A trainer is an instructor who teaches a particular skill: a personal trainer at the gym, a dog trainer, or someone who runs training sessions for staff. The person who trains a sports team or an athlete is a coach. In British English, trainers in the plural are sports shoes; in American English they're called sneakers.
trainer: will you get the meaning right?
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a personal/fitness/dog + trainer; a pair of + trainers (BrE) = sneakers (AmE); a football/tennis/swimming + coach (not trainer)
- My personal trainer changed my programme after I hurt my knee.
- I need a new pair of trainers before the half marathon in May.
- The company hired a trainer to teach staff how to use the new software.
What changed
First versionOur football team's new trainer has completely changed the way we play.
RevisionOur football team's new coach has completely changed the way we play.
Trainer seems like the natural word for anyone who trains a team, but the person who prepares a team, chooses the tactics and directs the players during a match is a coach: a football coach, the head coach. In sport, a trainer is more likely to be responsible for physical fitness.
Don't be surprised if a British person says I need new trainers: they mean shoes, not new instructors. In the singular, trainer can be a shoe too: I've lost a trainer somewhere in the changing room.
Your turn
At half-time the players sat quietly while the ___ explained the tactics for the second half.
Show the answer
coach — The tactics for the second half are explained by the person who leads the team, and that's the coach. A trainer works on physical fitness or teaches a particular skill, and explaining tactics to the team isn't their role.
Write about a sport or a course where someone guided you. Say who taught you and what, and call them by the right word: trainer or coach.
Last year I went to the gym twice a week, and my personal trainer, Olga, showed me how to lift weights safely.
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