The verb jugar means "to play" in Spanish. It is a popular verb used with sports and children and so it is one you will hear and use often. Jugar is an irregular verb so pay close attention to its modifications in different tenses.
When used with sports or games, jugar is almost always followed by the preposition a and the article el, la, los, las. Remember, when the article el comes after a, they create the shortened preposition al. For example:
jugar al futbol → to play soccer
jugar a los videojuegos → to play video games
jugar a la casita → to play house
Conjugations
The verb jugar is irregular in the present tense. It's stem changes from o → ue in all conjugations except for the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Present
| Yo | juego | Nosotros/as | jugamos |
| Tu | juegas | Vosotros/as | jugáis |
| El/Ella/Ud. | juega | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | juegan |
Example Sentence:
- Los ninos juegan al fútbol cada tarde. → The boys play soccer every afternoon.
Imperfect
| Yo | jugaba | Nosotros/as | jugábamos |
| Tu | jugabas | Vosotros/as | jugabais |
| El/Ella/Ud. | jugaba | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | jugaban |
Example Sentence:
- Mi abuelo siempre jugaba al ajedrez los domingos. → My Grandpa always used to play chess on Sundays.
Preterite
| Yo | jugué | Nosotros/as | jugamos |
| Tu | jugaste | Vosotros/as | jugasteis |
| El/Ella/Ud. | jugó | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | jugaron |
Example Sentence:
- El viernes pasado, mi amiga y yo jugamos al tenis. → Last Friday, my friend and I played tennis.
Future
| Yo | jugaré | Nosotros/as | jugaremos |
| Tu | jugarás | Vosotros/as | jugaréis |
| El/Ella/Ud. | jugará | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | jugarán |
Example Sentence:
- La próxima semana, jugaremos a las cartas en la casa de Felipe. → Next week, we will play cards at Felipe's house.
Conditional
| Yo | jugaría | Nosotros/as | jugaríamos |
| Tu | jugarías | Vosotros/as | jugaríais |
| El/Ella/Ud. | jugaría | Ellos/Ellas/Uds. | jugarían |
Example Sentence:
- Yo pensé que vosotros jugaríais afuera, pero os habéis quedado en casa viendo la tele. → I thought that you guys would play outside, but you stayed inside watching TV.
Whether you're playing sports or playing a game, jugar is a fun verb to work into your Spanish vocabulary. There is no doubt, however, that it will be one of the essential verbs you will need to master when first learning Spanish.
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By YourDictionary
The verb jugar means “to play” in Spanish. It is a popular verb used with sports and children and so it is one you will hear and use often. Jugar is an irregular verb so pay close attention to its modifications in different tenses.
