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Jugar: Learn to conjugate Jugar in Spanish

Jugar is a Spanish verb that means ‘to play’. It is an irregular verb. In this post, we will explore how the Spanish verb Jugar is conjugated in Spanish tenses. 

Infinitivejugarto play
Past participlejugadoplayed
Gerundjugandoplaying

Indicative Tenses of Jugar

Jugar in the indicative present

Jugar in the indicative present is used to discuss current or upcoming situations, events, or thoughts. It is also used to discuss facts and truths. For instance, “juego futbol” means “I play football.”  In Spanish, we refer to the indicative present as “El Presente”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojuegoI play
juegasyou play
Ella / Él / Ustedjuegas/he play, you (formal) play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugamoswe play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugáisyou (plural) play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjueganthey play, you (plural formal) play

Jugar conjugation video lesson




Indicative Tenses of Jugar

Jugar in the indicative present

Jugar in the indicative present is used to discuss current or upcoming situations, events, or thoughts. It is also used to discuss facts and truths. For instance, “juego futbol” means “I play football.”  In Spanish, we refer to the indicative present as “El Presente”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojuegoI play
juegasyou play
Ella / Él / Ustedjuegas/he play, you (formal) play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugamoswe play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugáisyou (plural) play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjueganthey play, you (plural formal) play

Jugar in the indicative preterite

The indicative preterite of jugar is used to refer to actions that occurred in the past, at a specific point in time. For instance, “jugué futbol” means “I played football.” In Spanish, we refer to the indicative preterite as “El Pretérito Indefinido”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojuguéI played
jugasteyou played
Ella / Él / Ustedjugós/he played, you (formal) played
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugamoswe played
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugasteisyou (plural) played
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjugaronthey played, you (plural formal) played

Jugar in the indicative imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of jugar is used to describe regular and repeated past actions, as well as descriptions of things you used to do. For instance, “jugaba futbol” means “I used to play football.” In Spanish, we refer to the indicative imperfect as “El Pretérito Imperfecto”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojugabaI used to play
jugabasyou used to play
Ella / Él / Ustedjugabas/he used to play, you (formal) used to play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugábamoswe used to play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugabaisyou (plural) used to play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjugabanthey used to play, you (plural formal) used to play

Jugar in the indicative present continuous

The indicative present continuous form of jugar is used to talk about something that is happening right now or on a continuous basis. For example, “estoy jugando futbol,” which means “I’m playing football.” In Spanish, we refer to the indicative present continuous as “El Presente Progresivo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
Yoestoy jugandoI am playing
estás jugandoyou are playing
Ella / Él / Ustedestá jugandos/he is playing, you (formal) are playing
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos jugandowe are playing
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis jugandoyou (plural) are playing
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán jugandothey are playing, you (plural formal) are playing




 Jugar in the indicative future

Jugar in the indicative future is used to discuss something that will occur in the future. For instance, “jugaré futbol” means “I will play football.” In Spanish, we refer to the indicative future as “El Futuro Simple”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojugaréI will play
jugarásyou will play
Ella / Él / Ustedjugarás/he will play, you (formal) will play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugaremoswe will play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugaréisyou (plural) will play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjugaránthey will play, you (plural formal) will play

Subjunctive tenses of Jugar

Jugar in the subjunctive present

The subjunctive present is used to discuss uncertain situations or emotions such as wishes, desires, and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood because the events being discussed are uncertain. For instance, “juegue” means “I play.” In Spanish, we refer to the subjunctive present as “El Presente de Subjuntivo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojuegueI play
jueguesyou play
Ella / Él / Ustedjuegues/he play, you (formal) play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjuguemoswe play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjuguéisyou (plural) play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjueguenthey play, you (plural formal) play




 Jugar in the subjunctive imperfect

The subjunctive imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain past events or to express an emotional reaction to something that happened in the past. For instance, “jugara” means “I played.” In Spanish, we refer to the subjunctive imperfect as “El Imperfecto Subjuntivo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojugaraI played
jugarasyou played
Ella / Él / Ustedjugaras/he played, you (formal) played
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugáramoswe played
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugaraisyou (plural) played
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjugaranthey played, you (plural formal) played

 Jugar in the subjunctive future

The subjunctive future expresses tentative hypotheses and actions/events that may occur in the future. It should be noted that this is very rarely used in Spanish. For instance, “jugare” means “I will play.” In Spanish, we refer to the subjunctive future as “El Futuro de Subjuntivo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
YojugareI will play
jugaresyou will play
Ella / Él / Ustedjugares/he will play, you (formal) will play
Nosotras / Nosotrosjugáremoswe will play
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugareisyou (plural) will play
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjugarenthey will play, you (plural formal) will play

Imperative tenses of Jugar

Jugar in the imperative affirmative

The imperative affirmative is used to give orders and commands, as well as to tell someone what to do. For instance, “juegue” means “play!” In Spanish, we refer to the imperative affirmative as “El Imperativo Afirmativo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
juega(to you) play!
Ella / Él / Ustedjuegue(to you formal) play!
Nosotras / Nosotrosjuguemoslet’s play!
Vosotras / Vosotrosjugad(to you plural) play!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesjueguen(to you plural formal) play!




Jugar in the imperative negative

The imperative negative is used to give instructions and commands, as well as to tell someone not to do something. “No juegue,” for example, means “don’t play!” In Spanish, we refer to the imperative negative as “El Imperativo Negativo”.

PRONOUNSPANISHENGLISH
no juegues(to you) don’t play!
Ella / Él / Ustedno juegue(to you formal) don’t play!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno juguemoslet’s not play!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno juguéis(to you plural) don’t play!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno jueguen(to you plural formal) don’t play!

This was all about conjugating the Spanish verb Jugar. Keep on practicing it till you learn to speak Spanish fluently.