, no measure word is needed.