It depends on the activity. (These are usage examples--I don't do all these things!) Sports: "play." I play golf. I play tennis. I play chess. I play video games. Exercise: just use the verb "to exercise," or use "take." I take exercise. (But that's a little old-fashioned or perhaps British. I personally DON't say that). I exercise. I exercise twice a day. I exercise at the gym. Special use: DO exerciseS meaning a specific exercise. My physical therapist has me do exercises for my knee. To maintain my fitness, I do exercises like push-ups and sit-ups. To do a SET of exercises for fitness and muscle tone is called "working out," or "a workout." He looks like he's in good shape, I bet he works out. I work out every day. On a business trip, I always choose a hotel with an exercise room. For activity in general, if the activity can be used as a verb, just use the verb. I run. I walk. I go for a run every day. "How do you like to exercise?" "I walk." For one specific activity at one specific time, "take." Would you like to take a walk with me? I'm going for a walk now, I'll be back in half an hour. I'm taking a walk to the supermarket, do you need anything? However--as always, when I start to think about it I realize just how complicated it is--when it is, specifically, an organized group event, you sometimes use the word "do." My cousin did the Boston marathon this year. OR, My cousin ran the Boston marathon this year. She did the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2005. OR, She rode the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2005.

Without any context I would have to say 'play'. But I would reword the sentence as so: "Do you play sports or exercise?"

| baseball | football / soccer play | softball | rugby | tennis | yoga | athletics | track and field | judo do | karate | karate | taekwondo | kungfu | hiking | camping | swinning go | dancing | boating | swimming | sailing | diving | running The short answer: you need a good learner's dictionary. I highly recommend the Oxford Learner's Dictionary for intermediate and advanced level students.

CIAO. For a sport, you go to "practice" to get better in it. Practice is a both a verb and a noun - you can say that you need to 'practice' a specific skill (like your jump shot, or your corner kick) but you also say you need to "go to practice" when you mean meeting up with your team to play and get better at whatever sport. For example, "I have basketball practice tomorrow from 6 to 8." To practice can also be used for other skills, like music, as in "I need to practice my piano playing".

I would stick with play for sports, and exercising could be asked in the following way. Do you play any sports? or do you enjoy exercising?