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FRENCH VERB

jouer

to play

  • #43 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: joué
  • Present participle: jouant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I play
  2. tu you play
  3. il, elle, on he/she plays
  4. nous we play
  5. vous you play
  6. ils, elles they play

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I played
  2. tu you played
  3. il, elle, on he/she played
  4. nous we played
  5. vous you played
  6. ils, elles they played

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to play
  2. tu you used to play
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to play
  4. nous we used to play
  5. vous you used to play
  6. ils, elles they used to play

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will play
  2. tu you will play
  3. il, elle, on he/she will play
  4. nous we will play
  5. vous you will play
  6. ils, elles they will play

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would play
  2. tu you would play
  3. il, elle, on he/she would play
  4. nous we would play
  5. vous you would play
  6. ils, elles they would play

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I play
  2. tu (that) you play
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she play
  4. nous (that) we play
  5. vous (that) you play
  6. ils, elles (that) they play

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu play!
  2. nous play! (let’s)
  3. vous play! (plural, or formal)

How to use jouer

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Les enfants jouent dans le jardin depuis ce matin.

    The children have been playing in the garden since this morning.

  2. Past

    On a joué aux cartes jusqu'à minuit.

    We played cards until midnight.

  3. Imperfect

    Petit, il jouait du piano tous les soirs.

    As a boy, he played the piano every evening.

  4. Future

    Tu joueras au tennis avec nous dimanche ?

    Will you play tennis with us on Sunday?

  5. Conditional

    Je jouerais bien, mais j'ai mal au genou.

    I'd like to play, but my knee hurts.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je ne veux pas que vous jouiez au ballon ici.

    I don't want you playing ball here.

  7. Imperative

    Jouez dehors, il fait trop beau pour rester là.

    Play outside, it's too nice to stay in here.

Good to know

  • Jouer au foot (a sport), jouer du piano (an instrument).

Where you hear jouer

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Je joue au foot le samedi. I play football on Saturdays.
  • Quand j'étais petit, je jouais dehors. When I was little, I played outside.
  • Je vais jouer au tennis avec mon fils. I'm going to play tennis with my son.
13
How Often?

Beginner Level 2 · tu joues

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When I Was Little

Beginner Level 2 · on jouait · je jouais · vous jouiez

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.