play as a noun

[hirashin]

Dear native English speakers,

I have a question about "play" as a noun.

Do (a) and (b) have the same meaning?

(a) Tom is good at soccer and his play makes us excited.
(b) Tom is good at soccer and his performance makes us excited.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

[Petaris]

Hirashin,

Honestly I wouldn't use either version as they both sound very unnatural.

That being said they both seem to indicate the same thing.

Some noun examples:

Let's play the piano.
The students will play outside during recess. - Future tense
The kids are playing soccer. - Present tense
I played in a band when I was younger. - Pasttense

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for your help, Petaris.

You gave me some example sentences, but you haven't used "play" as a noun.

Hirashin

 

[Half-n-Half]

For example, if someone just scored a point in a sport, you might say, "That was a nice play!"

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for your help, Half-n-half.

Do you also think neither (a) or (b) would be used ?

Actually, (a) is from an English textbook for high school students which was censored
by our government.

Then what do you suggest we should say instead of (a) or (b)?

Hirashin

 

[Half-n-Half]

I wouldn't use a) or b). Like petaris said, they are very unnatural. A more common way would be to say, "...and his plays are exciting."

 

[ClarkH]

For what it's worth, I totally agree with Petaris and Half-n-Half as well. A and B are unnatural, but they are correct and have the same meaning. Half-n-Half's suggestions are much more natural.

 

[hirashin]

I wouldn't use a) or b). Like petaris said, they are very unnatural. A more common way would be to say, "...and his plays are exciting."

Thank you for the further information, Half-n-Half san.

Another native English speaker says:
"His play is exciting" is not incorrect, but "exciting" isn't used this way much anymore. Sounds a bit childish.

What do you think?

Hirashin

 

[Half-n-Half]

I would agree with that. It's not incorrect, it just sounds unnatural and it's not used very often. In the case of a singular "play", "His play is exciting" sounds kind of weird and "He had a nice play" would be better. To be honest, the only time I would personally use "play" as a noun would be if I was saying someone had a nice play, as in my first example. To convey the same meaning as a) and b), I would probably say "Tom is an exciting player to watch."

 

[hirashin]

Thanks, Half-n-Half.