jugar Imperfect Subjunctive Conjugation
jugar — to play
The imperfect subjunctive of jugar is based on the preterite 'ellos' form: jugara, jugaras...
jugar Imperfect Subjunctive Forms
When to Use the Imperfect Subjunctive
Use this for 'if' clauses (hypotheticals) or when you wanted someone to play in the past.
Notes on jugar in the Imperfect Subjunctive
Because the 'ellos' preterite is 'jugaron', the stem is 'jugar-'. It does not have the 'ue' stem change.
Example Sentences
Si jugara mejor, estaría en el equipo profesional.
If I played better, I would be on the professional team.
yo
Me gustaría que jugaras con nosotros.
I would like it if you played with us.
tú
Si jugáramos más, ganaríamos siempre.
If we played more, we would always win.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the stem change: 'juegara'.
Correct: jugara
Why: The imperfect subjunctive is built from the preterite, which (except for the 'yo' form spelling) does not have a stem change.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: juego
Jugar is a stem-changer where the 'u' becomes 'ue' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: jugué
The preterite of jugar is mostly regular, but the 'yo' form changes to jugué to keep the hard 'g' sound.
Imperfect
yo: jugaba
The imperfect of jugar is regular: jugaba, jugabas, jugaba, jugábamos, jugabais, jugaban.
Future
yo: jugaré
The future tense of jugar is completely regular: just add the endings to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: jugaría
The conditional of jugar is regular: just add -ía endings to the infinitive 'jugar'.
Present Subjunctive
yo: juegue
The present subjunctive of jugar combines the 'ue' stem change with a 'gu' spelling change.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: juega
The imperative of jugar uses the 'ue' stem change for most commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no juegues
The negative imperative of jugar uses the present subjunctive forms preceded by 'no'.