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SPANISH VERB

jugar

to play

  • #80 most used
  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: jugando
  • Past participle: jugado

Conjugation

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

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I play
  2. tú you play
  3. usted, él, ella he/she plays
  4. nosotros we play
  5. vosotros Spain you all play
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they play

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I played
  2. tú you played
  3. usted, él, ella he/she played
  4. nosotros we played
  5. vosotros Spain you all played
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they played

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to play
  2. tú you used to play
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to play
  4. nosotros we used to play
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to play
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to play

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will play
  2. tú you will play
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will play
  4. nosotros we will play
  5. vosotros Spain you all will play
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will play

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would play
  2. tú you would play
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would play
  4. nosotros we would play
  5. vosotros Spain you all would play
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would play

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I play
  2. tú (that) you play
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she play
  4. nosotros (that) we play
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all play
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they play

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I played
  2. tú (if) you played
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she played
  4. nosotros (if) we played
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all played
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they played

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú play!
  2. usted play! (formal)
  3. nosotros play! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain play! (all of you)
  5. ustedes play! (all of you)

How to use jugar

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

  1. Present

    Mis sobrinos juegan futbol en la calle.

    My nephews play soccer in the street.

  2. Past

    Jugamos cartas hasta la medianoche.

    We played cards until midnight.

  3. Imperfect

    De niña jugaba a las escondidas con mis primos.

    As a girl I played hide and seek with my cousins.

  4. Future

    El sábado jugaremos contra el equipo de Puebla.

    On Saturday we'll play against the Puebla team.

  5. Conditional

    Yo jugaría contigo, pero me duele la rodilla.

    I'd play with you, but my knee hurts.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Deja que los niños jueguen un rato más.

    Let the kids play a little longer.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Si jugaras menos videojuegos, dormirías mejor.

    If you played fewer video games, you'd sleep better.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Juega limpio y diviértete, campeón!

    Play fair and have fun, champ!

Where you hear jugar

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

Spanish · Beginner Level 2

  • Juego futbol los sábados. I play football on Saturdays.
  • Cuando era niña, jugaba en el parque. When I was a child, I played in the park.
  • Vamos a jugar con Emiliano. We're going to play with Emiliano.

Spanish · Beginner Level 3

  • Los domingos juego futbol con mis amigos. On Sundays I play football with my friends.
  • Los mayas jugaban a la pelota aquí. The Maya used to play ball here.
  • Esta noche vamos a jugar cartas con Doña Rosa. Tonight we're going to play cards with Rosa.
13
Sometimes, Almost Never

Beginner Level 2 · juega · juegas

Needs a subscription 14
When I Was a Child

Beginner Level 2 · jugaban · jugaba · jugábamos

Needs a subscription 13
The Pyramid

Beginner Level 3 · jugaban

Needs a subscription

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.