How to Say "key player" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “key player” is “protagonista” — A2 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.

Examples
El protagonista de la película es muy valiente.
The main character of the movie is very brave.
Ella es la protagonista de mi novela favorita.
She is the main character of my favorite novel.
En esta huelga, los estudiantes han sido los protagonistas.
In this strike, the students have been the key players.
One word for everyone
This word always ends in 'a', even if you are talking about a man. You just change the small word in front: 'el protagonista' for a man and 'la protagonista' for a woman.
Plurals
To talk about more than one person, simply add an 's' to make 'protagonistas'.
The 'Protagonisto' Trap
Mistake: “El protagonisto es famoso.”
Correction: El protagonista es famoso. Even though 'o' is usually for men, this word never changes its 'a' at the end.
Related Translations
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