played the ball, not the man

Questions

What does played the ball, not the man mean?

simple past and past participle of play the ball, not the man

How to pronounce played the ball, not the man

1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “played the ball, not the man”.
2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “played the ball, not the man”.
4. Repeat and practice — Say “played the ball, not the man” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.