jugar Present Conjugation
jugar — to play
Jugar is a stem-changer where the 'u' becomes 'ue' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
jugar Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use the present tense to talk about sports you currently play, hobbies, or things you are playing right now.
Notes on jugar in the Present
This is the only 'u to ue' stem-changing verb in Spanish. The change happens in the 'boot' forms: juego, juegas, juega, juegan.
Example Sentences
Yo juego al fútbol los domingos.
I play soccer on Sundays.
yo
¿Juegas videojuegos a menudo?
Do you play video games often?
tú
Nosotros jugamos al ajedrez en el club.
We play chess at the club.
nosotros
Ella juega con su perro en el jardín.
She plays with her dog in the garden.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Saying 'jugo' instead of 'juego'.
Correct: juego
Why: 'Jugo' actually means 'juice' in Spanish! You must include the 'e' for the verb conjugation.
Mistake: Changing the stem in the nosotros form (juegamos).
Correct: jugamos
Why: Stem changes never happen in the nosotros or vosotros forms in the present indicative.
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Related Tenses
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.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: jugara
The imperfect subjunctive of jugar is based on the preterite 'ellos' form: jugara, jugaras...
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'.